Ira Weissberger

Bio: Ira Weissberger is an academic researcher from University of Virginia's College at Wise. The author has contributed to research in topics: Software maintenance & Software deployment. The author has an hindex of 2, co-authored 2 publications receiving 9 citations.

Delivering software engineering education through LEGO robotics

Abstract: The number of software engineering jobs is expected to grow faster than all other jobs over the next decade. STEM education is an important initiative to encourage young students to develop the skills they require to succeed in these positions. The First Lego League sponsors annual tournaments in which students must build and program a robot to accomplish various tasks in order to score points. Previously, the students had not used any process or documentation when developing the programs to run on the robot. This competition provides an opportunity to instruct the students in the benefits of using a formalized process that is essential in many software engineering projects commonly encountered in industry.

Incorporating software maintenance in a senior capstone project

Abstract: Software engineering capstone projects give students experience in developing a software product throughout the software life cycle. Projects such as these give students practical experience in applying concepts they have learned in their software engineering and computer science classes. This paper presents a software engineering capstone project conducted by students at the University of Virginia's College at Wise. The work of the students is documented in this paper. Unlike previous capstone projects conducted at this university, however, this one uses methods commonly found in agile development and is an adaptive maintenance development effort. To cite this document: Â Ira Weissberger, Abrar Qureshi, Assad Chowhan, Ethan Collins, and Dakota Gallimore , "Incorporating software maintenance in a senior capstone project", International Journal of Cyber Society and Education, Vol. 8, No. 1, pp. 31-38, 2015. Permanent link to this document: http://dx.doi.org/10.7903/ijcse.1238

What can students get from a software engineering capstone course

Abstract: For the last ten years we have been teaching a capstone course for fifth year students of the Computer Science Department of the Universidad de Chile. Five year ago we redesigned the course, shifting from projects following a waterfall process and focused on technical aspects, to one centered in soft skills following agile practices. Since then, we provide out students a concrete learning outcome: to internalize how relevant is having and developing critical soft skills to succeed in projects. Last year, we wondered whether our students were actually getting what we declared. We conducted a survey on students' initial and final perception about the relative value and difficulty of different dimensions involved in their projects: technical challenge, teamwork, planning, and negotiation with the client. Also, we applied a one-tailed dependent pair sample t-test to determine the statistical significance of the surveys result. We found out that the relative value of soft skills grows while that of the technical challenge drops, and that the students find that planning and teamwork are harder than they expected. Also, we found statistically significant evidence that, for the soft skills we have measured, the perceived relative relevance actually changes throughout the course.

A Systematic Review on the use of LEGO ® Robotics in Education

Abstract: Educational Robotics (ER) has revealed several benefits in the educational context, not only helping the teaching of disciplines, but also making possible the development of several abilities, such as teamwork, problem-solving, and creativity. Among various robotics kits, LEGO® Robotics has been shown one of the best results considering some evaluated criteria (modularity level, hardware, curriculum, price, etc.). Some studies analyze the teaching practices, some compare technologies, and others evaluate the kits in a pedagogical way. However, it is essential to investigate all these contexts together in order to improve the impact produced by the ER in education and to know the best teaching practices associated with the most powerful technologies. The objective of this Research Full Paper is to identify: a) environments and programming languages adopted in the LEGO® Robotics context, b) educational practices applied during classes based on LEGO® Robotics, and c) the educational levels in which robotics has been applied with positive results. To achieve these goals, we planned and carried out a systematic review of the literature. Our main findings are: a) the most widely used environment and programming language are LabVIEW along with the LEGO®’s block-based programming language, b) we identified LEGO® Robotics is used for teaching programming, interdisciplinary contents, participation in tournaments, robotics, and computational thinking, c) LEGO® Robotics is used with success by students of different levels, such as K12, undergraduate, and graduated. Finally, we discuss some problems and limitations related to ER and point out that there is no standardization of teaching practices or methodologies for evaluating results, indicating that more research is needed to find the best scenario regarding technologies, methods, and target audience.

A new didactic method for programming in C for freshmen students using LEGO mindstorms EV3

Abstract: In this paper a new teaching-learning-method including the LEGO Mindstorms EV3 is presented. This computer sciences course is part of the studies of mechatronics in the first two semesters. The programming language being mediated is ANSI-C. Computer science is not the most popular subject in the interdisciplinary engineering field of mechatronics, therefore the EV3 should be included to increase motivation. For the new approach the former course — without the usage of EV3s — was evaluated and a competency profile was identified. On this basis a new didactical method was designed and implemented. The EV3 is programmed with the IDE Eclipse and with a self programmed plug-in.

A Novel Real-Time MATLAB/Simulink/LEGO EV3 Platform for Academic Use in Robotics and Computer Science.

Abstract: Over the last years, mobile robot platforms are having a key role in education worldwide Among others, LEGO Robots and MATLAB/Simulink are being used mainly in universities to improve the teaching experience Most LEGO systems used in the literature are based on NXT, as the EV3 version is relatively recent In contrast to the previous versions, the EV3 allows the development of real-time applications for teaching a wide variety of subjects as well as conducting research experiments The goal of the research presented in this paper was to develop and validate a novel real-time educational platform based on the MATLAB/Simulink package and the LEGO EV3 brick for academic use in the fields of robotics and computer science The proposed framework is tested here in different university teaching situations and several case studies are presented in the form of interactive projects developed by students Without loss of generality, the platform is used for testing different robot path planning algorithms Classical algorithms like rapidly-exploring random trees or artificial potential fields, developed by robotics researchers, are tested by bachelor students, since the code is freely available on the Internet Furthermore, recent path planning algorithms developed by the authors are also tested in the platform with the aim of detecting the limits of its applicability The restrictions and advantages of the proposed platform are discussed in order to enlighten future educational applications

Participating in an Industry Based Social Service Program: a Report of Student Perception of What They Learn and What They Need

Abstract: Skills demanded by the IT industry from graduates should be aligned with the curricula of Computer Science undergraduate programs. It is well-known that theoretical knowledge undergraduate students acquire during their studies needs to be complemented with practical experience; therefore, participating in university supported real life projects is a viable option for the students to get prepared for the industry. This paper reports findings from a survey applied to students who had been involved in an industry-based program meant to fulfill their graduation requirements, including the opportunity to develop a capstone project. We gathered their perceptions regarding what they learned during their studies, what they acquired in the industry-based program and what they consider useful for their current jobs. The results show that most topics are aligned between the Bachelor’s degree program and the industry needs, but there is a strong separation in the cognitive levels students achieve at each stage. The paper provides insight into the needs of Computer Science students and contributes to finding ways of increasing undergraduate student satisfaction with skills acquired at university and their application in real contexts.