How Software Prof Ben Kovitz Turned His Class into a Live Coding Mob

The Mob Mentality Show

Content provided by The Mob Mentality Show. All podcast content including episodes, graphics, and podcast descriptions are uploaded and provided directly by The Mob Mentality Show or their podcast platform partner. If you believe someone is using your copyrighted work without your permission, you can follow the process outlined here https://podcastplayer.com/legal.

29d ago 45:40

MP3•Episode home

What happens when a college software design course ditches traditional lectures and embraces Mob Programming?

In this episode of the Mob Mentality Show, we sit down with Ben Kovitz, a former software developer turned professor at Cal Poly Humboldt, to explore his innovative approach to teaching software design through mobbing.

Topics Covered:

✅ From Industry to Academia: Why Ben left software development to become a professor and how he discovered mob programming.
✅ Redefining Software Education: Instead of 30 traditional lectures on software design, Ben’s students learn by doing—designing software while coding.
✅ The Power of Mobbing in the Classroom: How students collaborate in the mob of 8, rapidly sharing knowledge and tackling challenges together.
✅ Fast Learning vs. Lectures: Why mobbing enables faster knowledge transfer compared to passive lectures.
✅ Strong-Style Navigation: How rotations and fast timers helped to stimulate a highly effective learning environment.
✅ The Role of the Navigator: How students help each other navigate, learn C++ and the QT framework, and document key lessons from each mob session.
✅ Real-World Software Challenges: Simulating legacy code maintenance, evolutionary design, and design patterns like MVC (Model-View-Controller).
✅ Overcoming Student Struggles: What happens when students don’t know how to navigate? How asking for help and learning together fosters growth.
✅ Teaching Through Experience: Letting students experiment with flawed solutions before introducing better design principles.
✅ Assessment & Engagement: How Ben measures student participation, engagement, and learning outcomes in a mobbing environment.

Why This Matters:

Traditional software design education can leave students unprepared for the realities of refactoring real code and collaborative development. By integrating Mob Programming, refactoring techniques, and hands-on problem-solving, Ben Kovitz is equipping the next generation of developers with practical, real-world skills and deeper design insights.
📢 Subscribe to the Mob Mentality Show to stay updated on the latest insights in Mob Programming, Extreme Programming (XP), Agile, and collaborative software development!

🎧 Listen on your favorite podcast platform: https://www.mobmentalityshow.com

🔔 Don’t forget to LIKE, COMMENT, and SUBSCRIBE for more episodes on software development, coding education, and team collaboration!

Video and Show Notes: https://youtu.be/Rajvp2nrg1A

122 episodes

#Tech #Business #Mob Mentality