Home // International Journal On Advances in Software, volume 3, numbers 1 and 2, 2010 // View article

Equipping Software Engineering Apprentices with a Repertoire of Practices

Authors:
Vincent Ribaud
Philippe Saliou

Keywords: reflective practitioner, software engineering processes, Course-of-Action, semantic wiki.

Abstract:
Argyris and Schön distinguish espoused theories - those which people speak about – from theory-in-use those which can be inferred from action. In small software teams, developing reflective thinking about action is a vital necessity in coping with change. We address these issues in a Masters of Software Engineering, performed with an alternation between university and industry. University periods are dedicated to a long-term project performed in a reflective practicum. It aims to develop a repertoire of practices which helps young engineers deal with the ‘messiness’ of situations. Such a practicum provides students, working in groups, with the possibility of reflecting on action. We propose using the Course-of Action framework to record observable aspects of the actor’s activity into semantic wikis. Two hypotheses are discussed (1) self-analysis and self-assessment help to reveal theories-in-use; (2) the Course-of-Action observatory helps maintain awareness of the repertoire. A case study of a 6- apprentice team illustrates the observatory use and the reconstruction of apprentices’ activity. Primary conclusions are that self observation and self-analysis of a software engineer’s activity help raise awareness of the initial structure of the repertoire. We are however unable to conclude that it helps reveal their theory-in-use (what governs an engineer’s behaviour) - usually tacit structures.

Pages: 201 to 212

Copyright: Copyright (c) to authors, 2010. Used with permission.

Publication date: September 5, 2010

Published in: journal

ISSN: 1942-2628