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Software Design
Open House Day:
Lots of Activity!

Students watch staff try out their software efforts

UMM staff Brenda Boever (seated) and Jeri Mullin (far right) were patient, enthusiastic supporters of the students' efforts to design useful software for advising and registration

Faculty were recruited to try out the new software and possibly discover any glitches

Students learned valuable skills working as a team to problem-solve

Everyone involved with the open house agreed that it was an enjoyable, enlightening event

The May-term 2003 Software Design Students and Faculty ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“One of the bummers we have to deal with in our software design course is the inability to really focus on the work without distractions. An intense 3-week software development experience would better simulate a real job with real customers,” he says.

McPhee joined forces with professor Rob Faux to concoct just such a May-term experience. They first determined that students must have already taken the course in software design course to register. Then they contacted UMM staff from the Advising and Registrar’s Offices to discover what software needs they had that students could tackle.

“Rob and I talked to the staff but deliberately didn’t learn too much about what they wanted,” McPhee recalls. “So on the first day of class, Rob spent the morning going over interaction with customers. Then the staff came in the afternoon to explain what they needed. We had 14 students and we told them, ‘you have three weeks to build something. GO!’”

The campus offices requested four major projects:

• A web-based course schedule in both HTML and PDF format
• A course planning search tool that would take into account UMM’s unique general education requirements
• A web-based GPA calculator which could generate “what if” scenarios
• A web-based course planner

The students were told that they could only work on the projects from 9 am to 6 pm each day. McPhee and Faux knew the temptation would be strong to work overtime but decided it was important to hold the programmers to a realistic work schedule to prevent burnout. It didn’t take the students long to appreciate the time structure.

“They were warned that eight hours a day would tire them,” says Faux. “They didn’t believe it but after the first week, they were saying, ‘Man, I am so tired!’ They also learned that if they had to be gone from the team work, they got out of the loop. And the same was true of trying to work overtime on projects independently. When you’re part of a team, one individual can’t win the day.”

Many aspects of the software development process were incorporated into the May-term experience of this hands-on course. Faux and McPhee made initial contacts with users and other interested parties, then passed on the communication duties to the students. This process included discussions with university officials concerning database access and coordinating with Computing Services for software installation. The students also hosted an open house for staff, faculty and other students to see and experiment with the systems they were developing.

“We let students learn by doing. They had to decide together what tools to use to build the web-based system. They had to figure out how to get information from clients who were ‘non-tech people.’ At first it was like watching someone take a trip from Minnesota to California trying to get to Texas,” Faux laughs. “But they got better as time went on. And the staff wanted to come over to work with the students. They were really sold on the process.”

In the end, the final work of these 14 students impressed software design folks on the Twin Cities campus enough that a new search tool created by the university’s web development group matched the student model in many ways. The students’ GPA calculator for UMM is still in use. Their instructors were impressed with how much these students managed to accomplish in three short weeks.

“We have such good students,” says McPhee. “No one can fault the level of their work, their energy and enthusiasm. When they made some of the mistakes we expected they might, they responded with real regret and a desire to fix the problems before leaving the project even if time didn’t allow for it.”

The students who took this innovative May-term course were also sold on its benefits. Their assessments of the course indicate a genuine appreciation for learning in an environment very different from a typical college course.

“It also gave students a decided edge in their job searches,” Faux notes. “They can put this experience in a resume and portfolio. It’s the highlight of their young careers and demonstrates something to potential employers. Most students haven’t been on such a large team – 14 people – where it’s hard to figure out the structure and who will have what roles.”

Faux adds that he has noticed a real difference in the students who were in last year’s May-term course as they work with other computer science students in this spring’s database course. “The May-term people take leadership roles and better understand the importance of documentation, planning and team organization,” he says. “They have confidence gained from their experience.”