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Workplace scenarios to integrate communication skills and content: a case study

Published: 05 March 2014 Publication History

Abstract

A recent study of new software developers at Microsoft reveals the significance and integration of communication skills in their daily tasks. While the literature offers a variety of approaches to promote the integration of communication skills into the Computer Science curriculum, a discrepancy remains between what students get and what they need. In this paper, we propose using workplace scenarios that integrate communication skills with technical content situated in and mediating workplace activity. Workplace scenarios are based on an analysis of the workplace as an activity system. Guidelines for implementing workplace scenarios are provided. A case study analyzes the integration of communication skills with technical content using workplace scenarios in a software development course.

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    cover image ACM Conferences
    SIGCSE '14: Proceedings of the 45th ACM technical symposium on Computer science education
    March 2014
    800 pages
    ISBN:9781450326056
    DOI:10.1145/2538862
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    Published: 05 March 2014

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    Author Tags

    1. activity systems
    2. communication skills
    3. genre
    4. situated learning
    5. workplace scenario

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    Overall Acceptance Rate 1,787 of 5,146 submissions, 35%

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    • (2024)SkillSync: Evaluating Candidates for Communication and Problem-Solving Proficiency2024 15th International Conference on Computing Communication and Networking Technologies (ICCCNT)10.1109/ICCCNT61001.2024.10724605(1-6)Online publication date: 24-Jun-2024
    • (2022)Towards Integrated Graduate Skills for UK Computing Science StudentsProceedings of the 2022 Conference on United Kingdom & Ireland Computing Education Research10.1145/3555009.3555018(1-7)Online publication date: 1-Sep-2022
    • (2021)Keeping Curriculum Relevant: Identifying Longitudinal Shifts in Computer Science Topics through Analysis of Q&A Communities2021 IEEE Frontiers in Education Conference (FIE)10.1109/FIE49875.2021.9637144(1-7)Online publication date: 13-Oct-2021
    • (2021)Integrating the Development of Professional Skills Throughout an ICT Curriculum Improves a Graduate’s CompetencyAdvances in Software Engineering, Education, and e-Learning10.1007/978-3-030-70873-3_5(55-67)Online publication date: 9-Sep-2021
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    • (2017)Impact of Student Engagement on First Year ICT Performance2017 International Conference on Computational Science and Computational Intelligence (CSCI)10.1109/CSCI.2017.189(1085-1090)Online publication date: Dec-2017
    • (2016)Evaluating the Collaboration between a Software Project Management Course and a Software Development Course in Terms of Student Learning and Experience2016 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition Proceedings10.18260/p.26760Online publication date: Jun-2016
    • (2016)A Course on Programming and Problem SolvingProceedings of the 47th ACM Technical Symposium on Computing Science Education10.1145/2839509.2844594(323-328)Online publication date: 17-Feb-2016
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