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2018 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Dissemination of Active Learning Tools for Software V&V Education and Their Pedagogical Assessment

Presented at Active Learning Methods in Action

Abstract

Imparting real world experiences in the classroom for a software verification and validation (SW V&V) course is typically a challenge due to lack of availability of effective Active Learning Tools (ALTs). At the author’s institution, this educational resource gap has been addressed by developing several ALTs in the form of class exercises, case studies, and case study videos that were created by collaborating with several academic partners and software industry professionals. Through this three-year work, 18 delivery hours of case studies, 16 delivery hours of exercises and 6 delivery hours of role play videos totaling 42 delivery hours of Software V&V course materials has been developed. The developed tools have been disseminated through two hand-on summer workshops held at author’s institution in 2015 and 2016. Academic partners have delivered them at their institutions in 2016 and 2017. In addition, several ASEE and other conference posters, papers, presentations and journal papers have been published over the past three years. This NSF-funded project is now finishing its final phase of dissemination, implementation and assessment.

The basic objectives of developing the ALTs are to improve student engagement and interest in software education, and to make the education well aligned with academic research as well as industry best practices. The ALTs developed in this work are designed to impart knowledge of several important themes in S/W V&V education such as requirements engineering, software reviews, configuration management, and software testing. Four key skill areas sought after by employers, namely communication skills, applied knowledge of methods, applied knowledge of tools, and research exposure are also covered by the ALTs. These tools have been deployed in classrooms at several partnering institutions. Student feedback from the author’s institution and partnering institutions have been collected and analyzed by the external evaluator to determine the pedagogical effectiveness of the ALTs. In addition, ABET outcomes assessment has also been performed by the instructor at author’s institution.

Preliminary results support the hypothesis that ALTs constitute a better way to engage students in their learning process, and for enhancing their comprehension and interest in the SW V&V topics being covered in the class. The student outcomes assessment data and pedagogical assessment data are presented and discussed in this paper.

Authors
  1. Dr. Priya A. Manohar Robert Morris University [biography]

    Dr. Priyadarshan (Priya) Manohar Dr. Priyadarshan Manohar is an Associate Professor of Engineering and Co-Director Research and Outreach Center (ROC) at Robert Morris University, Pittsburgh, PA. He has a Ph. D. in Materials Engineering (1998) and Graduate Diploma in Computer Science (1999) from University of Wollongong, Australia and holds Bachelor of Engineering (Metallurgical Engineering) degree from Pune University, India (1985). He has worked as a post-doctoral fellow at Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh (2001 – 2003) and BHP Institute for Steel Processing and Products, Australia (1998 – 2001). Dr. Manohar held the position of Chief Materials Scientist at Modern Industries, Pittsburgh (2003 – 2004) and Assistant Manager (Metallurgy Group), Engineering Research Center, Telco, India (1985 – 1993). He has published over 65 papers in peer-reviewed journals and conferences including a 2007 Best Paper Award by the Manufacturing Division of American Society for Engineering Education (ASEE), three review papers and three book chapters. He has participated in numerous national and international conferences. He is a member of ASM International, TMS, ACerS, AIST, ASEE, and a registered Chartered Professional Engineer. Dr. Manohar’s research interests include engineering and software education, mathematical and computer modeling of materials behavior, thermo-mechanical processing of steels and other metallic materials, microstructural characterization, and structure – property relationships. He has conducted a number of technical failure investigations, consulted on various materials-related problems, and acted as an expert witness in the Court of Law. Dr. Manohar is a past chair of the Manufacturing Division of ASEE and a Past Chair of ASM Pittsburgh Chapter.

  2. Dr. Sushil Acharya Robert Morris University [biography]

    Sushil Acharya, D.Eng. (Asian Institute of Technology) is the Assistant Provost for Research and Graduate Studies. A Professor of Software Engineering, Dr. Acharya joined Robert Morris University in Spring 2005 after serving 15 years in the Software Industry. His teaching involvement and research interest are in the area of Software Engineering education, Software Verification & Validation, Software Security, Data Mining, Neural Networks, and Enterprise Resource Planning. He also has interest in Learning Objectives based Education Material Design and Development. Dr. Acharya is a co-author of “Discrete Mathematics Applications for Information Systems Professionals” and “Case Studies in Software Verification & Validation”. He is a member of Nepal Engineering Association and is also a member of ASEE and ACM. Dr. Acharya was the Principal Investigator of the 2007 HP grant for Higher Education at RMU through which he incorporated tablet PC based learning exercises in his classes. In 2013, Dr. Acharya received a National Science Foundation (NSF) grant for developing course materials through an industry-academia partnership in the area of Software Verification and Validation.

  3. Prof. Peter Y. Wu Robert Morris University [biography]

    Peter Y. Wu is professor of Computer and Information Systems at Robert Morris University. He earned Ph.D. in Computer System Engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. He worked for IBM Research Division, first as a post-doc research fellow and subsequently a technical staff member at the T.J. Watson Research Center. He was the chief software engineer and a founding partner of UJB Solutions, LLC, a consulting company in production planning, for two years. He previously held faculty appointments at Hong Kong Polytechnic University, and the University of Pittsburgh. His current research interests include software engineering, geographic information systems and data analytics.

  4. Dr. Mary A. Hansen Robert Morris University [biography]

    Mary A. Hansen, Ph. D., is a Professor in the School of Education and Social Sciences at Robert Morris University. Dr. Hansen’s research interests lie in the area of educational measurement, assessment, and evaluation, including course and program level outcomes assessment. Her recent research focuses on classroom assessment practices and technical issues related to large-scale assessments. Dr. Hansen is an experienced program evaluator and specializes in quantitative research methods and statistical analyses. She earned an M.A. (1996) in statistics, and M.S. (1999) and Ph.D. (2004) degrees in Research Methodology from the University of Pittsburgh.

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