Title: Software Directed Paraphrasing
Author: Tammy VanDeGrift and Kate Deibel
Date: March 27, 2004
Technique: Directed Paraphrasing
Before Class Preparation Time: LOW
Class Completion Time: MEDIUM
In-Class Analysis Time: MEDIUM
Out-Of-Class Analysis Time: MEDIUM
Assessment Goals:
- Develop ability to apply principles and generalizations already learned
- Improve writing skills
- Learn concepts and theories of this subject
- Develop management skills
- Develop ability to perform skillfully
Topics:
- Software
- Computers
- Terminology
Purpose:
This activity allows instructors to see how well students can communicate technical ideas (in this case, computers and software) to non-technical people. The ability to converse with non-technical people is important in the field of programming.
Activity:
In the next 15 minutes, answer the following two exercises on explaining technical ideas to non-technical people.
- Suppose you have a 10-year-old brother or sister. Explain to him or her (in a short paragraph) what a computer is.
- After your explanation, your sister asks you to explain the idea of software. Explain to her (in another short paragraph) the idea of computer software.
Solution:
Many responses for both situations are acceptable depending on the approach of the course.
Instructor Responses:
- Lecture
- Class Discussion
- Small Group Discussions
- Homework
Response Analysis:
If you have collected written feedback, read each paraphrase and separate them into separate piles: "Confused," "Minimal," "Adequate," and "Excellent." Reread the items in the "Confused" pile to determine common misconceptions. Select a few examples to share with the class from the "Adequate" and "Excellent" piles.
If not written feedback is collected, as you are monitoring the groups' progress, write down notes. Otherwise, immediate feedback (see Possible Uses of Activity) is recommended.
Variant Uses of Activity:
- Have students work in groups to complete this activity. The instructor may want to circulate throughout the groups to ensure that each group is making progress. After the groups have completed their explanations, have each group share their explanations to the rest of the class.
- Have students work on the explanations individually and then form groups to share their explanations with other members of the class.
- Have students volunteer their paraphrases for the rest of the class.
Device-Enabled: Difficult to Enable
Related Topics:
- Hardware
- Design
- Languages
- Compilers
- Syntax
- Algorithm
- Programming