Team project     [ Sivu suomen kielellä]

Team project: Make New Practice Problems

This is done in pairs or threesomes. The members of each team and the topics of the exercises will be published team-wise on the course web page after the teams have been formed.

If you have a problem with your partners (e.g. have not been able to contact your partner in a long time), please tell the lecturer immediately. Do not leave your teamwork to the last minute , because then you won't have time to solve even small unforeseen problems.

The teams can arrange their work as they wish. Personal meetings can be arranged at the exercise sessions, for example. It is also possible to handle all (or most) communication online, by e-mail, for example

Please study the topics of the exercises of your own course. They are linked to the course main page.

You are expected to plan 3 different practice problems along with answers and explanations, each problem from a different topic area. Each problem is implemented as xml script. For each problem, the author name should be in the author field, the course name in the course field and the topic in the topic field. The appearance and functionality of the problems should match the sample problem (esim_en.xml). The unnecessary command fields (<!--...-->) in the sample problem can be removed. They do not need to be included in the problems that are handed in.

Make your questions descriptive and original to make them stand out among the other questions. Avoid the typical question “Which of the following are true?” and its trivial variations

If the problem and its explanation are outstanding they may be added to the array of exercises for the course. The person in charge of the course reserves the right to edit problem and/or the explanations. If you don't want your problems to be published, please say so when handing them in.

Naming the XML files for the problem

Please remember the following principles for naming XML files in order to make it easier to manage them in the future. The name of the file should be unique and preferably 15-30 characters long. At the end of each file, the term (k03 for Spring 2003, s03 for autumn 2003 etc) and the language (fi, en or sw) should be encoded. As an example, the file name processor_implementation_features_s03_en.xml indicates an practice problem in English, produced in Autumn 2003.

Using XML scripts

Let us assume from now on as an example that the team project is done for the course Computer Organization I (tito), so the component “tito” is present in various path names. For other courses, this component should, of course, be changed to the appropriate one for that course.

The practice problems should be saved to the department file server (fs.cs.helsinki.fi) in your directory public_html/exercise, for example, so that everyone can read them ( "chmod a+r example_fi.xml" ). Everyone should have the right to access ("chmod a+x") all the directories on the path ( home, public_html and exercise ). The problems are presented as XML files that are executed on the database server db.cs.helsinki.fi with the php script practice.php .

Example: the XML file esim_en.xml on the file server (fs) directory /home/fs/kerola/public_html/kertauskys is executed with browser command http://db.cs.helsinki.fi/~kerola/php/practice.php?file=/home/fs/kerola/public_html/kertauskys/esim_en.xml. Please observe that full path names should be used for both php scripts and XML files, and that, at least for the time being, Kerola's home directory should be written in the form “~kerola” in connection with the php script. As in the example, file names for questions in Finnish should end with “ _fi.xml” and those in English should end with "_en.xml".

There may be normal html attributes in the exercises (XML files), but they always have to include both prefixes and postfixes (such as <pre> and </pre> or <p> and </p>), as well.

You may use images in your practice problems, but you may have to practicea little b it to be able to use them. The images (<img>) should be placed after the text part of the question in the problems <question> field so that the image does not appear in the question list made by the script mkpract .

There is a good example of the use of images in the practice problem for the course Computer Organization I in totuustaulu_s03_fi.xml  (src).

Multiselection can not be used; each answer is independent of the others.

If you are more interested in XML or php, there are examples of them in our courses XML-metakieli (XML-metalanguage) or  Digitaalisen median tekniikat (Digital Media Techniques). However, you do not need them for this team project. Practice problem definitions are also in dtd file kertaus.dtd.

The mkpract script

You do not have to write browser commands into html files yourself, because they can be generated automatically. Command ~kerola/bin/mkpract will generate file pract.html (similar to pract.html) into current directory). All the practice problems in that directory will be linked to pract.html, according to the topics in alphabetical order.

> cd ~/public_html/kertauskys
> ~kerola/bin/mkpract

When using this script, the world has to have read rights (chmod a+r kertaus) to current directory (and its subdirectories), because the script mkpract must be able to read the file names of that directory. The script mkpract recognises the language of the problem from the file postfix (_fi.xml or _en.xml).

Features of a good practice problem

The following features make a good practice problem

• It requires you to understand the principles of the topic. The level of understanding may vary: (1) knowing, (2) understanding, (3) knowing how to apply, (4), knowing how to analyse, i.e. find the essentials, (5) knowing how to synthesize i.e. create new and complex ideas, and (6) knowing how to evaluate ideas, information, methods and solutions [Bloom]. On the Cum laude approbatur level, the three first levels should be enough, and at the Laudatur level some more may be expected of you.
• It is easy to understand the question at first read-through.
• For someone understanding the topic, it will be easy to deduce which of the alternative answers is correct.
• The explanations of the incorrect answers will guide a person who does not quite understand the topic yet.
• The explanations of the correct answers will also give new information to a student who does understand the topic.
• The alternative answers make sense.
• What else? Tell me?

The following features make a bad practice problem

• There are large or complex numbers that cannot be quickly processed in your head.
• You need a calculator or a computer to solve it.
• It requires you to know things outside the topic (However, it is OK to expect students to know the prerequisites of the course.)
• It makes fun of the student's ignorance. (The purpose of the exercises is to further learning, so the attitude should always remain positive and promote learning. Humour is always OK.)
• The question really contains several questions, i.e. “Which of the following questions/statements is/are correct?”. (On the other hand, if the statements are clearly connected with one and the same topic, this may be alright.)
• At some point, the question gives information that is not true ( Normal simplification for pedagogical reasons is not included in this.)
• What else? Tell me?

Handing in your work

The team project should be handed in both on paper and by e-mail . You can hand in the paper copy either in person or to the porters, addressed to the lecturer. When sending your work in an e-mail, please attach the practice problems as normal attachments (un-packed), so that they are as easy as possible to retrieve.

At least the following points should be included in the work handed in:

1. Authors
2. The team's estimate on how big a share (%) each team member had in the result. Even shares (50 % and 50 %) do not sound credible.
3. An estimate of the total time used for the teamwork per person (person-hours).
4. A short overview (4 rows max.) of the team's co-operation in other parts of the course than the teamwork.
5. Permission/prohibition for the university to use the exercise questions in future. (A possible prohibition will in no way affect grades!). E.g., "University of Helsinki can use these practice problems in way it finds suitable" would be nice.
6. For each practice problem (3 in all) its topic and the question itself.
7. A link to the webpage (…/pract.html) with the practice problems available for testing. Check that they work!
8. The practice problems (3 in all) as XML files.

Grading

All team members are graded the same in principle. At least the following issues are taken into account when grading the teamwork:

• The originality of practice problems/alternative answers and their importance in relation to the topic.
• How correct and understandable the explanations of the answers to the practice problems are.
• The functionality of the practice problems (they have to work with a normal browser).
• Team co-operation

Of course, the team members can use the team for study support during the course. The team members could help each other in the other parts of the course, for example. It is a big bonus if you have someone to ask for advice. The person who answers usually learns even more than the person who asked, so you both get the bonus. Furthermore, it's nicer and more effective to study together than by yourself.

You will get 3/5 points from teamwork that fulfils the basic requirements. More for excellent and less for passable work. One excellent practice problem may be better than several mediocre ones.

Finally

If you think that one of the team members has dropped out of the course or does not want to participate in the teamwork, please contact the lecturer immediately. If necessary, the teams may be changed.

If you have practical problems, please see Usein Kysyttyjen Kysymysten listaa (FAQ - in Finnish, sorry). If you cannot find help there, please contact the lecturer.

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Teemu Kerola