2A. Use best practices in instructional design to meet standards

Coach teachers in and model design and implementation of technology-enhanced learning experiences addressing content standards and student technology standards. (ISTE, 2011)

One of the challenges in teaching computer science is providing students the required design skills to succeed in industry. As I pointed out in my post about engaging computer science students in design, teaching design does challenge the traditional computer science curriculum. Specifically, assignments used in computer science courses often skip the design and prototyping phases used in the software development process. This prevents students from picking up vital skills they will need to be successful software engineers in industry.

This became particularly apparent to me in my JavaScript class in which I asked students to build their own web sites. Many of the students created web sites that were very difficult to navigate and were not usable by anybody by themselves. I tried to demonstrate this to the students by having one student try to use a web site built by a different student. In almost all cases, the student could not figure out how to navigate the site without asking the student who created the web site a lot of questions. I pointed out to the class that a person coming to their web site would not have the ability to ask them any questions on how to navigate their web site. The unsettling realization for me out of this exercise is the total lack of user empathy in my students.

The Empathize mode is the work you do to understand people, within the context of your design challenge. It is your effort to understand the way they do things and why, their physical and emotional needs, how they think about world, and what is meaningful to them. (Institute of Design at Stanford, n.d., An introduction to the design thinking process)

Fortunately, in my studies at SPU, I came across some powerful resources on human-centered design in software design. All of these resources pointed out the importance of using an iterative prototyping phase for a successful software project. I applied this approach to my JavaScript class by using a powerful wire-framing tool known as Mockups by Balsamiq. This tool supports building prototypes for web sites, mobile applications, as well as desktop applications. The tool also comes with great instructional material to get the first-time designer started on the right track. The instructional material includes a video that starts with a hook line that I have shared with my faculty when engaging our students in software design – ‘would you build a house before making plans for it … ‘.

Video demonstrating the Balsamiq mockup tool — Mockups by Balsamiq

References