Effective Teaching Strategies for Large Classes: A Case Study in Software Architecture Education

In this talk, we discuss how faculty in charge of a Software Architecture course (3rd year subject of a Software Engineering program) faced an unprecedented increase in enrollment figures, doubling previous numbers to reach over a hundred.

They had to adapt their teaching methodologies to this situation, and thus deployed a strategy of early involvement using a gamified programming learning platform during the first weeks of the semester, together with personal learning contracts during the whole duration of the course.

The course had a record success rate of 92%, versus an average of 71% in previous years, but some aspects demand redesign for future versions.

This talk was granted the best presentation award at ICETC'24.

Transcript

1. Effective Teaching Strategies for Large Classes A Case Study in Software Architecture Education Laura M. Castro, Mauricio Hidalgo, Hernán Astudillo
2. The road ahead this talk Two strongholds to prevent dropout and failure Academic context of our tale Enrollment success jeopardizes the course journey The moral of our cautionary tale to take home 01 03 02 04 Once upon a time... The attack of the large numbers The defense of the two towers And they passed! Happily ever after?
3. Once upon a time... 01 Academic context of our tale
4. Software Architecture at University of A Coruña (Spain)
5. Software Architecture at University of A Coruña (Spain)
6. Software Architecture at University of A Coruña (Spain) First taught 2012/2013 6 ETCS credits Compulsory for Software Engineers Eligible for Computer Scientists
7. Concept of Software Architecture Reference Architectures Learning objectives Components design & integration Traceability & integration testing
8. Teaching and Grading Final test Personal work Supervised tasks Lectures Lab sessions Individual assignments Group assignment
9. Teaching and Grading Final test Personal work Supervised tasks Lectures Lab sessions Individual assignments Group assignment
10. Teaching and Grading Final test Personal work Supervised tasks Lectures Lab sessions Individual assignments Group assignment
11. How it was going AS course success rate
12. How it was going AS course success rate num. of passing students num. of enrolled students
13. The attack of the large numbers 02 Enrollment success jeopardizes the course journey
14. Unexpectedly... a steep slope AS course enrollment numbers
15. Unexpectedly... a steep slope AS course enrollment numbers same teaching staff!
16. The defense of the two towers Two strongholds to prevent dropout and failure 03
17. Educational contingency plan Choose-your-own-tasks 4x number of available tasks Increased teaching offer, equal learning demand Reappearance of similar tasks Flexibility, adaptability to students preferences and/or personal workload Gamified platform (Exercism) Individual exercises, increasing difficulty Clear, well-structured syllabus Automated tests and early feedback Personal, private mentoring, priority to students keeping up with the suggested schedule Early engagement Personal learning contract
18. How it turned out AS course success rate
19. In detail: gamification is a win-win Impact of early engagement strategy
20. In detail: a self-chosen menu tastes better Impact of adapted learning contract strategy
21. And they passed! ... happily ever after? The moral of our cautionary tale to take home 04
22. Worked like a charm... Students worked early rather than late Tendency to avoid some tasks (i.e. C4 modelling) Very high ratio of weekly exercise completion >50 exercises in 1st course month Students perceive high ROI Almost all group max grade Num. of early dropouts diminished significantly Early engagement Personal learning contract
23. Beware of... Chronological order matters Minimal requirements per task type Very demanding for faculty Early engagement Personal learning contract
24. Slidesgo Flaticon Freepik CREDITS: This presentation template was created by Slidesgo, and includes icons by Flaticon, and infographics & images by Freepik Thanks! Any questions? Laura M. Castro lcastro@udc.es