Download - Lisa M Landgraf, PhD U of Wisconsin Platteville March 4, 2009.

Lisa M Landgraf, PhDU of Wisconsin Platteville

March 4, 2009

Did You Know (2.0) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pMcfrLYD

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Did You Know (2008) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jpEnFwiq

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2Engaging Students Dr. Lisa Landgraf

Students need to have strong problem solving and critical thinking skills

Students need to adapt to changing times Learning is more than in the classroom. Learning means getting students out of

themselves. Learning can happen from successes and

failures.

Engaging Students Dr. Lisa Landgraf 3

Allow students to practice critical thinking and problem solving skills on real issues.

Need a way for students to apply their academic skills in real world situations.

Need a culture of experiential learning for students.

“Take them to the crash site”


Engagement:"connecting the rich resources of the

university to our most pressing social, civic and ethical problems, to our children, to our schools, to our teachers and to our cities...“

Boyer, E. L. (1990). Scholarship reconsidered: Priorities of the professorite. San Francisco:Jossey-Bass.


Experience◦ real people, ◦ real situations and ◦ real consequences.

Grow◦ student skills, experience, and ability to critically

think and ◦ Grow student spirit and confidence to challenge,

explore, be innovative and succeed. Make a Difference


Integrative learning Service learning Experiential learning


To serve people with developmental disabilities by providing quality outdoor

recreational experiences


• What is Wisconsin Badger Camp?– Ten, one week camp sessions that serve

individuals with developmental disabilities• Location: South of Prairie du Chien, WI• Offers different camp programs so camper

can get the experience they want


Application and registration processes are a manual system.

Applying for camp was a manual system Assigning campers to the various weekly

camps Assigning counselors to campers Assisting the nursing staff with medication

listsApproximately 80 campers each week. Could

have up to 80 counselors as well.


Use the Systems Analysis and Design class to come up with a plan (Fall 2008)

Implement some of the system in two additional classes taught by another professor. (Spring 2009)


Understands the engagement process Trust is key Understands there is a time commitment on

their part◦ What they put into it plays a major role in what is

accomplished Understands the solution may be partial or

none at all.◦ No financial risk


One of the first theory courses students will take

Doesn’t involve programming May learn some tools (MS Project, Visible

Analyst, Visio, etc) Theory-based Involves thinking big picture rather than

how to write a program


Link information systems to business objectives Create a systems request Create a project plan Understand feasibility studies (economic, technical,

and feasible) Conduct interviews to gather information Use surveys and questionnaires to gather

information Create data flow diagrams Understand the transition from analysis to design Complete input, output, file, and program design Describe application architecture Use MS Visio and Visible Analyst to create DFDs,

data dictionaries, network models, structure charts


http://www.humanmetrics.com/cgi-win/JTypes1.htm (Myers/Briggs-like test)

Anecdotal info More introverts than extroverts About the same number of detailed oriented as

“big picture” More thinkers than feelers About even number of procrastinators as

organizers More men than women (1 woman out of 25) Sophomores – a few Juniors/Seniors


60 % of the course grade is homework and exams

40% of the course grade is the project


Detailed project description (14 pages)◦ Due dates and rubrics

Identifies milestones along the way◦ Two drafts of the project report

Must meet regularly with their groups but can choose the method of meeting

Some team meetings were done in class and some outside of class


Some interviews were done during class and some outside of class

Community partners are invited to attend final presentation and give feedback.

Community partners can talk to me at any time.


Randomly selected◦ 3 or 4 per team is best

They pick a leader ◦ Primary responsibility is to make sure things are

turned in Track their time and tasks on the project

weekly Reflection papers midterm and at the end.


Need to have a good plan about the semester

The due dates mean materials have to be taught before something is due

Just in Time teaching◦ Bothers some students. They want to know it all

right away Requires lots of trust. “Trust the group to do

their best.” Lots of work but so rewarding


The outcomes of the class are most important◦ The last thing you want to do in this class is have

scope creep.◦ Be clear about what will be accomplished in the

class Simple, small systems are easier to analyze. Make it clear to the community partner that

we may succeed or not. Students can learn from disasters too.

◦ It is likely that at least one group will not do well.


“This Badger camp project has been one of better experiences I have had in a class. I like the idea that the class gets to do a project that applies to a real business situation. Usually any project I ever do in class is done for just a grade and it does not do a good job to applying to real work situations. This project allows us to get that experience as well as do some community service. It brings a good feeling to me knowing that what I design here is going to help out the staff at Badger camp.”


“Just knowing that this project might be implemented into a real life system makes this seem so much more worth it.”

“ This experience has been very informative of real world situations that a systems analyst would be in. It is not like normal programming classes where we learn manufactured knowledge. Those classes may teach us how to complete some of the tasks given to us, but this class teaches us about the overall scope of our future careers.”


“…I didn’t realize that there was other stuff to be done before coding. I just figured the teams of people working on projects sat down, brainstormed, wrote notes and got started working and built off of that. I think that I learned lots of stuff while working on this…, such as how important questions are while preparing a large proposal like this, there are so many small things that can easily be looked over and yet they need to be addressed or the system will fail at some point. I think that just after mid semester I began to realize that this project wasn’t as bad as I thought it was originally going to be. “


“I think this has been overall a good experience but I feel that there have been some major downfalls in this project especially with the way it is broken down.

The way the program is divided amongst the groups is difficult as there is so much overlap between all the parts that all the groups are developing almost the entire system. As we should be developing a single system instead of multiple programs as a solution to the problem the groups should have been divided more as the database designers, the middleware designers and the frontend designers.”
