Sherlock A. Licorish

Bio: Sherlock A. Licorish is an academic researcher from University of Otago. The author has contributed to research in topics: Software development & Agile software development. The author has an hindex of 16, co-authored 78 publications receiving 811 citations. Previous affiliations of Sherlock A. Licorish include Auckland University of Technology.

Students’ perception of Kahoot!’s influence on teaching and learning

Abstract: Technology is being increasingly integrated into teaching environments in view of enhancing students’ engagement and motivation. In particular, game-based student response systems have been found to foster students’ engagement, enhance classroom dynamics and improve overall students’ learning experience. This article presents outcomes of research that examined students’ experience using a game-based student response system, Kahoot!, in an Information Systems Strategy and Governance course at a research-intensive teaching university in New Zealand. We conducted semi-structured interviews with students to learn about the extent to which Kahoot! influence classroom dynamics, motivation and students’ learning process. Key findings revealed that Kahoot! enriched the quality of student learning in the classroom, with the highest influence reported on classroom dynamics, engagement, motivation and improved learning experience. Our findings also suggest that the use of educational games in the classroom is likely to minimise distractions, thereby improving the quality of teaching and learning beyond what is provided in conventional classrooms. Other factors that contributed to students’ enhanced learning included the creation and integration of appropriate content in Kahoot!, providing students with timely feedback, and game-play (gamification) strategies.

Understanding the attitudes, knowledge sharing behaviors and task performance of core developers: A longitudinal study

Abstract: Context Prior research has established that a few individuals generally dominate project communication and source code changes during software development. Moreover, this pattern has been found to exist irrespective of task assignments at project initiation. Objective While this phenomenon has been noted, prior research has not sought to understand these dominant individuals. Previous work considering the effect of team structures on team performance has found that core communicators are the gatekeepers of their teams’ knowledge, and the performance of these members was correlated with their teams’ success. Building on this work, we have employed a longitudinal approach to study the way core developers’ attitudes, knowledge sharing behaviors and task performance change over the course of their project, based on the analysis of repository data. Method We first used social network analysis (SNA) and standard statistical analysis techniques to identify and select artifacts from ten different software development teams. These procedures were also used to select central practitioners among these teams. We then applied psycholinguistic analysis and directed content analysis (CA) techniques to interpret the content of these practitioners’ messages. Finally, we inspected these core developers’ activities as recorded in system change logs at various points in time during systems’ development. Results Among our findings, we observe that core developers’ attitudes and knowledge sharing behaviors were linked to their involvement in actual software development and the demands of their wider project teams. However, core developers appeared to naturally possess high levels of insightful characteristics, which became evident very early during teamwork. Conclusions Project performance would likely benefit from strategies aimed at surrounding core developers with other competent communicators. Core developers should also be supported by a wider team who are willing to ask questions and challenge their ideas. Finally, the availability of adequate communication channels would help with maintaining positive team climate, and this is likely to mitigate the negative effects of distance during distributed developments.

Supporting agile team composition: A prototype tool for identifying personality (In)compatibilities

Abstract: Extensive work in the behavioral sciences tells us that team composition is a complex activity in many disciplines, given the variations inherent across individuals' personalities. The composition of teams to undertake software development is subject to this same complexity. Furthermore, the building of a team to undertake agile software development may be particularly challenging, given the inclusive yet fluid nature of teams in this context. We describe here the development and preliminary evaluation of a prototype tool intended to assist software engineers and project managers in forming agile teams, utilizing information concerning members' personalities as input to this process. Initial assessment of the tool's capabilities by agile development practitioners suggests that it would be of value in supporting the team composition activity in real projects.

Technical debt and agile software development practices and processes: An industry practitioner survey

Abstract: Context: Contemporary software development is typically conducted in dynamic, resource-scarce environments that are prone to the accumulation of technical debt. While this general phenomenon is acknowledged, what remains unknown is how technical debt specifically manifests in and affects software processes, and how the software development techniques employed accommodate or mitigate the presence of this debt. Objectives: We sought to draw on practitioner insights and experiences in order to classify the effects of agile method use on technical debt management, given the popularity and perceived success of agile methods. We explore the breadth of practitioners’ knowledge about technical debt; how technical debt is manifested across the software process; and the perceived effects of common agile software development practices and processes on technical debt. In doing so, we address a research gap in technical debt knowledge and provide novel and actionable managerial recommendations. Method: We designed, tested and executed a multi-national survey questionnaire to address our objectives, receiving 184 responses from practitioners in Brazil, Finland, and New Zealand. Results: Our findings indicate that: 1) Practitioners are aware of technical debt, although, there was under utilization of the concept, 2) Technical debt commonly resides in legacy systems, however, concrete instances of technical debt are hard to conceptualize which makes it problematic to manage, 3) Queried agile practices and processes help to reduce technical debt; in particular, techniques that verify and maintain the structure and clarity of implemented artifacts (e.g., Coding standards and Refactoring) positively affect technical debt management. Conclusions: The fact that technical debt instances tend to have characteristics in common means that a systematic approach to its management is feasible. However, notwithstanding the positive effects of some agile practices on technical debt management, competing stakeholders’ interests remain a concern.

Approaches for prioritizing feature improvements extracted from app reviews

Abstract: App reviews contain valuable feedback about what features should be fixed and improved. This feedback could be 'mined' to facilitate app maintenance and evolution. While requirements are routinely extracted from post-release users' feedback in traditional projects, app reviews are often generated by a much larger client-base with competing needs and priorities and ad hoc structure. Although there has been interest aimed at exploring the nature of issues reported in app reviews (e.g., bugs and enhancement requests), prioritizing these outcomes for improving and evolving apps hasn't received much attention. In this preliminary study we aim to bridge this gap by proposing three prioritization approaches. Driven by literature in other domains, we identify four attributes (frequency, rating, negative emotions and deontics) that serve as the base constructs for prioritization. Thereafter, using these four constructs, we develop three approaches (individual attribute-based approach, weighted approach and regression-based approach) that may help developers to prioritize features for improvements. We evaluate our approaches in constructing multiple prioritized lists of features using reviews from the MyTracks app. It is anticipated that these prioritized lists could allow developers to better focus their efforts in deciding which aspects of their apps to improve.

The Self-Organizing Map

Abstract: An overview of the self-organizing map algorithm, on which the papers in this issue are based, is presented in this article.

The Nature of Managerial Work

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The impact of online user reviews on hotel room sales [Summary]

Abstract: Despite hospitality and tourism researchers’ recent attempts on examining different aspects of online word-of-mouth [WOM], its impact on hotel sales remains largely unknown in the existing literature. To fill this void, we conduct a study to empirically investigate the impact of online consumer-generated reviews on hotel room sales. Utilizing data collected from the largest travel website in China, we develop a fixed effect log-linear regression model to assess the influence of online reviews on the number of hotel room bookings. Our results indicate a significant relationship between online consumer reviews and business performance of hotels.

Management teams: Why they succeed or fail

Abstract: A Study of Teams: How It All Began The Apollo Syndrome Teams Containing Similar Personalities Identifying further Team Roles Team Leadership The Missing Team Roles Developing an inventory Unsuccessful teams Winning teams Ideal team size Features of good members of a team Teams in Public Affairs How Belbin reports developed Case Studies in Using Belbin