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Technical Reviews on a Software Engineering Course
Group project work is an important mechanism in a software engineering course, enabling students to work in situations which more closely reflect the workplace. An element of peer review can be introduced into the process to encourage the development of assessment skills on the part of the reviewer and to provide formative feedback to the student whose work is being assessed.
A further refinement of this activity is the Technical Review which is carried out by third-year B.Eng (Hons) Software Engineering students on the work of the first-year students. The first-year students
undertake a group project which enables them to develop their programming skills. The code developed by the group is then viewed by a group of third-year students who assess it according to
the following criteria:
- design guidelines are followed;
- appropriate types data;
- meaningful variable names;
- use of parameters;
- modularity; and
- attainability.
The reviewers generate a report which can be used to assess their programming skills and their analytical abilities. This report also provides an indication of the performance of the programmers whose code is being reviewed.
Both groups of students must demonstrate their interpersonal communication skills and their ability to think clearly and argue logically. One important spin-off benefit is that communications between students on the course are improved and a support network is established.
Sally Smith, Napier University
(From the ASSHE Inventory - Changing Assessment practices in Scottish Higher Education with kind permission of the Centre for Teaching, Learning and Assessment, University of Edinburgh)
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