Fun feature of Joel and the rest of the Hamlins by KHQ.

Enter Pycoder’s Weekly. It’s a weekly newsletter that summarizes the latest happenings in the wide world of Python. There’s only been one issue so far, but this could be a great resource for all of the Pythonistas out there.

(If Pycoder’s Weekly catches your fancy, you may also be interested in Coder Weekly.)

Congratulations to Mrs. Robinson’s 3rd grade class at Sunnyside Elementary who had the highest attendance at yesterday’s game.

— Ken Bone(@Ken_Bone) December 19, 2011

Her class will be the recipients of a pizza party with our team. Keeping my fingers crossed that I get an invite.

— Ken Bone(@Ken_Bone) December 19, 2011

Members of the team had a pizza party with Mrs, Robinson’s third grade class. twitter.com/WSUHoopsBlog/s…

— WSU Hoops Blog (@WSUHoopsBlog) January 17, 2012

As you might expect, some teams accomplished much more than others. Looking at the posters and playing with the prototypes, I was instantly reminded of my experience with group projects in school. A few of the teams seemed to have genuine chemistry. They had developed personal relationships that allowed them to work together and get along. This allowed them to cover a lot of ground, collaborating and sharing work while each member pulled their own weight. Other teams seemed to have members that related to each other professionally, but not at a personal level. They got their work done, but the final product lacked a sense of overall unity and direction. A couple of the teams seemed to be somewhat dysfunctional. After just one short conversation, I could tell that they had not spent the time or energy required to make their project a success.

How could a single class of students produce teams with such different personalities and results? To me, it seems like there were two major factors at play:

Hofstadter’s Law:
“It always takes longer than you expect, even when you take into account Hofstadter’s Law.”

Engineers are famously bad at estimating the amount of work required to complete a task. Hofstadter’s Law describes just how bad the problem is. Estimation is certainly an acquired skill that improves with practice. College seniors tend to have little or not experience with estimation, though, so it’s not unusual for their predictions to be off by a factor of 10 or more.

Some of the teams at the poster session did not finish their projects because they did not realize the amount of work to be done. By the time they began to understand the breadth and depth of their task, it was too late. Other teams overestimated their workload. Their projects were easier than anticipated. This allowed them to finish their tasks and polish their presentation, but the final result was underwhelming because of the lack of  compelling content.

It seems like more involvement from project sponsors, team advisers, and department faculty could help solve this problem. Early on in the projects, these experienced mentors could help the teams estimate and plan their upcoming tasks. This would allow for scope problems to be caught early and for adjustments to be made.

Student Syndrome:
“People will start to fully apply themselves to a task just at the last possible moment before a deadline.”

It hasn’t been long since I was a college student, and I remember what it’s like. With a full load of classes, extracurricular activities, and friends, it can be hard to manage your time. Procrastination becomes a way of life, especially when group projects are involved. In a team environment, it takes so much effort to schedule meetings, politely divide work, and assess the status of the project. The natural response is to develop a degree of apathy and rely on teammates to get the work done.

In my mind, there are three ways to combat Student Syndrome. First, ensure that everyone on the team is passionate about the project. Whenever possible, each person’s tasks should align with their particular set of skills and interests. Second, set a number of milestones over the course of the project. Scheduled goals will help keep everyone on track and guarantee that the project remains a priority for each person involved. Third, make sure that the individual tasks are challenging yet doable at the same time. This will require the same type of scope adjustments mentioned above, but it will keep everyone engaged along the way.

Teams that properly compensate for Hofstadter’s Law and Student Syndrome are on the road to success. They develop a spirit of camaraderie and trust, allowing them to tackle big problems with confidence and ambition.

To summarize his early efforts, Mr. Bahat has recorded his thoughts in an article on his blog. I found his perspective to be fresh and intriguing. It struck a chord with me because it identifies some of the things I like most about writing code, things that a non-programmer would never know.

Every time I open my editor, I’m reminded that I can’t just “jump in for a few minutes” the way I can with my usual work… It takes me time to rev up, remember what I was supposed to be doing and how it fits together.