A Constructivist Approach to Case Study Based Learning

A Constructivist Approach to Case Study Based Learning (with an emphasis on Software Engineering Education) Vincent Perera School of ComputingScience Middlesex UniversityLondon NW4 4BT v.perera@mdx.ac.uk HE Academy: Information and Computer Sciences - 7th Annual Conference, Dublin 29 - 31 Aug 2006.

A Constructivist Approach to Case Study Based Learning Presentation Outline • First some ‘theoretical’ consideration briefly • Experiential learning • Constructivism • with application in mind. • Case Study: • to assimilate factual information, • learners observe/ ‘real world’/incomplete information. • group work to consolidate • formative/summative assessment grading schema ‘Whole’ = Presentation + Paper (& Poster?) +…(Stats) Sharing Good Practice! Complements field experience/placement …(Not a substitute)

Students are able to use knowledge gained from work experience to illuminate and assist subsequent studies Knowledge is expanded beyond the confines ofacademic studies to develop intellectual skills in real life situations Analytical skills are enhanced by additional practice Students gain an appreciation of the purposes and organisation of the world of work and related interaction Students are assisted in their understanding of individual and group situations Davies L., Experience Based Learning within the curriculum – A Synthesis Study, Association for Sandwich Education and Training/CNAA (1990) Background(including me!)

1 5 2 4 3 Before the Spiral? (A slight diversion!) 1 2 3 What’s the difference? 4 5

The Kolb Learning Cycle(Just a recap!) Concrete Experience Reflective Observation Active Experimentation Abstract Conceptualisation See Paper: Why axes and four quadrants? Fry H, Ketteridge S, Marshall S., A Handbook for Teaching and Learning in Higher Education – Enhancing Academic Practice, Kogan-Page (2001)

3 2 1 4 An Alternative or Supplement? Theory or Abstract Thinking Practice or Concrete Doing Gibbs G., Learning by Doing – A guide to Teaching and Learning Methods, FEU (1988)

1 2 3 4 1 “In software development there is a need for a controlled number of repetitions to ensure that a project delivers on time. Simply carry over this principle into learning in the context of a particular course of fixed duration..” Unwinding the Spiral… START END Should length of each segment represent ‘amount’ of learning?

No single constructivist theory of learning and for the purposes here we shall take constructivism to simply mean … ‘view that emphasise the active role of the learner in building understanding and making sense of information’ Woolfolk A., Educational Psychology, Pearson (2004) Constructivism… • Beyond the notion of ‘an accumulation’ … • Flexible with the potential always to change, sometimes without the addition of new material of learning from outside • At a given time facilitates the selection and assimilation of new material. (It guides what we choose to pay attention to, what we choose to learn and how we make meanings of the material of learning or how we modify what we know or feel already.) • Moon J., A Handbook of Reflective and Experiential Learning – Theory and Practice RoultledgeFalmer (2004)

A large cohort in London and a number of smaller cohorts at different centres abroad. Assessments in the past had been organised around Case Study based group coursework assignments and a final examination To overcome some of the limitations and weaknesses of this approach, an individual piece of coursework was introduced some time ago. Having both an individual as well as a group coursework during the same semester has its own problems Students constructed their case study based around given guidelines Assessment: Development

Construct Meaning using a Case Study A VC Case Study VB B VA C Each constructing meaning through ‘window’ of experience (limited/restricted view?) ~Aperture = Experience

Examples of Case Studies 1 • News paper article on one occasion • Based around material available on the WWW such as: • http://www.hkbu.edu.hk/~johnny/simain.htm A translation giving the same information was only a click away …

Examples of Case Studies 2 ‘Case Study’ Design Another based around www.cottages4you.co.uk. (student in Dubai, has an option www.dubaibreaks.com which serves a similar purpose.) Next semester’s based around a newspaper article (‘Dial away that parking pain…’, The Sunday Times, July 2, 2006) plus www.verrus.co.uk. • Variations could include: • video clips • storyboards • academic papers • … One of the advantages of the above approach was its adaptability

Construct Meaning using Case Studies 1Individual Coursework Semester 1 06/07 Activity 1.1 requires working in a group at this stage. The group formed at this stage would be provisional. (Ideally form groups of three or four members for this group forming exercise.) Activity 1.1 Activity 1.2 Activity 1.3 • Task 1 Lab exercise - interpret given facts and apply the skills gained in a preliminary practice session. • Task 2 Follow on activity which is tied to Task 1 but is more difficult… document assumptions. What they discover or assume in this part may require them to revise previous work. • Task 3 Usually essay… able to generalise from the specifics of Tasks 1 and 2. Students begin to see wider implications of their learning rather than the narrow confines of the work completed. • Task 4 Groups formed earlier on with group work in mind. Task 4 is an evaluation of a group member’s preliminary efforts at Tasks 1 and 2. Task 3 can start while waiting for other’s efforts and usually runs parallel to Task 4.

Construct Meaning using Case Studies 1Individual Coursework • Validation: • Coursework grades are validated against related topics in the examination. Usually affects one or two percent of candidates achieving top exam grades. • It is not unusual for coursework and examination grades to differ sometimes as much as 20% and with most students there is no need or intention by examiners to review their grades. (an unusual discrepancy between a candidate’s exam performance: at the discretion of the examiners, may be awarded the average of these exam and coursework components.) • Candidates might be asked to do an alternative coursework as well as appear for a coursework interview.

Case Study based Coursework Case Study based Coursework Case Study based Coursework Case Study based Individual work D D C C Time for Group to consolidate B B A A Case Study based Group Coursework Construct Meaning using Case Studies 2 Consolidates individual ‘views’ …common understanding… common goal… Experience carried over to the Group

With Group Coursework students: Do exercises for material covered in the second half of the course and Consolidate earlier work to facilitate deep learning Construct Meaning using Case Studies 2 • six standalone tasks • shared and discussed • personal reflective statement • Individual contributions are rewarded because, 50% of the marks are awarded to group effort and 50% for individual effort Group experience extends beyond coursework

Options for group coursework submission: Notes designed for other members of a group and others’ views and contributions - presented as minutes or notes of meetings or PowerPoint slides and use these to explain to other members of the group. Document contributions as notes of meetings (PowerPoint slides plus voice recording?) Poster presentation (A4 with Arial 6 for text would suffice) using PowerPoint copying group members and document their contributions as notes of meetings. Construct Meaning using Case Studies 3Recent Changes Guidance on how to?

Success? WHY? 15% High Achievers! 30% Bad Failures! Based on grades for candidates in London only

Significantly different results achieved in two previous semesters for the same module at the same campus (but larger cohorts) % Scale Point

Out of a total of 33 responding out of a possible 60 70% or more: 5 indicated expectations – Actual achievement higher at 11 (Possibly all respondents) 60 – 69%: 10 expectations - None achieved this! 40 – 59%: 12 expectations - 17 achieved Marginal Failures 3 expectations - 2 achieved Bad Failures 1 expected this but 21 in total includes non respondents! Other Statistics… Only half the students liked the Case Study changes! 75% thought that plagiarism has been made more difficult but nearly 30% thought that somehow students find ways and means to plagiarise.

Theory… Examples… Results Basis for Application/Practice Illustrations for a particular subject/area but adaptable to other subjects W I P Effect on High Performers High Failure Rate? Plagiarism made more difficult? Concluding then…

1 2 3 A final thought! 5 1 4 2 Thanks Questions 3 4 4 5 5 Simplicity Best?

A Constructivist Approach to Case Study Based Learning