More short tasks mean more frequent dopamine hits This is a busy week for me doing a week of all-day workshop sessions for students starting… Read More »Short tasks are better than long ones in student teams
Working in the open should be a default position in a team Twice a year I guide our MSc software engineering group project teams, who… Read More »Teach students to work in the open to improve collaboration
You grow when you teach others. You also grow when you ask for help when you’re stuck. We need to teach students to accept both… Read More »Teach student teams to be humble
Do what you teach and pause to reflect so that you can improve It’s time to walk the talk, and do as I tell others… Read More »Reflection on 2023
Shift left to learn more quickly about your work What follows is a story that repeats itself every academic year in our year-long software engineering… Read More »Teach student teams to shorten their feedback loops
Every student should be taught how to build a cake slice by slice When student teams, and hackathon teams get their hands on an idea… Read More »Teach Students to Build Slices of a Cake
My goal as educator since I started at the University of Aberdeen in 2001 is to prepare students for life after graduation. For me, that… Read More »Teach students trunk-based development instead of GitFlow
These are life skills they will use forever Student software teams have lots of challenges and they need to talk to each other in order… Read More »Guide students in handling crucial conversations
Build thin vertical slices instead of horizontal layers Students tend to think in horizontal layers as described in the textbooks. The books show the nice… Read More »Software Engineering Students Should Collaborate on Features
Aiding weaker team members helps everyone and the team Some students find it hard to work in teams. Other students dislike team work, but know… Read More »Help struggling team members collaborate in group projects