Lynette Johns-Boast | The Australian National University (original) (raw)

Areas of expertise
- Curriculum And Pedagogy Theory And Development
- Science, Technology And Engineering Curriculum And Pedagogy
- Higher Education
- Software Engineering
- Information Systems Development Methodologies

Research interests
My broad research area is engineering education & curriculum design and development in higher education.

My research includes curriculum design and development in higher education, engineering education and the transfer of learning between university and the workplace, experiential and cooperative learning, personality and successful teams in software engineering, open educational resources (OER) and learning object repositories (LOR), and women in engineering.

The interest in OERs and LORs is centred on how we can design and develop repositories of educational resources that can be re-used, re-purposed and re-combined according to the official curriculum to create courseware and adaptive and personalised educational systems.

Biography
I have a BA from the ANU (1982) in modern European languages, a Graduate Diploma in Information Systems from the CCAE (now UC) (1988) and a PhD in engineering education from the ANU (2016) -- "Engineering the curriculum: Towards an adaptive curriculum" (https://openresearch-repository.anu.edu.au/handle/1885/110397).

I am a Lecturer in software engineering in the Research School of Computer Science (RSCS), College of Engineering and Computer Science (CECS) and a member of the Software Intensive Systems Engineering (SISE) and the Education Development (EDU) Groups.

Since 2014, I have been the post graduate coursework convenor for the Research School of Computer Science (RSCS). Currently I am the course convenor and lecturer for Systems Engineering for Software Engineers (COMP3530/COMP6353), and convenor for Managing Software Development (COMP3120), Managing Software Projects in a Systems Context (COMP8110), Managing Software Quality and Process (COMP4130), Professional Practice I & II (COMP6250 & COMP8260). For the period 2006 to 2012 I was course convenor and lecturer-in-charge for the Software Engineering Group Projects for third and fourth year students (COMP3100 / COMP3500 / COMP4500). I have also previously taught Software Analysis and Design (COMP3110 / COMP6311), and Software Process (COMP4110).

Prior to joining the ANU as a lecturer in 2005, I had 20 years’ experience in the information technology industry in Australia and the United Kingdom, including establishing a very successful small business which provides bespoke software and consultancy services to the Australian Federal Government in Canberra.

Awards

I was awarded Senior Fellowship of the Higher Education Academy of the UK in 2014. In 2012 I received the Australian Council of Engineering Deans National Award for Engineering Education Excellence and in 2007 I received the “WICked Woman of the Year” award from the Canberra Women in Information and Communication (WIC) for my contribution to developing, encouraging and mentoring young women in industry and at university.

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Papers by Lynette Johns-Boast

International Journal of Engineering Education, 2020

This paper presents a model for coaching students through open-ended capstone design projects. Th... more This paper presents a model for coaching students through open-ended capstone design projects. The model contains two novelelements: a Project Value Map for guiding, judging and benchmarking value throughout a project; and a formative feedbackprocess called the Many Eyes Process. The Project Value Map is a teaching tool that provides a common language for describing,discussing and comparing the value of project work across many varied projects and stakeholders; and the Many Eyes Processgenerates feedback from multiple perspectives to guide the team in project decision-making. The Many Eyes Process is informed byfour key stakeholder perspectives: self-evaluation, a ‘shadow’ perspective, a teaching assistant (TA) perspective and a clientperspective. The Many Eyes Process is run during three Project Audit Weeks, spaced throughout the 12-week semester. The outputfrom the Many Eyes Process provides both quantitative and qualitative feedback to the team and its stakeholders. Thecombinatio...

European Journal of Engineering Education, 2014

The accuracy of the Content should not be relied upon and should be independently verified with p... more The accuracy of the Content should not be relied upon and should be independently verified with primary sources of information. Taylor and Francis shall not be liable for any losses, actions, claims, proceedings, demands, costs, expenses, damages, and other liabilities whatsoever or howsoever caused arising directly or indirectly in connection with, in relation to or arising out of the use of the Content. This article may be used for research, teaching, and private study purposes. Any substantial or systematic reproduction, redistribution, reselling, loan, sub-licensing,

2013 ASEE International Forum Proceedings

Higher education institutions produce some form of curriculum documentation that is made availabl... more Higher education institutions produce some form of curriculum documentation that is made available, usually via a publicly accessible website, to the public, and current and prospective students. Such documentation is important for an institution as it effectively forms a compact with students and society more generally. For any given program of study or individual course, this documentation specifies the topics to which students will be introduced and the outcomes they are expected to demonstrate by the end of their period of study. Frequently these documents also form part of the accreditation of education programs by professional or government bodies. Such documents are the result of considerable effort on the part of individual academics and their institution and the formal curriculum they represent usually has been crafted carefully to reflect the requirements and goals set by accrediting bodies and institutions.

Proceedings of IEEE International Conference on Teaching, Assessment, and Learning for Engineering (TALE) 2012, 2012

While much has been written about collaboration in higher education, very little of it focuses on... more While much has been written about collaboration in higher education, very little of it focuses on collaboration across educational institutions. This paper describes the experience of a project to share courses between two Australian institutions using a blended online and face-to-face course design. We discuss models that have emerged in the process. It was found that collaboration is most fruitful, in terms of student learning and course development and delivery, when the course coordinators in the two universities are peers who have comparable gravitas and breadth and depth of knowledge. It was also found that there are preconditions to the success of a two-university collaboration, and that establishing these preconditions takes a considerable amount of time Abstract-While much has been written about collaboration in higher education, very little of it focuses on collaboration across educational institutions. This paper describes the experience of a project to share courses between two Australian institutions using a blended online and face-to-face course design. We discuss models that have emerged in the process. It was found that collaboration is most fruitful, in terms of student learning and course development and delivery, when the course coordinators in the two universities are peers who have comparable gravitas and breadth and depth of knowledge. It was also found that there are preconditions to the success of a two-university collaboration, and that establishing these preconditions takes a considerable amount of time.

BACKGROUND Descriptions of the term curriculum abound. It is variously described as 'a list ... more BACKGROUND Descriptions of the term curriculum abound. It is variously described as 'a list of subjects', a 'set of courses', the 'entire course content','a set of planned learning experiences', the 'written plan of action'as opposed to what is actually done in the classroom or even a 'decision making process' for determining educational purposes and how they are to be achieved or some combination of these concepts. The literature provides a variety of conceptions of curriculum which essentially centre on deciding what should be included ( ...

Annual conference of the Australasian Association for Engineering Education (AAEE), Wellington New Zealand, Dec 2014

Higher education institutions produce some form of curriculum documentation that is made availabl... more Higher education institutions produce some form of curriculum documentation that is made available, usually via a publicly accessible website, to the public, and current and prospective students. Such documentation is important for an institution as it effectively forms a compact with students and society more generally. For any given program of study or individual course, this documentation specifies the topics to which students will be introduced and the outcomes they are expected to demonstrate by the end of their period of study. Frequently these documents also form part of the accreditation of education programs by professional or government bodies. Such documents are the result of considerable effort on the part of individual academics and their institution and the formal curriculum they represent usually has been crafted carefully to reflect the requirements and goals set by accrediting bodies and institutions.

One prominent approach in the exploration of the variations in project team performance has been ... more One prominent approach in the exploration of the variations in project team performance has been to study two components of the aggregate personalities of the team members: conscientiousness and agreeableness. A second line of research, known as self-categorisation theory, argues that identifying as team members and the team's performance norms should substantially influence the team's performance. This paper explores the influence of both these perspectives in university software engineering project teams. Eighty students worked to complete a piece of software in small project teams during 2007 or 2008. To reduce limitations in statistical analysis, Monte Carlo simulation techniques were employed to extrapolate from the results of the original sample to a larger simulated sample (2043 cases, within 319 teams). The results emphasise the importance of taking into account personality (particularly conscientiousness), and both team identification and the team's norm of performance, in order to cultivate higher levels of performance in student software engineering project teams.

To be presented at the 43rd Annual Frontiers in Education (FIE) Conference

Universities are required to produce graduates with good technical knowledge and ‘employability s... more Universities are required to produce graduates with good technical knowledge and ‘employability skills’ such as communication, team work, problem-solving, initiative and enterprise, planning, organizing and self-management. The capstone software development course described in this paper addresses this need. The course design contains three significant innovations: running the course for two cohorts of students in combination; requiring students to be team members in 3rd year and team leaders in their 4th (final) year; and providing assessment and incentives for individuals to pursue quality work in a group-work environment. The course design enables the creation of a simulated industrial context, the benefits of which go well beyond the usual, well-documented benefits of group project work. In order to deliver a successful outcome, students must combine academic theory and practical knowledge whilst overcoming the day-to-day challenges that face project teams. Course design enables the blending of university-based project work and work-integrated learning in an innovative context to better prepare students for participating in, and leading, multi-disciplinary teams on graduation. Outcomes have been compellingly positive for all stakeholders – students, faculty and industry partners.

International Forum, 120th Annual Conference of The American Association for Engineering Education (ASEE), Atlanta Georgia, Jun 22, 2013

The undergraduate curriculum is one of the most important products higher education institutions ... more The undergraduate curriculum is one of the most important products higher education institutions
offer their stakeholders 1 as it both determines and drives outcomes. Despite this, the most notable
outcome of a “review of the literature on curriculum in higher education in the UK, the USA and
Australia … [is that there] is the dearth of writing on the subject” 2. That literature which does
address higher education curricula assumes a common understanding of the term curriculum and
targets curriculum related issues such as ‘inclusive curriculum’, ‘learner-centered curriculum’,
internationalization of the curriculum or it focuses on the design of individual courses – that is,
single units of study 2.
Accepting that an important aspect of our role as academics is “not to impart knowledge, but to
design learning environments that support knowledge acquisition” 3, what impact might a higher
education academic’s understanding of the term ‘curriculum’ have upon the process and activities
they undertake when designing and developing courses and programs of study?
This paper reports on the initial findings of an on-going study whose aim is to tease apart the
factors that affect an individual academic’s engagement with curriculum design and development.
So far, data has been collected from 22 academics involved in teaching computer science,
software engineering, engineering, and information systems courses at three Australian
universities. The constructivist grounded theory methodology proposed by Charmaz 4 was
selected for this project. Accordingly, data collection and analysis are being conducted
concurrently, with the outcome of earlier data analysis informing subsequent data collection.
Initial data analysis indicates that academics focus their attention on course level curriculum
rather than program level; don’t frequently discuss ideas and proposed changes with peers; that
curriculum design and development at individual course level is essentially a solitary activity; and
that academics don’t have a coherent view of the whole degree program. These findings are in
accord with those reported in 1997 by Stark, Lowther, Sharp and Arnold 5. Furthermore, the
diverse understanding of just what curriculum is caused confusion during focus group interviews.
In addition to the findings noted above, participants described the goals and outcomes of a
curriculum as a specification or set of requirements, and noted that the written, official or
“espoused curriculum” was a complex, “designed object” whose internal relationships were hard
to understand and visualize. Participants also identified the notion of “drift”, where a curriculum
moves out of alignment as teaching staff, responsible for individual courses are replaced, and/or
small but frequent change to course goals and outcomes are implemented without reference to
degree outcomes.
In this paper program refers to a complete, integrated course of study leading to the award of a
degree qualification. Course refers to a single unit of study, sometimes called a unit, subject or
module. Students take a number of courses each semester. A program is constructed from many
courses. Academic refers to a teacher at a higher education institution, sometimes called faculty.

Teaching, Assessment and Learning for Engineering (TALE), 2012 IEEE International Conference on

While much has been written about collaboration in higher education, very little of it focuses on... more While much has been written about collaboration in higher education, very little of it focuses on collaboration across educational institutions. This paper describes the experience of a project to share courses between two Australian institutions using a blended online and face-to-face course design. We discuss models that have emerged in the process. It was found that collaboration is most fruitful, in terms of student learning and course development and delivery, when the course coordinators in the two universities are peers who have comparable gravitas and breadth and depth of knowledge. It was also found that there are preconditions to the success of a two-university collaboration, and that establishing these preconditions takes a considerable amount of time.

Increasingly tertiary institutions are using group work and group projects in response to industr... more Increasingly tertiary institutions are using group work and group projects in response to industry demands that universities produce graduates who possess appropriate 'employability skills' such as communication, team work, problem-solving, initiative and enterprise, planning and organising and self-management (DEST, 2002). However, when the majority of assessment items are based upon group activities, it is a difficult and time consuming task to be certain that marks awarded to individual students accurately represent that student's effort, knowledge and abilities. This paper describes several years’ experimentation with different approaches to the evaluation of teams of students working on unique industry projects. The final approach – a system of regular peer assessment, combined with innovative assessment of project activities and deliverables through a formal project review process – has enabled us to allocate individual marks for group work that accurately reflects student contribution and knowledge while at the same time
reducing the burden upon course academics.

aaee.com.au

Many tertiary institutions use group project courses as capstones for their engineering, software... more Many tertiary institutions use group project courses as capstones for their engineering, software engineering, computer science and informatics degree programs. These courses give students the opportunity to put together the jigsaw that is their
learning from the apparently disparate pieces they have collected throughout their degree program and to gain some experience dealing with team issues. Benefits to students from participating in such courses are well documented. Not so well documented, however, are the benefits flowing to industry from participating in such programs. This paper describes the benefits one local company has derived from its participation in our third and fourth year software engineering group project course. We also draw conclusions about the model that has enabled benefits to flow to all involved – students, industrial partner and educational institution.

20th Annual Conference of the Australasian …, Jan 1, 2009

Many tertiary institutions use project-based courses as a capstone for final year engineering, so... more Many tertiary institutions use project-based courses as a capstone for final year engineering, software engineering, computing and informatics students. Such courses give students an opportunity to draw together the apparently disparate learning they have undertaken during the preceding years. Students often work as members of a team, gaining team skills, as well as interacting with industry rather than academics only. In this paper we describe how we have restructured our project courses by forming teams comprising 4th year students as team leaders and 3rd year students. We discuss our experiences as well as evaluating the new course structure and its outcomes. We believe we have improved the outcomes for all stakeholders – students, clients and academics – and we have reduced significantly the work load of the academics involved, while gaining an improved ability to differentiate between students' contribution.

Conference Presentations by Lynette Johns-Boast

Realising Ambitions: 6th Annual Symposium of the United Kingdom & Ireland Engineering Education Research Network, UK&IE EER Network 2018, 2018

Final-year capstone design projects in the Bachelor of Engineering and Bachelor of Software Engin... more Final-year capstone design projects in the Bachelor of Engineering and Bachelor of Software Engineering degree programs at the Australian National University (ANU) incorporate a student partnership model called the Many Eyes feedback process. This process has been successful in delivering real learning value to students and enabling students to deliver real value to clients by balancing project outcomes and good governance. This paper examines student's perceptions of the value their team delivered to the client, and the value they personally delivered. We discuss how variations here can reveal aspects of team function and dysfunction.

CLIVE L. DYM MUDD DESIGN WORKSHOP XI: DESIGN EDUCATION & PRACTICE “HOW PROCESS MATTERS”, 2019

This paper presents a model for coaching students through open-ended capstone design projects. Th... more This paper presents a model for coaching students through open-ended capstone design projects. This model contains two novel elements: a Value Framework for guiding, judging and benchmarking value throughout a project, and a formative feedback process called the Many Eyes Process. The Value Framework provides a common language for describing the quality of project work across many varied projects, and the Many Eyes Process generates feedback from multiple perspectives for the team to guide project decision-making going forward. Four key stakeholder perspectives inform the Many Eyes Process: the self-evaluation, a 'shadow' perspective, an instructor perspective and a client perspective. Other perspectives may be invoked in the process where appropriate, such as a nominated mentor or course convenor. The Many Eyes Process is run during three Project Audit Weeks in projects spanning one semester. The output from the Many Eyes Process provides quantitative and qualitative feedback to the team and its stakeholders. We have found that the Many Eyes Process is a useful tool for aligning expectations over the course of the project, with the difference in evaluation between stakeholders reducing by 1 grade band over the semester. This indicates that an emphasis on a formal, constructive feedback process helps to align expectations during a capstone project.

Chapters by Lynette Johns-Boast

Overcoming Challenges in Software Engineering Education: Delivering Non-Technical Knowledge and Skills, Mar 14, 2014

Although industry acknowledges university graduates possess strong technical knowledge, it contin... more Although industry acknowledges university graduates possess strong technical knowledge, it continues to lament the lack of commensurately strong personal and professional skills that allow graduates to apply their technical knowledge and to become effective members of the workforce quickly. This chapter outlines a research-backed course design that blends experiential learning to create an industrial simulation, the rewards of which go well beyond the usual benefits of group-project capstone design courses. The simulated industrial context facilitates the graduation of software engineers who possess the requisite personal and professional attributes. Innovations include combining two cohorts of students into one, engaging industry partners through the provision and management of projects, and implementing proven education approaches that promote the development of personal and professional skills. Adoption of the suggested practices will help institutions produce “work-ready” graduates repeatedly, year after year, even by software engineering academics who may not have received teacher training and who may not possess significant industry experience themselves.

International Journal of Engineering Education, 2020

This paper presents a model for coaching students through open-ended capstone design projects. Th... more This paper presents a model for coaching students through open-ended capstone design projects. The model contains two novelelements: a Project Value Map for guiding, judging and benchmarking value throughout a project; and a formative feedbackprocess called the Many Eyes Process. The Project Value Map is a teaching tool that provides a common language for describing,discussing and comparing the value of project work across many varied projects and stakeholders; and the Many Eyes Processgenerates feedback from multiple perspectives to guide the team in project decision-making. The Many Eyes Process is informed byfour key stakeholder perspectives: self-evaluation, a ‘shadow’ perspective, a teaching assistant (TA) perspective and a clientperspective. The Many Eyes Process is run during three Project Audit Weeks, spaced throughout the 12-week semester. The outputfrom the Many Eyes Process provides both quantitative and qualitative feedback to the team and its stakeholders. Thecombinatio...

European Journal of Engineering Education, 2014

The accuracy of the Content should not be relied upon and should be independently verified with p... more The accuracy of the Content should not be relied upon and should be independently verified with primary sources of information. Taylor and Francis shall not be liable for any losses, actions, claims, proceedings, demands, costs, expenses, damages, and other liabilities whatsoever or howsoever caused arising directly or indirectly in connection with, in relation to or arising out of the use of the Content. This article may be used for research, teaching, and private study purposes. Any substantial or systematic reproduction, redistribution, reselling, loan, sub-licensing,

2013 ASEE International Forum Proceedings

Higher education institutions produce some form of curriculum documentation that is made availabl... more Higher education institutions produce some form of curriculum documentation that is made available, usually via a publicly accessible website, to the public, and current and prospective students. Such documentation is important for an institution as it effectively forms a compact with students and society more generally. For any given program of study or individual course, this documentation specifies the topics to which students will be introduced and the outcomes they are expected to demonstrate by the end of their period of study. Frequently these documents also form part of the accreditation of education programs by professional or government bodies. Such documents are the result of considerable effort on the part of individual academics and their institution and the formal curriculum they represent usually has been crafted carefully to reflect the requirements and goals set by accrediting bodies and institutions.

Proceedings of IEEE International Conference on Teaching, Assessment, and Learning for Engineering (TALE) 2012, 2012

While much has been written about collaboration in higher education, very little of it focuses on... more While much has been written about collaboration in higher education, very little of it focuses on collaboration across educational institutions. This paper describes the experience of a project to share courses between two Australian institutions using a blended online and face-to-face course design. We discuss models that have emerged in the process. It was found that collaboration is most fruitful, in terms of student learning and course development and delivery, when the course coordinators in the two universities are peers who have comparable gravitas and breadth and depth of knowledge. It was also found that there are preconditions to the success of a two-university collaboration, and that establishing these preconditions takes a considerable amount of time Abstract-While much has been written about collaboration in higher education, very little of it focuses on collaboration across educational institutions. This paper describes the experience of a project to share courses between two Australian institutions using a blended online and face-to-face course design. We discuss models that have emerged in the process. It was found that collaboration is most fruitful, in terms of student learning and course development and delivery, when the course coordinators in the two universities are peers who have comparable gravitas and breadth and depth of knowledge. It was also found that there are preconditions to the success of a two-university collaboration, and that establishing these preconditions takes a considerable amount of time.

BACKGROUND Descriptions of the term curriculum abound. It is variously described as 'a list ... more BACKGROUND Descriptions of the term curriculum abound. It is variously described as 'a list of subjects', a 'set of courses', the 'entire course content','a set of planned learning experiences', the 'written plan of action'as opposed to what is actually done in the classroom or even a 'decision making process' for determining educational purposes and how they are to be achieved or some combination of these concepts. The literature provides a variety of conceptions of curriculum which essentially centre on deciding what should be included ( ...

Annual conference of the Australasian Association for Engineering Education (AAEE), Wellington New Zealand, Dec 2014

Higher education institutions produce some form of curriculum documentation that is made availabl... more Higher education institutions produce some form of curriculum documentation that is made available, usually via a publicly accessible website, to the public, and current and prospective students. Such documentation is important for an institution as it effectively forms a compact with students and society more generally. For any given program of study or individual course, this documentation specifies the topics to which students will be introduced and the outcomes they are expected to demonstrate by the end of their period of study. Frequently these documents also form part of the accreditation of education programs by professional or government bodies. Such documents are the result of considerable effort on the part of individual academics and their institution and the formal curriculum they represent usually has been crafted carefully to reflect the requirements and goals set by accrediting bodies and institutions.

One prominent approach in the exploration of the variations in project team performance has been ... more One prominent approach in the exploration of the variations in project team performance has been to study two components of the aggregate personalities of the team members: conscientiousness and agreeableness. A second line of research, known as self-categorisation theory, argues that identifying as team members and the team's performance norms should substantially influence the team's performance. This paper explores the influence of both these perspectives in university software engineering project teams. Eighty students worked to complete a piece of software in small project teams during 2007 or 2008. To reduce limitations in statistical analysis, Monte Carlo simulation techniques were employed to extrapolate from the results of the original sample to a larger simulated sample (2043 cases, within 319 teams). The results emphasise the importance of taking into account personality (particularly conscientiousness), and both team identification and the team's norm of performance, in order to cultivate higher levels of performance in student software engineering project teams.

To be presented at the 43rd Annual Frontiers in Education (FIE) Conference

Universities are required to produce graduates with good technical knowledge and ‘employability s... more Universities are required to produce graduates with good technical knowledge and ‘employability skills’ such as communication, team work, problem-solving, initiative and enterprise, planning, organizing and self-management. The capstone software development course described in this paper addresses this need. The course design contains three significant innovations: running the course for two cohorts of students in combination; requiring students to be team members in 3rd year and team leaders in their 4th (final) year; and providing assessment and incentives for individuals to pursue quality work in a group-work environment. The course design enables the creation of a simulated industrial context, the benefits of which go well beyond the usual, well-documented benefits of group project work. In order to deliver a successful outcome, students must combine academic theory and practical knowledge whilst overcoming the day-to-day challenges that face project teams. Course design enables the blending of university-based project work and work-integrated learning in an innovative context to better prepare students for participating in, and leading, multi-disciplinary teams on graduation. Outcomes have been compellingly positive for all stakeholders – students, faculty and industry partners.

International Forum, 120th Annual Conference of The American Association for Engineering Education (ASEE), Atlanta Georgia, Jun 22, 2013

The undergraduate curriculum is one of the most important products higher education institutions ... more The undergraduate curriculum is one of the most important products higher education institutions
offer their stakeholders 1 as it both determines and drives outcomes. Despite this, the most notable
outcome of a “review of the literature on curriculum in higher education in the UK, the USA and
Australia … [is that there] is the dearth of writing on the subject” 2. That literature which does
address higher education curricula assumes a common understanding of the term curriculum and
targets curriculum related issues such as ‘inclusive curriculum’, ‘learner-centered curriculum’,
internationalization of the curriculum or it focuses on the design of individual courses – that is,
single units of study 2.
Accepting that an important aspect of our role as academics is “not to impart knowledge, but to
design learning environments that support knowledge acquisition” 3, what impact might a higher
education academic’s understanding of the term ‘curriculum’ have upon the process and activities
they undertake when designing and developing courses and programs of study?
This paper reports on the initial findings of an on-going study whose aim is to tease apart the
factors that affect an individual academic’s engagement with curriculum design and development.
So far, data has been collected from 22 academics involved in teaching computer science,
software engineering, engineering, and information systems courses at three Australian
universities. The constructivist grounded theory methodology proposed by Charmaz 4 was
selected for this project. Accordingly, data collection and analysis are being conducted
concurrently, with the outcome of earlier data analysis informing subsequent data collection.
Initial data analysis indicates that academics focus their attention on course level curriculum
rather than program level; don’t frequently discuss ideas and proposed changes with peers; that
curriculum design and development at individual course level is essentially a solitary activity; and
that academics don’t have a coherent view of the whole degree program. These findings are in
accord with those reported in 1997 by Stark, Lowther, Sharp and Arnold 5. Furthermore, the
diverse understanding of just what curriculum is caused confusion during focus group interviews.
In addition to the findings noted above, participants described the goals and outcomes of a
curriculum as a specification or set of requirements, and noted that the written, official or
“espoused curriculum” was a complex, “designed object” whose internal relationships were hard
to understand and visualize. Participants also identified the notion of “drift”, where a curriculum
moves out of alignment as teaching staff, responsible for individual courses are replaced, and/or
small but frequent change to course goals and outcomes are implemented without reference to
degree outcomes.
In this paper program refers to a complete, integrated course of study leading to the award of a
degree qualification. Course refers to a single unit of study, sometimes called a unit, subject or
module. Students take a number of courses each semester. A program is constructed from many
courses. Academic refers to a teacher at a higher education institution, sometimes called faculty.

Teaching, Assessment and Learning for Engineering (TALE), 2012 IEEE International Conference on

While much has been written about collaboration in higher education, very little of it focuses on... more While much has been written about collaboration in higher education, very little of it focuses on collaboration across educational institutions. This paper describes the experience of a project to share courses between two Australian institutions using a blended online and face-to-face course design. We discuss models that have emerged in the process. It was found that collaboration is most fruitful, in terms of student learning and course development and delivery, when the course coordinators in the two universities are peers who have comparable gravitas and breadth and depth of knowledge. It was also found that there are preconditions to the success of a two-university collaboration, and that establishing these preconditions takes a considerable amount of time.

Increasingly tertiary institutions are using group work and group projects in response to industr... more Increasingly tertiary institutions are using group work and group projects in response to industry demands that universities produce graduates who possess appropriate 'employability skills' such as communication, team work, problem-solving, initiative and enterprise, planning and organising and self-management (DEST, 2002). However, when the majority of assessment items are based upon group activities, it is a difficult and time consuming task to be certain that marks awarded to individual students accurately represent that student's effort, knowledge and abilities. This paper describes several years’ experimentation with different approaches to the evaluation of teams of students working on unique industry projects. The final approach – a system of regular peer assessment, combined with innovative assessment of project activities and deliverables through a formal project review process – has enabled us to allocate individual marks for group work that accurately reflects student contribution and knowledge while at the same time
reducing the burden upon course academics.

aaee.com.au

Many tertiary institutions use group project courses as capstones for their engineering, software... more Many tertiary institutions use group project courses as capstones for their engineering, software engineering, computer science and informatics degree programs. These courses give students the opportunity to put together the jigsaw that is their
learning from the apparently disparate pieces they have collected throughout their degree program and to gain some experience dealing with team issues. Benefits to students from participating in such courses are well documented. Not so well documented, however, are the benefits flowing to industry from participating in such programs. This paper describes the benefits one local company has derived from its participation in our third and fourth year software engineering group project course. We also draw conclusions about the model that has enabled benefits to flow to all involved – students, industrial partner and educational institution.

20th Annual Conference of the Australasian …, Jan 1, 2009

Many tertiary institutions use project-based courses as a capstone for final year engineering, so... more Many tertiary institutions use project-based courses as a capstone for final year engineering, software engineering, computing and informatics students. Such courses give students an opportunity to draw together the apparently disparate learning they have undertaken during the preceding years. Students often work as members of a team, gaining team skills, as well as interacting with industry rather than academics only. In this paper we describe how we have restructured our project courses by forming teams comprising 4th year students as team leaders and 3rd year students. We discuss our experiences as well as evaluating the new course structure and its outcomes. We believe we have improved the outcomes for all stakeholders – students, clients and academics – and we have reduced significantly the work load of the academics involved, while gaining an improved ability to differentiate between students' contribution.

Realising Ambitions: 6th Annual Symposium of the United Kingdom & Ireland Engineering Education Research Network, UK&IE EER Network 2018, 2018

Final-year capstone design projects in the Bachelor of Engineering and Bachelor of Software Engin... more Final-year capstone design projects in the Bachelor of Engineering and Bachelor of Software Engineering degree programs at the Australian National University (ANU) incorporate a student partnership model called the Many Eyes feedback process. This process has been successful in delivering real learning value to students and enabling students to deliver real value to clients by balancing project outcomes and good governance. This paper examines student's perceptions of the value their team delivered to the client, and the value they personally delivered. We discuss how variations here can reveal aspects of team function and dysfunction.

CLIVE L. DYM MUDD DESIGN WORKSHOP XI: DESIGN EDUCATION & PRACTICE “HOW PROCESS MATTERS”, 2019

This paper presents a model for coaching students through open-ended capstone design projects. Th... more This paper presents a model for coaching students through open-ended capstone design projects. This model contains two novel elements: a Value Framework for guiding, judging and benchmarking value throughout a project, and a formative feedback process called the Many Eyes Process. The Value Framework provides a common language for describing the quality of project work across many varied projects, and the Many Eyes Process generates feedback from multiple perspectives for the team to guide project decision-making going forward. Four key stakeholder perspectives inform the Many Eyes Process: the self-evaluation, a 'shadow' perspective, an instructor perspective and a client perspective. Other perspectives may be invoked in the process where appropriate, such as a nominated mentor or course convenor. The Many Eyes Process is run during three Project Audit Weeks in projects spanning one semester. The output from the Many Eyes Process provides quantitative and qualitative feedback to the team and its stakeholders. We have found that the Many Eyes Process is a useful tool for aligning expectations over the course of the project, with the difference in evaluation between stakeholders reducing by 1 grade band over the semester. This indicates that an emphasis on a formal, constructive feedback process helps to align expectations during a capstone project.

Overcoming Challenges in Software Engineering Education: Delivering Non-Technical Knowledge and Skills, Mar 14, 2014

Although industry acknowledges university graduates possess strong technical knowledge, it contin... more Although industry acknowledges university graduates possess strong technical knowledge, it continues to lament the lack of commensurately strong personal and professional skills that allow graduates to apply their technical knowledge and to become effective members of the workforce quickly. This chapter outlines a research-backed course design that blends experiential learning to create an industrial simulation, the rewards of which go well beyond the usual benefits of group-project capstone design courses. The simulated industrial context facilitates the graduation of software engineers who possess the requisite personal and professional attributes. Innovations include combining two cohorts of students into one, engaging industry partners through the provision and management of projects, and implementing proven education approaches that promote the development of personal and professional skills. Adoption of the suggested practices will help institutions produce “work-ready” graduates repeatedly, year after year, even by software engineering academics who may not have received teacher training and who may not possess significant industry experience themselves.