Open Learning Resources for Object Oriented Software Design and Rapid Application Development

1. Open Learning Resources forObject Oriented Software Designand Rapid Application Development Dr Quan Dang Faculty of ComputingLondon Metropolitan University q.dang@londonmet.ac.uk

2. I believe that technology-enhanced and blended learning is the way forward for teaching and learning, especially at the HE level where students are (if not - then should be) independent learners The online material has some distinctive advantages Learning materials could be as compact as you wish as open-ended as you wish Allow structured as well as flexible learning sequence Media-rich Easily accessible, zero-cost to present day students Short time from creation to publication and easy to update RAD – Rapid Application Development based on a “learning by doing” approach distinctive by its extensive set of practical examples and detailed instructions. OOSD – Object Oriented Software Design Covers an area where just “learning by doing “ is not sufficient. It places an emphasis on helping students to get to grips with “OO thinking” in terms of the model semantics and their logical connections, not just diagrams and notations. It is interesting that this pedagogic goal is achieved through carefully designed practical programming exercises and case studies. What drove me to create the materials in the first place?

3. Where were the materials used and how were they received? • OO software design • Has been used in a module entitled “OO software design & development” at London Met • Rapid Application Development • Has been used in a module entitled “Rapid Application Development” at London Met • Well-received by teaching team members and students doing the modules

4. Did the materials fulfil the expectations of both yourself and your students? • Yes, in several dimensions • It’s an integral part of your teaching and student learning • It helped the teacher spending more time on personalised quality support in individual students in the class, rather than addressing and helping with common/routine activities of teaching/support. • Students are clear at the outset about the module’s scheme of work, weekly general learning sequence and exercises as well as essential/supplementary reading materials. They also find guidance for most essential tasks/topics. They like the fact that they can learn at their own pace and in their own space at any time.

5. How did I measure the impact of what I was doing? • Student performance in assessment • Student satisfaction through end-of-semester module questionnaires • At the practical level • You get less questions from the students they can find answers to FAQs built-in to the provided materials, which results in • Better efficiency in teaching • More time for personalised support to individual students

6. How could I envisage my material(s) being adopted by other adopters? • I would think that there’d be more than one way to adopt my OE materials • Full adoption: the materials could be used as-is in a module with very similar learning outcomes at the same level the material was developed for. • Adoption with some customisation to suit • the teaching of modules with similar learning outcomes • a teacher’s teaching style/method • specific need of a particular student profile • Adoption by individual learners for self-study • e.g. RAD set has a extensive set of practical exercises with detailed how-to instructions • Not adopted but could be used as a frame of reference or an example to design/develop own set of material, learning sequence etc. • e.g. OOSD incorporates a tested teaching method of OO design which has a good balance of teaching concepts and skills to achieve practical OO thinking.