Feedback on Coursework

Generally a good set of work, with the following spread of marks:
A - 2
B - 4
C - 1
D - 1
F - 2 (one of these only completed 2.5 of the 4 tasks
None submissions - 2

Task One: Designing with Patterns was either done well (by the majority) or very badly (but only by a couple of people) - marks ranged from 3/25 to 23/25. The main problems people encountered were:
(i) trying to show that Template Method involved more than polymorphism eg it is concerned with setting up an order of events (or operations invoked) in an abstract superclass method with the subclasses being forced to follow the order but over-riding discrete pieces of code (or operations);
(ii) two or three people missed out exercise 3 on visitor

Task Two: Coding with Patterns - most marks in the middle of the range, similar problems to Task One coupled with some students struggling with writing code.

Task Three: Patterns and Software Development - first part discussing ways of using the patterns to improve students' own work generally well done, in the second half asking for an outline of what should be in the "Clickable Symbols" pattern students split into two camps - those who answered the question and outlined a draft pattern and those who talked generally about what a clickable symbol might be and how it might be used.

Task Four: Critiquing Patterns - marks were all between 13/25 and 18/25. This reflected reasonable attempts to discuss patterns but a strong tendancy to ignore doing it in the context of the quote.

Task Five: Patterns Blog - only 5 students attempted this and achieved marks ranging between 17/25 and 24/25. I marked this fairly generously as the marking scheme was vague, but the best blog deserved the mark it achieved with both reflective and technical content.

PAFSD Student Blogs

PAFSD Student Pattern Blogs:

http://almahri3.blogspot.com/
http://tafou.blogspot.com/
http://peterjonzhu.blogspot.com/
http://nanouchman.blogspot.com/
http://addy84.multiply.com/journal

Websites identified as useful by the PAFSD students on their blogs:

Vince Hughes Design Patterns web page:
http://home.earthlink.net/~huston2/dp/patterns.html
Data and Object Factory Developer Training - particular emphasis on C#:
http://www.dofactory.com/
PatternShare Community - contains amongst other things a catalogue of patterns:
http://patternshare.org/default.aspx/Home.HomePage
Online version of "The Design Patterns Java Companion" by James W. Cooper:
http://www.patterndepot.com/put/8/JavaPatterns.htm
GoF class diagrams templates from Pekka Nikander:
http://www.tml.hut.fi/~pnr/Tik-76.278/gof/html/
phpPatterns from Harry Fuecks :
http://www.phppatterns.com/index.php/intro
Wikipedia entries:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Design_pattern_(computer_science)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christopher_Alexander
Visual Fox Pro patterns site:
http://fox.wikis.com/wc.dll?Wiki~CategoryDesignPatterns
Martijn van Welie's patterns in Interaction Design:
http://www.welie.com/index.html