SCRUM -based group work and assessment: a case study ( m.cubric )

1. SCRUM-based group work and assessment: a case study (m.cubric) Marija Cubric, Business School/LTI, 05-05-11 SCRUM (rugby) – the act or method of restarting play after an infringement when the two opposing packs of forwards group together with heads down and arms interlocked and push to gain ground while the scrum half throws the ball in and the hookers attempt to scoop it out to their own team (dictionnary.com)

2. Agenda SCRUM => Product Development => Learning and Teaching + Case-study (groupworkassessment design & Students’ views) “The relay race approach to product development may conflict with the goals of maximum speed and flexibility. Instead a holistic or rugby approach where a team tries to go the distance as a unit, passing the ball back and forth may better serve today¹s competitive requirements.” Takeuchi and Nonaka (1986) Takeuchi H. and Nonaka I. (1986) "The New New Product Development Game”, Harvard Business Review

3. SCRUM – a Project Management Framework P R O C E S S & Roles & Acti-vities Iteration review Iteration retrospective Iteration planning Product Owner Team Image adapted from: mountaingoatsoftware.com

4. SCRUM Principles Cooperation amongst students Evidence of active Learning Student-staff contact Prompt feedback & responding to feedback Chickering & Gamson (1987) Chickering A., Gamson Z.F. (1987) Seven Principles For Good Practice In Undergraduate Education The American Association For Higher Education Bulletin

5. Mapping SCRUM to L&T Context

6. Mapping SCRUM to L&T Context

7. SCRUM - a L&T Framework Weekly group meeting Final complete coursework submission Coursework specification Weekly assignments Weekly review & reflection Weekly planning Teacher Group Image adapted from: mountaingoatsoftware.com

8. Case-study* Module: PG module on Agile Project Management** (“immersive learning”) Programs: MSc Project Management (Business School) , MSc in Business Computing (Computer Science) Number of students: 24 (split into 6 groups of 4) Sprint: 5*2 weeks long sprints Feedback: Studynet online form (after each sprint) Development platform: Wikispaces _________ * Method tailored through three consecutive academic years (started in 2007-8) ** Method is generic

9. Project Specification

10. Project Specification (group work)

11. Sprint Planning

12. Marking Rubric

13. Group Report (example)

14. Links to Theory … Learning by writing … Learning by making … Learning by connecting … Writing uniquely corresponds to some very powerful learning strategies such as: multi-representational and integrative re-enforcement, immediate self-provided feedback, establishment of systematic connections and relationships, analysis and synthesis (Emig, 1977) • Emig, J. (1977) Writing as a mode of learning. College Composition and Communication,28, 122-127. National Council of Teachers of English Effective learning happens in the context where “the learner is consciously engaged in constructing a public entity, whether it's a sand castle on the beach or a theory of the universe” (Pappert, 1991) Students engage in creating knowledge that can benefit others (students and teachers) (Holmes et al., 2001) • Papert, S. (Ed.). (1991). Situating Constructionism. Norwood, NJ: Ablex Publishing Corporation • Holmes, B.et al (2001). Communal constructivism: Students constructing learning for as well as with others. Technology And Teacher Education Annual, 3, 3114-3119 Learning occurs through pattern-recognition and connecting specialized information sets (Siemens, 2005) • Siemens G (2005) Connectivism: A Learning Theory For The Digital Age. Elearnspace [Online] http://bit.ly/hiPhtk

15. How students describe the method …

16. student views Students value … tutor’s regular and prompt feedback … tutor’s interest and enthusiasm for the subject … links with practice and employability I started working the other day for Motorola and they are working using agile environments, agile methodologies. I don’t know anything about agile before I took the course but right now I am realising that we are using exactly the same things as Motorola. So it was really practical, … We got feedback after three or four days from the time we submitted work and in other modules we submitted coursework and its like three or four weeks or even more before we get feedback. And sometimes when you get feedback, it’s not worth it because you don’t need it anymore. …. A lecturer interested in a subject would have some current connection with it, it’s an energy that you can feel I found that I had to deliver something every Sunday … And like you said the first couple of weeks it’s fairly intense in terms of energy levels, but you just learn to get something out on the Sunday. Students’ learning was enhanced with constant review of the subject … early engagement with the module … tutor’s detailed feedback So in this way you have to perform some kind of work each week, you end up reviewing what you just learned. I think it’s the speed at which we had to engage… maybe in contrast to other modules where there wasn’t as participatory or as involved, with Agile, after a very short amount of time you are actually involved with doing things…..

17. What are the main factors influencing group cohesion? Increased visibility of individual contributions? Explicit measurements of group cohesions (min, max, avg, stdev)? Cultural background (e.g. Hofstede, 2001) ? Feedback NOT ALWAYS used -feedback on iteration X used in iteration X+1, but improvements of iteration X sometimes delayed till the end Hofstede, G. (2001). Culture's Consequences: comparing values, behaviors, institutions, and organizations across nations (2nd ed.). my observations Are findings from the business field applicable to L&T ? E.g. Whitworth&Biddle(2007)- motivation and mohesionin agile teams influenced by: -Clear objectives, ease of interaction, frequent iterative delivery -“Agile planning was noted as especially valuable as a means of generating group agreement, and was seen to greatly reduce the tension and conflict” How useful are group reports as evidence of group cohesion? -useful for managing expectations (e.g. TurnitInsimilarity index useful) -Statistical measures could be tweaked, and too much time spent on making them look good – perhaps measurements should be done by the tutor? Whitworth E. and Biddle R. (2007) motivation and Cohesion in agile teams; Proceeding XP'07; Springer-Verlag Berlin, Heidelberg

18. Evaluation