Tasks for the Community to Accomplish

Here are some of the things that we need to do:

• Identify to whom we will teach patterns.

• Identify who will teach patterns.

• Identify domains to teach in this way.

• Write the (elementary) pattern languages of these domains. This constitutes a form of research.
  Publish the results. (See the report of the "Patterns Journal" working group.)
  Build a literature. (See the report of the "Patterns Refactoring" working group.)

• Identify how to teach (with) patterns.

  • setting the context for learning

  • techniques: "failure-driven" resolution with patterns; (brown bag) reading groups, in industry and for novices; incremental introduction of patterns as they arise in the broader context of teaching

  • evaluation of learning, including exercises and projects

Other Issues to Consider

What are our goals with respect to the students? Among others, that they be able read, use, and even write patterns and pattern languages.

How different is the teaching of patterns "on the fly" in industrial software development from, say, incremental introduction in a course?

What other ideas can we borrow from the patterns community?

• In the patterns community, we do writers workshops of patterns. We could have students do writers workshops of patterns. How about also doing writers workshops of programs?

• In the patterns community, we shepherd authors in the process of writing patterns. How about having TAs shepherd students in the process of writing programs?