Editing Software Engineering (Fall 2025) (section)

==== Notes on Group Work ====

Real-world software engineering is a team sport -- but in a school context it can be frustrating. The project in this course is designed to be lightweight: the purpose is to practice the processes we are learning about, which are mostly about working together to write code. That means facing the challenges of group work. To lighten the coding load, I encourage you to make substantial use of code assistant AI tools in a rapid prototyping mode: treat the AI tool as if it were your intern or a junior member of your team, give it assignments, assess its work.

Group process is key to this course. Think carefully about what kind of group member you want to be, and how you will respond to potential sources of conflict. In general, groups work well when students have motivations that align with the work of the group, varying skillsets, and display mutual respect. I will assess your work based on the evidence I see in behavioral traces: the records left behind in the tools we use for the course.

Building awareness of your own priorities and skills is crucial to being a good group member. I will be collecting confidential feedback on how groups are functioning, and I reserve the right to rearrange group membership to support everyone's learning.

Do you want an excellent grade in the course? Be clear about your expectations and priorities, and seek out groupmates who share your level of commitment.

Are your skills still emerging? Be ready to work hard, to learn from classmates, and to be flexible about which tasks you take on (but don't plan to coast on the efforts of others!).

Have you made life choices that mean you will need to simply be satisfied with an okay grade? Be transparent with your groupmates and only make commitments you can keep.

Although some developers work alone or nearly so, that is '''not''' the model for this course. Some of our learning goals require trying out ideas related to coordinating the work of groups of people.