The work-reflection-learning cycle - Department of Computer and ...

Results
Analysis of the results showed that the workshop helped students share their individual
perspectives (see Figure 12) and develop new, shared insights, i.e. knowledge, about
their projects.
The techniques applied in the workshop were chosen from existing approaches in SE
industry. Thus, the novelty of the design primarily lies in the integration of the
technique into an educational setting, requiring only minor adaptation of the workshop
design itself (e.g. aiming for a short duration and integrating questions relevant for the
reflection notes).
Task
name
Intro
(5 min)
Individual
timelines
(5 min)
Shared
timeline
(15 min)
Individual
experience
curves
(5 min)
Present
curves
(10 min)
Questions
about roles
& lessons
learned
(5 min)
Present
answers
(10 min)
Wrap-up
(5 min)
Description
Explain the purpose and agenda of the workshop. Clarify issues of
confidentiality and research
Each participant gets an A3 sheet of paper with a timeline reporting
common events in the course (mainly the deliverables). The participants
are asked to individually add events that they perceived had an impact on
their project.
Participants take turn in explaining the events they have listed The
facilitator marks the events on the whiteboard on a timeline similar to the
one on the individual sheets.
The team members each draw their experience curve (or „satisfaction
curve‟) on the A3 sheet. The smiley face on top of the sheet indicates a
level of great satisfaction. Down at the bottom is great dissatisfaction, and
the timeline itself marks a neutral position in the middle.
Each member in turn goes to the whiteboard, which holds the shared
timeline. The team member first draws her curve with her whiteboard
marker, next explains its shape. At the end of the session, all team
members‟ experience curves can be found on the whiteboard.
A sheet of incomplete statements addressing the project are uncovered,
and the students are asked to turn their A3 sheet and write their answers
on the blank page.
1) “In the project, my role was…” 2) “Through the project, I got better
at…” 3) “In a similar project, I would like to become more skilled at…”
4) “The most important thing I have learnt about software engineering in
this project is…”
The answers to the questions are presented around the table
The students may add further comments about their project on their sheet.
If formal evaluation of the workshop is not done on another occasion, this
is an opportunity to have feedback, oral or written. The A3 sheets are left
for the facilitator/course staff.
Table 3: Timetable of the retrospective reflection workshop conducted with
each of the teams in a SE project course. From P6.
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