Thinking about asking: Encouraging a questioning approach to requirements gathering and problem solving
Madalene Spezialetti · 2016
When a client, describing a problem that requires a computing solution, mentions their “old” customers, does it refer to the age of the customers or the length of time the customers have been with the business? How big is “big”, how much is “too many” and what exactly should happen to the extra banquet guests that fail to fill an entire table? While typical programming assignment descriptions are fully specified, with all ambiguity removed, real-world problems are frequently ill-defined, filled with ambiguity and open-ended. Successfully translating these problems into computing solutions involves both recognizing the issues that need to be addressed and asking questions to resolve the unknowns. Typical classroom examples and assignments purposely lack ambiguity and so do not provide students with the opportunity to develop the questioning skills that will be required in professional life. Further, for some students, asking questions implies not understanding the material, and thus can be perceived as a negative attribute. This paper presents an approach to encouraging an environment of questioning surrounding problem descriptions and potential solutions. The generality of the approach enables it to be incorporated into classes ranging from CS1 to upper-level courses such as Software Engineering and senior capstones.