Developing an Institutional Peer Code Review Tool using Software Engineering Principles
Tamaike Brown, Bastian Tenbergen · 2022 IEEE Frontiers in Education Conference (FIE) · 2022
This work in progress paper reports the software engineering activities involved in designing and implementing an institutional peer code review (IPCR) tool. The platform aims to help novice computer science (CS1) students at a particular institution understand Java introductory programming concepts and improve their programming skills while learning from instructors and peers. Over 200 students enrolled in CS1 programming course experience difficulty understanding basic concept such as loops, methods, and classes. Consequently, students may be forced to repeat CS1 courses or, discouraged from continuing their major resulting in a discontinuation of their CS education. Prior studies show that peer code review(PCR) can help address this problem as a collaborative learning approach. However, the methods used in those studies were not done using a tool that was built to help students with little or no programming experience. The goal of this research is therefore to develop an IPCR tool using software engineering principles that facilitates instructor-to-student and peer-to-peer learning. Students shall be able to access the platform 24/7, submit java code and receive feedback from instructors or peers. This will not only help students understand programming principles and identify common novice programmers’ mistakes but will also improve students understanding and programming skills. We report on the progress of our tool.