Strengths
A strength of this class would be opportunity to apply the skills we’ve learned in the program and build a software tool that’s the culmination of all of our learning and skills we’ve picked up during the program. For some, this project will be the most comprehensive project they’ve worked on to date and will be a good addition to their resume. This project is probably the closest thing this program can offer that emulates real world experience and gives students the chance to work collaboratively in a group with other students for 12 weeks. Since there isn’t much guidance/management during the course it’s really up to the students to own all aspects of the project from beginning to end.
Weaknesses
One particular weakness of this class is skill level. I don’t think it’s fair when students are paired with other students of drastically different skill levels and interests. You would think that if a student picked a particular topic that they would be interested in that technology and project, but that may not the case. The pairing of students from different skill levels also adds a bigger burden to the students with more knowledge and the group may become entirely dependent on that one student. I’ve found that students from lesser skills levels come to expect the more skilled student to do the majority of the work simply because they know more. It’s not fair for one student to do the majority of the work simply because other students are not familiar with the technology. Another weakness is that some students may be afraid to learn the technologies being used and rather opt to do more clerical work than actual coding. While it may be daunting to learn new technologies and paradigms, it’s not fair if some students in a group choose to not write code.
Opportunities
A strength that I mentioned earlier for this class would be opportunity. This class gives students the opportunity to work collaboratively in a group with other students and for some it’s their first real exposure to Agile work flows and collaborative tools such as Git and project management. There’s also 2 pathways a student can follow for this class – working on a real-world project for a company, or working on a specific project with other students. Both options provide similar experiences, such as working collaboratively in a group, but I think working for an actual company might be more structured and have harder deadlines. In this way, I think that working for an actual company might give a more realistic idea of what real-world work might look like.
Threats
One threat to this class is a threat for any class involving group work, but I think it can be improved for this particular class. If an individual is intentionally trying to do less work and does the bare minimum required for the class, it’s difficult for TAs to assess since skill level is different for all students. Additionally if not everyone on the team agrees to hold this person accountable, there’s really no way to equally split up the work. I think it needs to be up to faculty to monitor and assess how much work everyone is doing because if not, then students can skirt by, taking weeks to accomplish tasks that could be done in one week. I realize that it’s probably not feasible for TAs to pay this level of attention to every individuals work, but if an individual intentionally seeks to do less work, then it’s very easy for them to review one meaningless PR every week and drag out simple tasks, while providing little contributions and refraining from group discussions. Most students are not like this, but I’ve found that they do exist in this program.
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