An Instructional Tool to Foster Creativity in the Software Engineering Process

计算机科学（CS）教育的课程标准通常缺乏软件工程的创造性方法，专注于技术解决方案，而不是创新设计。软件工程是一个高度创造性的奋进，挑战CS学生的能力，建立一个创新的愿景，并制定一个优秀的产品。在典型的软件工程课程中，对创造性活动的责任和贡献不是评分方法的一部分。这个项目开发了一个协作框架，鼓励和捕捉软件项目团队的创造性话语，因为他们形成了一个愿景，获得有用的技术，并实现了一个不平凡的产品，以满足客户的需求使用的定义和分析的想法网络。基于作为核心创意概念的想法生成和操纵网络将为软件开发过程中所需的创意话语提供视觉反馈和对等响应。强化学习技术适用于在软件开发过程中产生增量奖励，以激励，识别和要求创造力，使用想法网络作为沟通和探索媒介。真实的生活情况往往需要从环境反馈或强化中学习，无论是否有知识渊博的监督者在场，他们都可以规定最佳的行动方案。本项目开发了一种方法，以鼓励和奖励在协作过程中的创造力，将适用于广泛的协作和学习环境。

Curriculum standards for Computer Science (CS) education typically lack creative approaches to Software Engineering, focusing on technological solutions rather than innovative design. Software Engineering is a highly creative endeavor that challenges CS student abilities to establish an innovative vision and to craft an outstanding product. Accountability for and contribution to creative initiatives are not part of grading methods in typical Software Engineering course. This project develops a collaborative framework that encourages and captures the creative discourse of a software project team as they form a vision, acquire useful technology, and implement a non-trivial product to satisfy customer requirements using the definition and analysis of an idea network. Generating and manipulating the network based on ideas as the core creative concept will provide both a visual feedback and a peer response to the creative discourse needed within the software development process. Reinforcement learning techniques are adapted for generating incremental rewards during software development to motivate, recognize, and require creativity, using the idea network as a communication and exploration medium. Real life situations often require learning from environmental feedback or reinforcements, with or without the presence of knowledgeable supervisors who can prescribe the best course of action. This project develops an approach to encouraging and rewarding creativity in a collaborative process that will be applicable to a broad range of collaborative and learning environments.