OPENING QUESTIONS:
Why do you suppose that tech companies like Google, Microsoft, Facebook and Apple divide their employees into teams?
What do you think would be the most difficult aspect of working as part of such a team?
What do you think would be the most beneficial aspect of working as part of such a team?
LEARNING TARGET: I will work with my group to develop group standards and norms for Phase I of our Team Development Project during today's class.
WORK O' THE DAY:
We are changing up the end of the semester in this class this year.
We've talked at length with Ms Zhu about her experiences working in the AI group at Microsoft Research.
She and I STRONGLY believe that experience and practice in such a programming team is really, really beneficial.
Towards that end we are going to have you work with your team on several projects of increasing difficulty:
1) Basic: Work with your team to design and build a main program. Then work by yourself to design and build a function that ties into the main program.
We will provide the specifications and parameters.
2) Intermediate: Work with your team to design and build a main program. Then work by yourself to design and build a more robust series of functions that ties back into the main program.
We will assist you in developing specifications and parameters.
3) Advanced: Work with your NEW team to design and build a main program. Then work by yourself and in consultation with your group to design and build one full set of features that ties back into the main program which combines into a basic 'classic' 1980's computer game including but not limited to:
- Space Invaders
- Missile Command
- Donkey Kong
- Asteroids
- Centipede
We will only tangentially assist you in developing specifications and parameters.
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GRADING:
85% of your grade will come from our assessment of your individual functions and how well they communicate with the MAIN program.
15% of your grade will come from how well all the pieces fit together.
► For purposes of this exercise, the person designated by the color green will LEAD the conversation (if you don't have a green person then have the blue person take the LEAD).
This won't be easy for some of us...
If you are uncomfortable taking the lead, make a double-extra effort to do so. That means you can't sit back and let someone else assume your duties as the team lead.
If you are not the lead and you REALLY, REALLY, REALLY want to take the lead, then you have to make a double-extra effort to hold back and follow the lead of the lead (so to speak)
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► For purposes of this exercise, the person designated by the color red will DOCUMENT this first conversation (if you don't have a designated red person then have the orange person take the documentation LEAD).
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Your first task is to develop a list of NORMS that you all agree to adhere to MOST diligently. This is NOT a trivial exercise and it is really, really important that everyone buy into the process.
Now let's switch rolls. Documenters are blue (or green) and LEADs are orange (or red)
Please discuss THIS very likely situation:
Erica is a go-getter in your group. She's self-taught in programming and has already dabbled in Java, C# and Python.
Eric is very uncomfortable with computer programming. He's starting to wonder why he ever took this course in the first place and has had difficulty completing project tasks.
Erica's work is going well, she finished her initial concept designs in less than a day and is well under way with programing her functions...and functions that are called by those functions.
Eric hasn't been in class for several days. He hasn't submitted his concept designs for the group and he hasn't started any programming yet.
Erica is getting very anxious and starts doing Eric's work for him:
"Look, Eric's not here. I'm not going to let MY grade suffer because he's so far behind and never shows up to class."
Before you begin your discussions, please review your norms.
Please discuss THIS additional situation:
You are in a group of two other students.
One student is getting really upset because, to that person at least, the way to proceed on designing your MAIN program is obvious. Any idiot can see that there is really only one way to proceed.
The other student is equally certain that there is a MUCH better way to design the MAIN program and things are getting heated.
You'd really, really, REALLY much rather be anyplace else in the Universe than caught between your two group partners.
Before you begin your discussions, please review your norms.