Maria Knobelsdorf, University of Dortmund, Germany - Didaktik der ...

Engineering (SE), Information Systems (IS), or Computer
Science Education (CSEd).
Our students were assigned to develop school projects in
the context of our department’s outreach programs conducted
in cooperation with schools and local software development
enterprises. Thus our project course followed a
contextualized approach in that our students were to develop
project management and software development skills
in the context of preparing Informatics teaching units and
designing computational artifacts for the classroom, i. e. in
an educational context outside Informatics. In the project
our students implemented Greenfoot [41] scenarios simulating
some technical and non-technical issues of ‘real-world’
contexts, namely the context of airport baggage handling
and the context of inventory control in retail stores.
The proposed process model is design-based in two respects.
On the one hand the development of teaching units
and the design of artifacts fitting the classroom context
are considered to be main activities in preparing contextoriented
teaching. Thus design activities are an integral part
of the proposed process. And on the other hand the model
itself is the result of an iterative design process.
Albeit grounded on our specific project experience the
model is reasonably abstract to present a reference framework
within which different conceptions of teaching Informatics
in context can be discussed.
2. DESIGN-BASED METHODOLOGY
In 1969 Simon introduced the concept of design sciences
as the sciences of the artificial [36]. According to Simon the
artificial is investigated not only in terms of what is, but also
in terms of what ought to be. Design studies therefore aim at
both the development of artifacts – e. g. software, processes,
institutions, or interventions [20, 40] – and the generation of
significant theories and usable knowledge, e. g. design principles
or patterns [1, 29]. Moreover design-based approaches
are characterized by an iterative design process, where the
artifacts are developed in a process of ‘progressive refinement.’
Thus, for instance, IS and SE can be characterized
as design sciences [17].
In education research, design-based research methodology
(DBR) is being increasingly utilized [1]. According to
Collins et al. [3] design experiments “bring together two critical
pieces in order to guide us to better educational refinement:
a design focus and assessment of critical design elements”
(p. 21). While design experiments are conducted
in specific educational contexts, they are aiming at general
design principles.
The artifact we developed in the course of our design experiments
was the process model for bringing contexts into
the classroom, described in section 4. The process model
was instantiated in five university-level software development
project courses and five associated week-long school
projects. In the project courses the students assumed diverse
roles. They developed (educational) software, prepared
school projects, and finally taught classes in the ‘classroom
context.’ Thus the assessment of the process model
was primarily based on the evaluation of the project courses,
grounded on:
• assessment of the software and other artifacts developed
by the students with respect to requirements,
• students’ project reports and course achievements,
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• student feedback (oral, questionnaire),
• feedback from the boys and girls who attended the
associated school projects (oral, questionnaire), and
• feedback from the teachers of our cooperation school
(oral).
In the following section we describe how the process model
evolved from our understanding of software development as
decontextualization and recontextualization, in combination
with the seminal design of Greenfoot, and the idea of teaching
Informatics ‘in context.’
3. ORIGINATION OF THE MODEL
Our process model evolved in a multi-institutional project
setting including multiple arenas. In a project-based software
development course for Informatics students, first offered
in 2009/10, our students were assigned to develop an
Informatics school project. In the following we describe the
prerequisites that informed the design of our first project
course and the corresponding process model, as well as the
subsequent iterations of progressive refinement.
3.1 Phase 0: Prerequisites
Our objectives for the project course were twofold. On
the one hand our Informatics students were to develop, for
instance, project management and social skills, software development
methods and so forth. In this project we had external
clients – the cooperating schools – and a firm project
deadline. On the other hand we defined requirements concerning
the school project – the product.
With the school project we wanted to rouse the boys’ and
girls’ interest in Informatics and thus induce them to choose
optional Informatics courses at school. According to Knobelsdorf
and Schulte [23] context-oriented approaches are
auspicious with regard to increasing participation in Computing.
Therefore we were positive that a context-oriented
approach was motivating not only for our students but also
for the boys and girls who participated in the school project.
In order to present a broad image of our discipline we aimed
to expose the youngsters to a complex real-world context
where information technology can make a difference. Moreover
we wanted to provide insight into a few CS core concepts,
like variables, control structures and object orientation,
as well as into more application-oriented issues. So our
students were expected to develop multiple views of Computing
and to share these with the pupils, drawing examples
from one coherent application context. In cooperation with
a local software development enterprise, we chose the context
of airport baggage handling [31] and made it accessible
to the students by arranging an on-site inspection at the
Cologne Bonn Airport, and talks with domain experts from
both the airport and the software producer PSI Logistics
GmbH. Thus our students were provided insight into the
context they had to analyze and to understand in order to
present it to the class later on in the school project.
As a technological framework we used the educational
Java programming environment Greenfoot [41] which is also
a framework for the development of microworlds, i. e. 2D
games and simulations, or scenarios [16, 26]. Hence the software
our students were to develop, essentially was Greenfoot
scenarios.