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

The work-reflection-learning cycle in SE student projects: Use of collaboration tools
the theoretical framework of DCog and the model of the reflective process proposed by
Boud et al. (1985a) and highlights the construction and transformation of
representations as a core mechanism in retrospective reflection on a project process.
Also, the model is inspired by the approach to retrospective reflection applied in student
teams in the studies described in P6 and P8. The model explicitly includes steps of
individual and collective reflection as well as resulting representations of the project
process. Essential to the model, although not heavily explored in the empirical work of
the thesis, is the feedback loop in which lessons learned from the project (in the form of
various representations of the project process) are fed back into the project work
practice, which could be in the same project or in another one
Another important point made in the paper is that the dual role of a collaboration tool
(in day-to-day work and retrospective reflection) might impact on both aspects of the
practice through participants‟ awareness that historical data will be re-examined at a
later stage. This awareness might lead to better information sharing as well as to
information hoarding.
5.8 P8: Supporting Reflection in Software Development with
Everyday Working Tools
Authors: Krogstie, Birgit and Divitini, Monica
I was the first author of this paper and main responsible for setting up the study and
collecting and analyzing the data. The second author has provided feedback and
comments throughout the process.
To appear in: Proceedings of COOP 2010
Through their day-to-day usage collaboration tools collect data on the work process. These data can be
used to aid participants’ retrospective reflection on the process. The paper shows how this can be done in
software development project work. Through a case study we demonstrate how retrospective reflection
was conducted by use of an industry approach to project retrospectives combined with the examination
of historical data in Trac, an issue tracker. The data helped the team reconstruct the project trajectory
by aiding the recall of significant events, leading to a shift in the team’s perspective on the project. The
success of the tool-aided retrospective reflection is attributed to its organization as well as the type of
historical data examined through the tool and the tool features for navigating the data. These insights
can be used to help project teams determine the potential of their tools to aid retrospective reflection.
The work presented in this paper took as its starting point the previous findings (P5)
about the potential usefulness of historical data in wikis to aid retrospective reflection.
In the spring semester of 2008, project wikis were no longer the popular choice for
project management in the teams of our project course. Instead, many student teams
used Trac – an issue tracking tool built on top of the file versioning system Subversion
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