Design Patterns discussion

["Carl G. Alphonce" <alphonce AT cse.Buffalo.EDU>]

Dear colleagues,

Do you teach objects and object-orientation?  Do you teach an
objects-first CS1, or perhaps an advanced course in OO design and
modeling?  If you're a CS educator who is interested in sharing
teaching techniques or exploring pedagogical issues in a workshop
setting, this workshop may be for you!

The "Killer Examples" workshop has been held at OOPSLA since 2002.
The goal of this workshop series has been to tap into the expertise
of the OOPSLA community to improve the teaching of object orientation.
Past workshops have focused on (educational examples for) design
patterns and "process in OO pedagogy".  This year the workshop theme
is WORKED EXAMPLES. Worked examples are instructional devices that
provide a problem together with a model solution for a learner to
study.

The full call for participation in the workshop is included below.
There are two ways to participate: you can either submit a short
paper and/or an actual (worked) example, or you may apply to attend
as a discussant.  Either way you will have plenty of opportunity to
talk about process and sound pedagogy for teaching object orientation.

The deadline for submissions/applications is September 2, 2008, but
earlier submissions are encouraged.

If you have questions about the workshop, do not hesitate to contact
us at 
<alphonce AT cse.buffalo.edu>,
 with subject line
"OOPSLA-2008 Workshop Query".  We look forward to hearing from you!

Carl Alphonce, University at Buffalo, USA
Jürgen Börstler, Umeå University, Sweden
Michael Caspersen, Univeristy of Aarhus, DK
Adrienne Decker, University at Buffalo, USA


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                                First
                  Call for Papers and Participation
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                    7th "Killer Examples" workshop
             Theme: Worked Examples for Sound OO Pedagogy
        http://www.cse.Buffalo.EDU/faculty/alphonce/OOPSLA2008
             A workshop at OOPSLA 2008, Nashville, TN, USA
                                   

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                           Important dates
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             September 2, 2008 - Deadline for submissions
            September 8, 2008 - Notification of acceptance
     September 11, 2008 - OOPSLA 2008 early registration deadline
              October 19, 2008 - Workshop @ OOPSLA2008!


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                              Background
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The Jargon File defines a killer app as an "application that actually
makes a sustaining market for a promising but under-utilized
technology."  A killer example provides clear and compelling
motivation for some concept.  The theme of this workshop is
worked (killer) examples for sound oo pedagogy.

Today's computer science students are tomorrow's software developers.
As such they will be expected to design and implement solutions to
complex problems.  Object orientation is an excellent approach to
managing the complexity of large, real-world software systems.  Many
educators have been slow to adopt, or unsuccessful at adopting, or
worse, reluctant to try adopting, an object oriented approach,
especially in CS1-CS2 courses.  We believe part of the difficulty
stems from educators lacking convincing and coherent examples for
teaching "object thinking".


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                   Themes and Goals of the workshop
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Examples play an important role in the teaching and learning of
programming. Students and teachers alike rely on examples as one of
the most helpful resources for learning to program.

One of the greatest challenges in example development is making
them consistent with the many principles, guidelines and rules we
want to instill in our students. Failing to do so, will make it
difficult for the learners to recognize patterns and telling an
example's superficial and arbitrary surface properties
from those that are structurally or conceptually important.

So-called worked examples play an important role as efficient
learning scenarios. Worked examples are instructional devices
that provide a problem solution for a learner to study.
Although there is no precise definition, worked examples share
certain common characteristics. As instructional devices, they
include a problem statement and a procedure for solving the
problem; together, these are meant to show how other similar
problems might be solved. In a sense, they provide a role model
of problem solving for the learner to study and emulate. Examples
typically present solutions in a step-by-step fashion. In many
cases, worked examples include auxiliary representations of a
given problem, such as diagrams.

The worked examples approach is particularly relevant to programs
of instruction that seek to promote skills acquisition, a goal of
many instructional programs in domains such as music, chess, and
programming. From this viewpoint, learning from worked examples is
of major importance in initial stages of cognitive skills acquisition.

In the workshop, participants will be encouraged to submit examples
that they have used in their teaching. During the course of the
pre-workshop and workshop activities, the workshop community will
work together to ensure that there is a clear description of the
problem, the context in relation to a topic or course, relevant
supplemental materials (e.g. diagrams, code snippets), and that
there is a defined progression of how to present the example and
eventual solution. This process might involve discussion of pure
classroom examples (those that are demonstrated fully in the
classroom), or pure assignments (those that are given solely for
the students to complete), or ideally, an example that is started
and explained in the classroom and then given to the students to
finish as an assignment.

This workshop is therefore soliciting submissions in, but not limited
to, the following areas:

    * (worked) examples of teaching the process of programming

    * (worked) examples of teaching OO modeling and programming

    * (worked) examples of teaching problem solving and programming

The goal of the workshop is to share and refine worked examples
for programming education and develop an understanding of the
following (and possibly other) issues:

    * why worked examples may be effective

    * what constitutes an exemplary worked example

    * how worked examples can be designed and used

    * how worked examples can be shared

    * what areas of programming education are
      particularly suited for worked examples

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                        How can I participate?
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If you are interested in participating, there are two ways to do it!
You can either contribute a short paper and/or an actual (worked)
example, or you may apply to attend as a discussant.

If you wish to present at the workshop you must submit a short paper
(4 to 6 pages) as an e-mail attachment to 
alphonce AT cse.buffalo.edu
with subject line "OOPSLA-2008 Workshop Paper Submission".  Your
submission must clearly identify why the paper is relevant to the
workshop, as described in the "Themes and Goals" section, and why you
believe your contribution is "killer".

If you wish to attend the workshop as a discussant you must submit a
short statement of interest (a manifesto, if you will) (1 to 2 pages)
as an e-mail attachment to 
alphonce AT cse.buffalo.edu
 with subject line
"OOPSLA-2008 Workshop Discussant Submission".  Your submission must
clearly state why you are interested in attending the workshop and
what OO background you have (e.g., when did you learn OO, at what level
do you teach it).  We seek the participation of people with a broad
spectrum of backgrounds, so don't hesitate to submit an application
because you think you have too little/too much experience to
contribute.

Submissions must be made on or before the submission deadline.
Submissions may be in plain text, in Microsoft Word .doc format or in
PDF.  Each submission will be anonymously reviewed by members of the
organizing committee.  The decision of the organizing committee is
final.

If your submission is accepted, you (or one of your co-authors) is
expected to register for the workshop and attend.

We hope to present result of the workshop at OOPSLA's poster session.