Educating reflective systems developers

Abstract. Systems development research shows that practitioners seldom follow methods and that the competencies required for successful development of computer‐based systems go well beyond those represented in contemporary methods. These insights make us question the role that methods should play in educating would‐be developers. Pedagogical theories, such as situated learning and double‐loop learning, complement these insights. Integrating the two, we argue that students need to complement the simplified accounts that methods express, with reflections on methods‐in‐use and on development practice in general. We present operationalizations of this idea in two quite different academic settings. Based on a retrospective analysis of our experiences in these settings, and a comparison and evaluation of the two approaches, we propose a number of lessons that can be used to improve the education of would‐be developers.

[1]  Bill Curtis,et al.  A field study of the software design process for large systems , 1988, CACM.

[2]  Lowell Yarusso,et al.  Constructivism vs. Objectivism. , 1992 .

[3]  Bill Curtis,et al.  Breakdowns and processes during the early activities of software design by professionals , 1987 .

[4]  Erik Stolterman,et al.  Uncovering the assumptions behind information systems methodologies: implications for research and practice , 1998, ECIS.

[5]  Mohamed Fayad,et al.  Software development process: a necessary evil , 1997, CACM.

[6]  Peter J. Denning,et al.  How we will learn , 1997 .

[7]  J. Brown,et al.  Organizational Learning and Communities-of-Practice: Toward a Unified View of Working, Learning, and Innovation , 1991 .

[8]  Victoria Hoban,et al.  The Reflective Practitioner , 2013 .

[9]  J. Daniel Couger,et al.  IS '95: guidelines for undergraduate IS curriculum , 1995 .

[10]  R. J. Bogumil,et al.  The reflective practitioner: How professionals think in action , 1985, Proceedings of the IEEE.

[11]  Etienne Wenger,et al.  Situated Learning: Legitimate Peripheral Participation , 1991 .

[12]  Nicholas P. Vitalari,et al.  Differences Between Novice and Expert Systems Analysts: What Do We Know and What Do We Do? , 1998, J. Manag. Inf. Syst..

[13]  Roger D. Boyle,et al.  A Personal Theory of Teaching Computing Through Final Year Projects , 1999, Comput. Sci. Educ..

[14]  C. Argyris.  Increasing Leadership Effectiveness , 1976 .

[15]  James Bach.  What Software Reality Is Really About , 1999, Computer.

[16]  Joyce J. Elam,et al.  Inside a software design team: knowledge acquisition, sharing, and integration , 1993, CACM.

[17]  B. Seely,et al.  Organizational Learning and Communities-of-Practice , 1991 .

[18]  D. Schoen.  Educating the reflective practitioner , 1987 .

[19]  P BanslerJorgen,et al.  A reappraisal of structured analysis , 1993 .

[20]  Lars Mathiassen,et al.  Reflective Systems Development , 1998, Scand. J. Inf. Syst..

[21]  Margaret Tan,et al.  Establishing Mutual Understanding in Systems Design: An Empirical Study , 1994, J. Manag. Inf. Syst..

[22]  David Lorge Parnas,et al.  Software Engineering Programs Are Not Computer Science Programs , 1999, IEEE Softw..

[23]  Kathy Brittain White,et al.  Information Systems Development Success: Perspectives from Project Team Participants , 1986, MIS Q..

[24]  Jan Stage,et al.  Method engineering: who's the customer? , 1996 .

[25]  G. Pask.  Conversation, Cognition and Learning , 1975 .

[26]  W DicksonGary,et al.  Problem solving for effective systems analysis , 1983 .

[27]  Dianne Hagan,et al.  Industrial Experience Projects: A Balance of Process and Product , 1999, Comput. Sci. Educ..

[28]  Gary W. Dickson,et al.  Problem solving for effective systems analysis: an experimental exploration , 1983, CACM.

[29]  Jorgen P. Bansler,et al.  A reappraisal of structured analysis: design in an organizational context , 1993, TOIS.

[30]  Alain Abran,et al.  The Guide to the Software Engineering Body of Knowledge , 1999, IEEE Softw..

[31]  James C. Spohrer,et al.  Learner-centered education , 1996, CACM.

[32]  Gro Bjerknes.  Dialectical Reflection in Information Systems Development , 1992, Scand. J. Inf. Syst..

[33]  D. Schoen,et al.  The Reflective Practitioner: How Professionals Think in Action , 1985 .

[34]  R. J. B..  The Child's Conception of the World , 1929, Nature.

[35]  A. Collins,et al.  Situated Cognition and the Culture of Learning , 1989 .

[36]  Mark M. Misic,et al.  An assessment of systems analysis and design courses , 1999, J. Syst. Softw..

[37]  J. Lave.  Cognition in Practice: Outdoors: a social anthropology of cognition in practice , 1988 .

[38]  Sirkka L. Jarvenpaa,et al.  The Use of Information Technology to Enhance Management School Education: A Theoretical View , 1995, MIS Q..

[39]  Nicholas P. Vitalari,et al.  Knowledge as a Basis for Expertise in Systems Analysis: An Empirical Study , 1985, MIS Q..

[40]  Erik Stolterman,et al.  How System Designers Think about Design and Methods: Some Reflections Based on an Interview Study , 1992, Scand. J. Inf. Syst..

[41]  Carl L. Gordon,et al.  Systems Analysis and Design: Current Practices , 1987, MIS Q..

[42]  E. Erickson.  Increasing Leadership Effectiveness , 1978 .

[43]  Lucy A. Suchman,et al.  Plans and Situated Actions: The Problem of Human-Machine Communication (Learning in Doing: Social, , 1987 .

[44]  B. Skinner,et al.  Technology of Teaching , 1967, Nature.

[45]  Peter J. Denning,et al.  Educating a new engineer , 1992, CACM.

[46]  Joyce J. Elam,et al.  A methodology for studying software design teams: an investigation of conflict behaviors in the requirements definition phase , 1987 .

[47]  Eileen M. Trauth,et al.  The IS Expectation Gap: Industry Expectations Versus Academic Preparation , 1993, MIS Q..

[48]  D. Schoen.  The Reflective Practitioner , 1983 .