Groupthink Specification Exercise
by Michael Ernst <mernst@csail.mit.edu>

This file accompanies the Groupthink Specification Exercise, a fun and
interactive 2-hour activity that teaches the value of specifications and
the difficulty of creating them.  If you use this exercise, please send
mail to mernst@csail.mit.edu so that we can track use -- and we would also
be happy to receive your feedback and comments.

We strongly recommend that you read the paper in the "paper.pdf" file,
which you can think of as the instructor's manual for the activity.  The
paper describes both the goals and philosophy of the activity, and also the
mechanics of how to run it.

The Groupthink framework is a way of running an activity that emphasizes
teamwork.  You can plug various content modules into it; each content
module would set students a different task.  Currently, only one content
module, called "Answerphone", is distributed with the Groupthink
Specification Exercise.

The distribution contains the following files:

  Groupthink framework:
    readme.txt          this file
    paper.pdf           Paper on the Groupthink Specification Exercise
    paper-2up.pdf       Same paper, formatted 2-up (two pages per sheet)
    lecture-teaser.ppt  Slides to display as students enter the room
    lecture-specs.ppt   Slides for intro and wrapup lectures (*)
    scoresheet-12.xls   Spreadsheet for entering scores (max 12 teams) (*)
    scoresheet-13.xls   Spreadsheet for entering scores (max 13 teams) (*)
  Answerphone module:
    phone-spec.doc      Partial specification to be given to students
    phone-questions.ppt Questions for the gameshow / self-evaluation (*)
  When using the electronic voting technique, omit the starred items and use:
    lecture-specs-phone.ppt     Slides on specs, plus Answerphone module
    UpopVote.zip        Software for PRS transmitters, available separately at
                        http://pag.csail.mit.edu/~mernst/software/UpopVote.zip
