Tutorial 1: Teaching High-Level Abstraction .. (D. Klappholz)

Abstraction has repeatedly been recognized as a critical component of software development, and, therefore, as a critical component of CS education. Most published work on the subject, however, deals with abstraction at a low level, for example, at the level of classes and data structures (CS1 and CS2) [1-4]. But abstraction at higher levels is equally critical to software development. This was made clear to the author of this proposal when a faculty colleague proposed a potential software development project for his capstone course. The development of the software turned out to require the construction of an abstraction that class members were unable to construct using undirected active learning, and that had to be given to them by the author in order for them to be able to develop the software. The author has subsequently used the design of the same abstraction as an assignment in both junior- and senior-level undergraduate and entry-level MS courses, and has found that virtually all class members have been unable to construct the required abstraction. After learning that active learning often fails unless it is carefully directed [5], the author has used the design of the software in question in a junior-level course, but, this time, has carefully directed the student teams’ active learning, and has achieved far greater success. The purpose of this tutorial is to cover the topics of the teaching/learning of high level abstraction and of directed active learning.

Expected Outcomes

Workshop participants will be faculty interested in learning about, and teaching aspects of high level abstraction needed for software development, and those interested in the topics of active learning and directed active learning. Topics presented during the will include: (i) the example of high level abstraction that motivated the author’s interest in directed active learning; (ii) one or two other examples of software development-related examples of high level abstraction that the author has come up with; (ii) an overview of active learning and directed active learning. If the tutorial is very successful, attendees will develop additional examples of high level abstraction, and methods for assessing students’ abilities to perform high level abstraction.