TPOT
Team Project Organizational Tool
Old Dominion University
CS410 Team Black
Design Presentation
Nov 20, 2013
2
Team Black
Dr. Pilar Pazos, Ph.D.
Mentor
Thomas TJ Carson
Jose Brandariz
Co-leader
Database
Back-end
Security
Pernell Dixon
Joe Elder
Front-end
Security
Front-end
Webmaster
Josh Ward
Aaron Walden
Front-end
Back-end
Co-leader
Database
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Nov 20, 2013
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What is TPOT?
TPOT will be web-based team and instructor
project collaboration software designed for the
educational environment.
The teapot metaphor:
When the project is "boiling,“ TPOT "whistles."
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Outline
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• Dr. Pazos’ Proposal
• Database Trigger Example
• Current Situation in Virtual
Education (with processes)
• Database ER Diagrams/Schema
• Problem Statement
• Mock Dashboard GUIs
• Importance of Virtual Teams and
their Education
• Team Page Components
• Problem Characteristics
• Dashboard Components
• Site Map
• Solution Statement and Goals
• Comprehensive Operation
Example
• Major Components Required
• Improved Process Flows
• Hardware Components
• Benefits of TPOT
• Software Components
• Risks
• Database Components
• Summary and Conclusion
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Case Study: Dr. Pazos’ Proposal
Team Mentor
Research interests:
•
•
•
•
Dr. Pilar Pazos
Ph.D. Industrial Engineering
Emphasis Engineering Mgmt
Texas Tech University, 2005
Assistant Professor – ODU,
Department of Engineering
Management and Systems
Engineering
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Knowledge management
Computer-mediated communication
Collaborative learning
Engineering education
Teams research:
•
•
•
•
•
•
Key factors contributing to teams’ effectiveness
Conflict management in virtual teams (VT)
Global virtual team management
Impacts of technology on virtual teams’ effectiveness
Virtual team training
Development of tools to support team collaboration
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Managing Multiple Team Projects
An increasingly common situation:
Instructors of online, project-based courses are
regularly managing 15 or more teams, often
asynchronously.
• 6.7 million US college students (nearly 1 in 3) involved in virtual
coursework1
• From 10% of enrollment to over 30% since 20022
• ODU CS Dept attempting to make entire undergraduate
degree fully available virtually
1,2. Allen and Seaman, Changing Course
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Current Situation
• Organization left totally to instructors
• No tool to aggregate all team data
• Team Google Site plus ad hoc: email,
Blackboard, Smartsheet
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Current Process Flow: Team Status Determination
CS410 Design Presentation
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Current Process Flow: Deliverable Assessment
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Problem Statement
In an increasingly asynchronous educational
environment, the mentoring of geographically
dispersed teams has become a cumbersome
endeavor.
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Case Study: Dr. Pazos’ Proposal
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Dr. Pazos’ proposed project:
• Team collaboration software
• Focused on development of student team skills
• Instructor Dashboard
o Monitor teams’ status
o Assess deliverables
o Provide feedback
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What is a Virtual Team (VT)?
According to an oft-cited 2009 literature review:
Necessary Characteristics4
Other common characteristics5
•
Geographical dispersion
•
Impermanence
•
Unification by a common purpose
•
Small size
•
Electronic communication
•
Knowledge workers
•
Cross-boundary collaboration
•
Inter-company
Distance learning (DL) project teams satisfy 7 of these 8
4,5. Ebrahim et al., “Virtual Teams, a Literature Review”
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Dispersed Student Teams Are VTs
They satisfy all necessary characteristics:
13
And most common characteristics:
•
Geographical dispersion – nature of DL
•
Impermanent – single course
•
Common purpose – course project
•
Small size – typically under 7
•
Electronic communication – email, Blackboard
•
Knowledge workers – most degrees
•
Cross-boundary collaboration – students have
in this domain
diverse backgrounds, electives, minors
Additionally, they will become the professional VTs of the future.
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The Rise of VTs
•
1980s: self-managing expert teams increasingly common4
•
1990s: self-managing team concept globalized5
•
2000s: cheap Internet facilitates connection of dispersed team
members—the virtual team proliferates6
Currently, according to surveys:
•
46% of companies employ virtual teams7
•
72% of employees’ work at least partially virtual8
•
61% of employees attribute 50% productivity to virtual teamwork9
4,5,6. Ebrahim et al., “Virtual Teams, a Literatiure Review”
7. “SHRM Survey Findings”
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8,9. “Challenges of Working in Virtual Teams”
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The Benefits of VTs
Once again, according to Ebrahim and his colleague’s literature review:
• Great flexibility
• Reduced costs
• Recruiting not limited by time/space (get best people)
• Effective decision making (more time to think)
• Reduced time-to-market
• Increased productivity
• Reduced pollution
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VTs: What to Conclude?
• Virtual teams: key component of contemporary
economy
• Thus, VT support is vital
• Student VT members become tomorrow’s pro VTs
• If TPOT helps nurture these teams, it will have a
tangible, positive impact on society
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Problem Characteristics
For virtual team members10:
• Expectations often differ (roles, responsibilities)
• Team member status difficult to determine
• Trust takes longer to develop than in co-located team
• Conflicts more difficult to resolve
For instructors11:
• Information gathering very time-consuming
• Support less effective
• Accountability assessment prone to error
10. Ebrahim et al., “Virtual Teams, a Literature Review”
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11. Dr. Pazos Interview
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Solution Statement
Provide educationally-focused collaboration
software which facilitates transparent, efficient
virtual teamwork through the careful monitoring
and presentation of data.
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Solution Goals
• Reduce instructor tedium
• Improve team member accountability
• Provide concise project status
• Delineate roles and responsibilities (tasks)
• Corral deliverables
• Maximize ease of collaboration (site accessibility)
• When project “boils,” TPOT “whistles”
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Improved Instructor Process Flow: Team Status Determination
Original:
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Improved Instructor Process Flow: Team Status Determination
Original:
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Major Components Diagram
Team Sites
Instructor Dashboard
Browser
Browser
Instructor
Google Apps Scripts
rd
3
Party Web Server
Team Members and
Partners
TPOT Database Server
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Existing Tool: Team Google Sites
• Part of Dr. Pazos’ team
tools
• No embedded PHP, JS, etc
Provides natively:
• Comments
• File hosting
• Site activity
• Page change alerts
Our plan:
• Using Google Apps
Scripts, incorporate our
own database
• Access site data using
Google Sites API
• Create new template
pages integrating these
scripts
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Hardware Components
Hardware
Web Server
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Database
Server
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Test
Machines
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Software Components
Software
Database
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Instructor
Dashboard
CS410 Design Presentation
Team Page
Templates
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Database
DatabaseComponents
Milestones
Database
MySQL
Server
Schema
Tables
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Constraints
CS410 Design Presentation
Triggers
Email
Notifications
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Trigger Example
User Action
Script SQL to DB
DB Server Action
User creates new Task
New Task INSERTed into
Task table
Trigger activates
procedure
DB emails new Task alert
to User
DB retrieves User email
DB retrieves Task
attributes
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Database ER Diagram 1
Timestamp
Timestamp
1
1
User
Creates_T
N
Timestamp
Team
1
User
IDNum
Team
N
Creates_C
Receives_Grade_C
Name
Grade
1
Course
1
Grades
Timestamp
M
1
N
Role
Timestamp
Member_of
Timestamp
IDNum
FirstName
N
1
User
MiddleName
CrseNum
Joined
Enrolled_in
Email
LastName
N
IDNum
Course
Subject
Role
Title
End
Begin
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Database Schema 1
Member_of
Creates_T
Team
PK,FK1 UID
PK,FK2 TID
PK
PK,FK2 TID
PK
Name
Timestamp
User
Creates_C
PK,FK1 UID
IDNum
PK,FK1 UID
PK
PK,FK2 CID
Timestamp
Enrolled_in
IDNum
PK,FK1 UID
FirstName
PK,FK2 CID
MiddleName
Timestamp
Role
LastName
PK
Role
Timestamp
Joined
Email
Grades
Receives_Grade_C
PK,FK1 IID
PK,FK2 SID
PK,FK3 CID
Timestamp
Course
PK
IDNum
PK,FK1 UID
PK,FK2 CID
Title
Grade
Subject
Timestamp
CrseNum
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Begin
End
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Database ER Diagram 2
Team
Timestamp
Team
Timestamp
Size
User
1
Acts_on_F
N
File
User
1
Acts_on_W
N
Web_Page
Type
Action
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Path/Filename
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Action
URL
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Database Schema 2
Team
Web_Page
PK
FK1
Acts_on_W
PK
IDNum
Team
Name
User
Acts_on_F
IDNum
PK,FK1 UID
FirstName
PK,FK2 Path/Filename
Action
MiddleName
Action
Timestamp
LastName
PK,FK1 UID
PK
PK,FK2 URL
PK
URL
PK
Timestamp
Joined
Email
File
PK
FK1
Path/Filename
Team
Size
Type
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Database ER Diagram 3
Timestamp
Action
Timestamp
1
Timestamp
1
Sends
Acts_on_T
N
Course
Subject
N
Name
User
Message
Body
User
Receives
N
Task
Receives_Grade_T
1
1
Grade
Gradable
Due_Date
1
IDNum
IDNum
1
Description
Completed
Assigns
1
N
Timestamp
Timestamp
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Database Schema 3
Message
Sends
PK
Receives
IDNum
PK,FK1 UID
Subject
FK1
UID
PK,FK2 MID
Body
FK2
MID
Timestamp
PK
Acts_on_T
PK,FK1 UID
PK,FK2 TID
Action
PK
Timestamp
User
Timestamp
IDNum
FirstName
Receives_Grade_T
MiddleName
FK1
UID
LastName
FK2
TID
Joined
Grade
Email
Timestamp
Task
Assigns
PK,FK1 ASSIGNER
PK
IDNum
FK1
Course
Course
PK
IDNum
PK,FK2 ASSIGNEE
Name
Title
PK,FK3 TID
Gradable
Subject
Due_Date
CrseNum
Completed
Begin
Description
End
Timestamp
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Database ER Diagram 4
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Database Schema 4
File
PK
FK1
Path/Filename
Team
PK
Team
IDNum
Name
Size
Type
Submits
PK,FK1 UID
User
PK
IDNum
PK,FK2 TID
FirstName
PK,FK3 SlotNum
MiddleName
PK,FK4 File
LastName
PK
Timestamp
Joined
Email
Task
Sub_slot
Course
PK
IDNum
FK1
Course
Title
Name
Subject
Gradable
CrseNum
Due_Date
Begin
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Completed
End
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Description
PK,FK1 TID
PK
SlotNum
PK
IDNum
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Dashboard
DashboardComponents
Milestones
Overview
Team
Pages
Files
Activity
Instructor
Dashboard
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DB Update
Forms
Grades
Messages
Admin
Back-end
Scripts
GUI
Filterable
Table Views
Tasks
HTML/Script
Elements
CS410 Design Presentation
SQL
Queries
DML
Updates
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Mock GUI: Dashboard Overview
3737
Mock GUI: Dashboard Tasks
3838
Mock GUI: Dashboard Files
3939
Mock GUI: Dashboard Files
4040
Mock GUI: Dashboard Messages
4141
Mock GUI: Dashboard Grades
4242
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Team
TeamPage
PageComponents
Milestones
Project
Status
Team
Activity
Member
Info
File
Manager
Task
Manager
Team Page
Templates
Google Apps
Scripts
SQL
Queries
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GUI
Elements
Message
Manager
Grades
Team-created /
Default Pages
HTML GUI
Elements
Google
Sites API
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Site Map
Team Project
Pages
TPOT
Login
Instructor role
required to access
Instructor
Dashboard
Register
Project
Status
Team
Activity
Tasks
Messages
Tasks
Messages
Files
Grades
Files
Grades
Member
Info
Team
Pages
Activity
Team-created /
Default Pages
Account
Options
Overview
Admin
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Example Operation - Instructor
User action
Script DB action
Script UI action
Visits Grades page
Updates DB with user’s
‘visited’ action
Retrieves all courses user
instructs from DB
Retrieves all gradable
tasks for course
Selects course
Displays course selector
Displays task selector
Selects task
Retrieves all teams and
students in course and
graded status for task
Displays grade/feedback
UI
Selects team/student
Displays team/student
selector
Displays links to latest
submissions for all slots
Assess deliverable
Submit grade and
feedback
Updates team/student
selector graded status
Updates DB with user’s
‘graded’ action
Updates DB with grade
information
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Benefits of TPOT
• Faster status determination
• Faster deliverable assessment
• Increased accountability
• Increased concision of team status
• Increased clarity of team responsibilities
• Maximized ease of collaboration
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TPOT Risk Matrix: Customer Risks
Probability
1
2
3
4
C1 - Resistance to Adoption
5
5
I
m
p
a
c
t
2
4
Inertia is powerful: students and
instructors may forego use of
TPOT in favor of existing
solutions, which are numerous
and well-developed in many
cases.
4
3
Mitigation Strategy: Ensure
that TPOT’s user interface is as
simple, attractive, and intuitive
as possible by testing its design
with actual students and
instructors.
2
1
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Probability
Impact
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TPOT Risk Matrix: Customer Risks
Probability
1
2
3
4
C2 - Hindered Projects
5
5
I
m
p
a
c
t
1
3
If TPOT’s use proves to be
ineffective or otherwise
problematic for teams, their
projects may suffer, which could
result in failed courses,
disappointed industry partners,
and poor instructor evaluations.
4
3
Mitigation Strategy: Ensure
TPOT’s collaborative abilities by
including known best
collaboration practices and by
extensive testing with actual
projects.
2
1
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Probability
Impact
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TPOT Risk Matrix: Technical Risks
Probability
1
2
3
4
T1 - Security of Projects
5
5
I
m
p
a
c
t
Probability
Impact
1
4
The leaking of a project’s
intellectual property through
database vulnerabilities may
have financial repercussions for
industry partners involved in
high-level course projects.
4
3
Mitigation Strategy: Ensure
database security through
careful design, utilizing best
practices.
2
1
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TPOT Risk Matrix: Technical Risks
Probability
1
2
3
4
T2 – Real Data
5
5
I
m
p
a
c
t
Probability
Impact
1
5
The system may fail to function
properly outside of the test
environment (i.e. in actual use
by students and instructors).
4
Mitigation Strategy:
Thoroughly test the system
using data drawn from real
sources.
3
2
1
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TPOT Risk Matrix: Technical Risks
Probability
1
2
3
4
T3 - Maintenance
5
5
I
m
p
a
c
t
Probability
Impact
4
2
After graduation, the team may
not have time to maintain the
project. Google API changes
may affect functionality.
4
Mitigation Strategy: Design
the system to be easily
maintainable.
3
2
1
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Summary and Conclusion
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TPOT will:
• Be web-based collaboration software
• Be designed for mature college students and their instructors
• Build upon Dr. Pazos’ existing tool
• Implement an aggregative Instructor Dashboard
• Address the lack of information available to VTs
• Hopefully be used by future CS410 students
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References
Allen, I. Elaine and Jeff Seaman. Changing Course: Ten Years of Tracking Online Education
in the United States. Babson Survey Research Group, 2013.
<http://www.onlinelearningsurvey.com/reports/changingcourse.pdf>.
Bullock, Charles and Jennifer Klein. "Virtual Work Environments in the Post-Recession Era."
Brandman University, 2011.
<http://www.brandman.edu/files/attachments/virtual_teams_brandman_forrester_white_paper.pdf>.
Ebrahim, Nader Ale, Shamsuddin Ahmed and Zahari Taha. “Virtual Teams: a Literature
Review.” Australian Journal of Basic and Applied Sciences, no. 3 (March 2009): 2653-2669.
Pazos, Pilar. Interview by Team Black. Personal interview. ODU, October 2013.
"SHRM Survey Findings: Virtual Teams." Society for Human Resources Management, 2012.
<http://www.shrm.org/Research/SurveyFindings/Articles/Documents/Virtual%20Teams_FINAL.pptx>.
“The Challenges of Working in Virtual Teams.” RW3 LLC, 2012.
<http://rw-3.com/VTSReportv7.pdf>.
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Appendix
TPOT
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Current Process Flow: Feedback
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Improved Process Flow: Feedback
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Current Process Flow: Task Creation/Assignment
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Improved Process Flow: Task Creation/Assignment
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