Thursday, August 9, 2012

SBU CIS Teamed up with Local Teachers


Southwest Baptist University News Release
Contact: Sharina Smith, Office of Marketing & Communications
417-328-1803 / ssmith@sbuniv.edu

BOLIVAR, Mo. –– Southwest Baptist University’s Department of Computer and Information Sciences (CIS) students recently teamed up with local area teachers recently to create a series of fun games which have a very serious intent: teaching Bolivar Public School students some state mandated learning objectives.

The games were created by as a class assignment by students in Computer Science 2, a freshman level software engineering course. Each game had to be based on a theme that would interest students in third, fourth, or fifth grade, and had to help students learn at topic they were studying in class. The topics ranged from the properties of electricity, to using fractions and making change, to recognizing proper nouns. The themes ranged from Phineas and Ferb to the Avengers.

“This is one of those truly win-win situations where everyone benefits,” said Dr. Tim DeClue, CIS Department Chair. “Our CIS students benefitted because they got to apply software engineering principles to a real problem domain and because they got to work with some talented teachers in the Bolivar Public School System. The Intermediate School students benefitted from playing the games and learning, and the teachers got to understand computer science and software engineering better.”    

Identifying willing teachers and getting the support of the school’s principal was a key aspect of the project.  Laura Boyd, BIS Principal, along with Mrs. Nelson, Mrs. Endres, Mrs. Bolton, Mrs. Katrosh, Mrs. Stehr, and Math Lab Teacher Mrs. DeClue facilitated the class project at by serving as a project sponsor for the SBU CIS students. “Before a software project can be built, the engineers have to collect the project requirements. That is where the teachers came in to play,” said Dr. DeClue. “The SBU students interviewed the teachers to find out what the software was supposed to teach.  Without the teachers there would be no project.”

Southwest Baptist University’s Department of Computer and Information Sciences was founded in 1984 and is home to four full-time faculty, two faculty associates, and approximately 80 students majoring in computer science, computer information science, or web systems and design.  SBU CIS is a nationally recognized leader in undergraduate computing degrees at purposefully Christian institutions.     

###

PHOTO Caption: Michael Gooley, SBU computer science major plays the educational game he wrote with two BIS students.

Southwest Baptist University is a leader among private universities in truly integrating Christ-centered academic pursuits with comprehensive professional programs at an affordable price. At SBU, the faculty and staff create a caring, academic community to prepare students to be servant leaders in a global society. For more information, visit www.SBUniv.edu.

SBU’s Office of Marketing and Communications is available to news media 24 hours a day at (417) 399-7918.