TITLE: Launching the Compiler Project with New Uncertainties
AUTHOR: Eugene Wallingford
DATE: August 29, 2021 10:19 AM
DESC: 
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BODY:
 We will be forming project teams in my course this week, and students
 will begin work in earnest on Friday.  Or so thinks the prof, who
 releases the first assignment on Thursday...  I can dream.

 I noticed one change this year when I surveyed students about their
 preferences for forming teams.  In an ordinary year, most students
 submit at least one or two names of others in the class with whom
 they'd like to work; some already have formed the teams they want to
 work in.  A few indicate someone they'd rather not work with, usually
 based on experiences in previous courses.  This helps me help them
 form teams with a mix of new and familiar, with some hedge against
 expected difficulties.  It's never perfect, but most years we end up
 with a decent set of teams and project experiences.

 This year, though, students barely offered any suggestions for
 forming teams.  Most students expressed no preference for whom they
 want to work with, and no one indicated someone they don't want to
 work with.

 At first, this seemed strange to me, but then I realized that it
 is likely an effect of three semesters distorted by COVID-19.  With
 one semester forced online and into isolation, a second semester
 with universal masking, no extracurricular activities, and no social
 life, and a third semester with continued masking and continued
 encouragement not to gather, these students have had almost no
 opportunitiy to get to know one another!

 This isolation eliminates one of the great advantages of a residential
 university, both personally and professionally.  I made so many
 friends in college, some of whom I'm still close to, and spent time
 with them whenever I wasn't studying (which, admittedly, was a lot).
 But it also affects the classroom, where students build bonds over
 semesters of taking courses together in various configurations.
 Those bonds carry over into a project course such as mine, where
 they lubricate the wheels of teams who have to work together more
 closely than before.  They at least begin the project knowing each
 other a bit and sharing a few academic experiences.

 Several students in my class this semester said, "I have no friends
 in this class" or even "I don't know any other CS majors".  That is
 sad.  It also raises the stakes for the compiler project, which may
 be there only chance to make acquaintances in their major before
 they graduate.  I feel a lot more responsibility as I begin to
 group students into teams this semester, even as I know that I have
 less information available than ever before for doing a credible job.

 I'm going to keep all this in mind as the semester unfolds and pay
 closer attention to how students and teams seem to be doing.
 Perhaps this course can not only help them have a satisfying and
 educational experience building a big piece of software, but also
 help them form some of the personal bonds that add grace notes to
 their undergrad years.

~~~~~

 On an unrelated note, I received word a couple of weeks ago that
 this blog had been selected by Feedspot as one of
<a href="https://blog.feedspot.com/computer_science_blogs/">
   the Top 20 Computer Science Blogs</a>
 on the web.  It's always nice to be recognized in this way.
 Given how little little I've blogged over the last couple of years,
 it is rather generous to include me on this list!  I see there a
 number of top-quality blogs, several of which I read religiously,
 and most of which post entries with admirable regularity.  It
 remains a goal of mine to return to writing here more regularly.
 Perhaps two entries within a week, light as they are, offer hope.
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