W. Michael McCracken

W. Michael McCracken is a Principal Research Scientist and is the Associate Director of the Software Research Center at Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta, Georgia. In his current position, he teaches and conducts research in computer science and software engineering. He is the head of the steering committee of the EduTech Institute at Georgia Tech, and is a member of the faculty of the Cognitive Science Program at Georgia Tech. He is on the editorial board of the Journal of Computer Science Education, and the steering committee for the Conference on Software Engineering Education and Training. He was also the Co-program for ITiCSE 2001.

• Musing about Design
• Current Research
• Sample Publications
• Invited presentations
• Hobbies and interests
• My Kids

Current Research

• My research interests include design learning, computer science education, and software engineering education and management. The central theme of this research is the development of a more concrete understanding of how people learn designing and what are the neccessary cognitive skills and knowledge that support design activities. I am especially concerned with the issues of life-long learning in fields that are subject to constant technological change and what educational activities better prepare people for life-long learning. There are three binding topics that I am investigating. The core research topic is the investigation of how designers accommodate change. A predictive model of accommodation has been developed that characterizes the skills and knowledge needed by designers to accommodate change. Any model is only as good as its accuracy. To improve its accuracy requires a better understanding of the fundamental skills and knowledge used by designers. In a sense, we know what we teach, but we are not sure what they are learning. To gain that understanding, I am developing improved assessment tools for fundamental computer science. The assessment results will be used to improve the accuracy of the model of designing and inform the teaching and learning of computing.Computer Science Ability Study (CSAS)

• In addition to the model of designing, I am investigating the cognitive processes of learning designing. I have investigated the misconceptions students have of designing and I am currently investigating how students in computer science and software engineering deal with the multiple languages of the discipline. These languages, natural, diagrammatic, and symbolic are the tools of designing. The transformations between these languages and the meaning making of them is critical for successful designing. I am extending previous research from math and science learning as multiple language acquisition as a part of learning to design.

Sample Publications:

Books

• W. M. McCracken, C.M. Eastman, W. Newstetter, Editors, Knowing and Learning to Design: Cognition in Design Education, Elsevier, 2001.

  Papers and Reports

• A multi-national, multi-institutional study of assessment of programming skills of first-year cs students. McCracken, M., Almstrum, V., Diaz, D., Guzdial, M., Hagan, D., Kolikant, Y.B-D., Laxer, C., Thomas, L., Utting, I., ACM SIGCSE Bullentin, 2001.
• Text to diagram to symbol: Representational transformation in problem-solving, Proceedings of the Frontiers in Education Conference, October 2001
• Design learning as conceptual change, American Society for Engineering Education Annual Conference, St. Louis, 2000.
• Reverse Engineering or Design Recovery: Two approaches to uncovering desgining American Society for Engineering Education Annual Conference, St. Louis, 2000.
• Integrating Professionalism and Workplace Issues into the Computing and Information Technology Curriculum, SIGSCE Bulletin, 31(4), December, 1999. (co-author).
• Misconceptions of Design. Conference on Innovation and Technology in Computer Science Education. June, 1999.
• Why? When a Successful Intervention Fails. Conference on Innovation and Technology in Computer Science Education. June, 1999.
• International Guidance for the Development of Software Engineering Education Programs, Journal of Systems and Software, 1999. (co-author)
• Design Education: Introduction to the Special Issue of Design Studies on Design Education, 20:2, March, 1999.
• Why?: When an Otherwise Successful Interventiona Fails Paper accepted as presentation as a poster for International Conference on the Learning Sciences, 1998.
• Software Engineering Education, What Academia Can Do, IEEE Software, October, 1997.
• Assessment and Evaluation in Problem Based Learning, Abstract in the Proceedings of the 1997 Conference on Frontiers in Education, November, 1997.
• A Survey of Perceptions of Learner Centered Design, Abstract in the Proceedings of the 1997 Conference on Frontiers in Education, November, 1997.
• Issues in Learning Scripting versus Declarative Languages for Engineers, Abstract in the Proceedings of the 1997 Conference on Frontiers in Education, November, 1997.
• Problem-Based Learning in Software Engineering, Conference on Problem Based Learning, Pittsburgh, PA, 1995.
• Toward a Pre-Disciplinary Introductory Design Sequence, Proceedings of the 1995 Conference on Frontiers in Education, November, 1995.
• Problem-Based Learning: A Case Study of its Application to Information Systems Design, College of Computing Technical Report, GIT-CC-95-13.

Invited Presentations:

• Invited Talk, Why Can't Jack and Jill Program?, Computer Science Colloquium, University of Virginia, November, 2001.
• Invited Talk, Business Process Re-engineering, Panacea or Bunk/, Appalachian State University, College of Business, March 1995.
• Invited Talk, Problem Based Learning: A Case Study of its Application to Information Systems Design, Appalachian State University, College of Business, March 1995.
• Invited Talk, Is Software Quality an Oxymoron?, Appalachian State University, College of Business, March 1995.
• Invited Talk, Where Hath Software Engineering Goeth?, Needs for Research and Education in Software Engineering, DCA Edison Forum, March 4, 1994.
• Invited Plenary Talk, A New Paradigm of Software Engineering Education, 1993 Software Engineering Research Forum, Orlando, FL, November 21, 1993
• Invited Talk,The Importance of Software Testing in Development of Academic Software, University of Arizona, College of Business, MIS Department, June 1991.

Hobbies & Interests:

• Antiques on rec.antiques
• Arts and Crafts Antiques
• Farm Pages

Few people know that I am a serious collector and student of the American Arts and Crafts Movement. I have managed to addict several faculty and students at Georgia Tech in the collecting of objects from the period. My interests in the movement began over 20 years ago, and I am currently researching the history of Benedict Brothers metal (nee Onondaga Metal Shops). If you have any information on this company, please send it to me.

My Kids:

Contact information:

E-mail : mike@cc.gatech.edu

Last Modified: June 11, 1999