The Importance of Practical Assignments in Teaching ...

The Importance of Practical Assignments in Teaching Advanced Java Topics:

A 4-year Experience

Dejan Mitrović, Mirjana Ivanović, Miloš Radovanović

Dept. of Mathematics and InformaticsFaculty of Science

University of Novi Sad, Serbia

Practical assignments in advanced Java course - DAAD WS, Sinaia, Romania, 2014 2/18

Agenda

● Introduction● Practical assignments overview● Discussions on students' motivation● Upcoming changes


Java(-based) courses at DMI

● Object-oriented programming 1– Introductory course, 3rd semester

● Object-oriented programming 2– Advanced course, 4th semester

● Java used in many other courses– Operating systems, Computer graphics,

Database systems, etc.


Object-oriented programming 2

● Since 2010● Based on the (updated, extended) DAAD pool

of topics● The main goal: teach students practical Java

skills required by the industry● Elective course● 50-60 2nd and 3rd-year students


Topics

JFC/Swing

Threads

Web Apps.(GWT, GAE)

New Java Features

I/O System

Collections

Java EE(EJB,JPA,WS)

Enums

NetworkProgramming

Generics

DistributedProgramming

Strings


Grading

● 60 points: practical assignments● 20 points: theoretical tests● 20 points: final (oral) exam

Grade Points

10 95-100

9 85-94

8 75-84

7 65-74

6 55-64


Agenda



Practical assignments overview

● 4 classroom assignments– 25 points total, 50% required

● 3 team assignments– 35 points total, 50% required

– Duration: 1 week

– 3-4 students per team

– Team members selected by us


Assgn. 1: Distributed computing


Assgn. 2: Java EE


Assgn. 3: Web applications● http://њњњ.тњиттер.срб


Agenda



Motivation

● Motivation influenced by the type of problem● “Interesting”:

– Social networks

– Games

● “Boring”:– Information systems


Students' comments

● Summarized positive comments:– Increased programming confidence

– Practical applicability of technologies

– Having a finished product

– Challenging problems

– The usage of modern tools


Team assignments: pros

● “Real-life” teamwork experience– Team coordination

– Tool usage (e.g. SVN)

● More meaningful problems– Students have finished products they can

show to others


Team assignments: cons

● Some students are “immature”– Lack of respect for teammates

● Personal clashes● A lot of time spent on:

– Dividing the workload

– Not doing anything

● Increased chance for cheating– Solved through public defenses


Agenda



Changes to topics

Unit testing

OO Analysis& Design

Clean CodingPrinciples

ContinuousIntegration

JFC/Swing

Threads

Web Apps.(GWT, GAE)

New Java Features

I/O System

Collections

Java EE(EJB,JPA,WS)

Enums

NetworkProgramming

Generics

DistributedProgramming

Strings

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