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Constructivist Chronicle
Mildred Shaw: A Core Constructivist
By Robert Hadden Mole
Vol. 3, Issue 1 (Winter 1999)
Go to photo NAPCN
president Dr. Mildred L. G. Shaw is currently the Industrial Research
Chair in Software Engineering, and Professor in the Department of
Computer Science at the University of Calgary, Alberta, Canada. She is
a prolific researcher in the area of human factors computing. Despite
her strong roles in computer science, she considers herself more of an
educationist, than computer scientist. In this issue of the
Constructivist Chronicle, the life and work Dr. Mildred L. G. Shaw
is celebrated.
Mildred Shaw
grew up in England, attending grammar schools in Bradford, and
Stoke-on-Trent. In 1963, she went to teacher’s college at the
University of London, graduating with distinction in 1966. Mildred
taught at a comprehensive school in London from 1966 to 1971, and at the
same time, pursued a B.Sc. in mathematical sciences. Immediately on
finishing the B.Sc. Mildred took up an M.Sc. in computer science,
graduating in 1972. Having a graduate degree in computer science was
something of a rarity in 1972. Mildred immediately found a position as
the Coordinator of the Mathematics and Computer Science Department at
Middlesex Polytechnic (then Trent Park College) in London.
It was at
Middlesex where Mildred became colleagues with Dr. Len Chapman, a
psychologist well-schooled in personal construct psychology. An
important professional relationship grew between the two, which would
have a lasting effect on Mildred’s career. Chapman would impart his
knowledge of PCP on to Mildred, and in exchange Mildred designed custom
data analysis programs for Chapman. It was around this time that
Mildred realized that she “had been a constructivist all along” but just
never put a name to it. In 1975, Chapman persuaded Mildred to apply for
a Ph.D. at Brunel University. She wasn’t interested in doctoral work at
the time, but Chapman “wasn’t the kind of person you could disappoint”,
and so an application was filed. Mildred hoped that the application
would be enough to keep Chapman at bay, but when she was accepted, she
found herself attending the first few classes. And then “after only a
few weeks – I was totally hooked”. She continued on, taking her
doctorate in computer-based knowledge acquisition systems in 1978.
Mildred remained at Middlesex Polytechnic until 1982, the year she moved
to Canada to take up a position of associate professor of computer
science at York University in Toronto. While at York, Mildred also held
the position of Associate Dean of the Faculty of Education, and was a
member of the Faculty of Graduate Studies. By 1984, she was a full
professor at York, and by 1986, was making the transition to Professor
of Computer Science at the University of Calgary.
While at
Calgary, Mildred’s career has continued to flourish. She has been very
giving of her time at Calgary, serving on over two dozen committees,
panels and councils since 1990 alone. She holds editorships with 5
journals, including the Journal of Constructivist Psychology,
Applied Intelligence:The International Journal of Artificial
Intelligence, and the International Journal of Human-Computer
Studies. She has been a referee for a wide range of journals, as
well as several conferences and councils. Her courses include “Software
Process Management”, “Trends in Software Engineering”, “Requirements
Engineering”, “Cognitive Processes in Artificial Intelligence”, and
“Human-Computer Interaction”.
During her
time at Calgary, Mildred also has maintained a lively research program.
Her interests are in the area of human and organizational aspects of
knowledge and requirements engineering, and their modeling and support
through advanced information systems. This has included research on the
development and application of requirements engineering; software
process engineering, automation of repertory grid techniques and
analysis, and knowledge engineering for expert systems. To date,
Mildred has authored or co-authored over 250 papers in refereed books,
journals, and conference proceedings. She has also authored or
co-authored five books, including On Becoming a Personal Scientist:
Interactive Computer Elicitation of Personal Models of the World
(1980), Think Again (1981; with Cliff McKnight), Recent Advances in
Personal Construct Technology (1981), The Art of Computer
Conversation (1984; with Brian Gaines), and Cognition and
Personal Structure: Computer Access and Analysis (1988; with James
C. Mancuso).
Not to be
eclipsed by these achievements is Mildred’s pioneering work in
developing a range of interactive computer programs for use in knowledge
engineering, management, clinical, and educational studies. These
programs have been in use by hundreds of institutions and organizations
the world over. All of them have foundation in personal construct
psychology.
For example,
in requirements engineering, it is necessary to understand the
constructs of all stakeholders in the creation of a computer program
(these stakeholders may include users, customers, managers, and
developers simultaneously). Mildred has found PCP techniques to be most
helpful for eliciting people’s requirements of a program, in advance of
the actual production of the program. In essence, she has created a
requirements elicitation program that supports the production and design
of other computer programs. This saves expenses and time that could be
incurred if any program is created, but fails to meet all the
specifications (requirements) of the stakeholders.
Another
program of Mildred’s, developed with Brian Gaines, is WebGrid II, a
knowledge acquisition and inference server and an application of the
repertory grid.
In addition
to her clever application of PCP to knowledge acquisition programs,
Mildred’s commitment to PCP runs deeper still. She feels her attraction
to PCP is not so much the techniques, but the philosophy itself. It
comes through in all of the courses she teaches. “I can’t really teach
anything without it – it creeps into everything”. She finds the
philosophy to be especially relevant when “one right answer” is not
available. She encourages her students to entertain the alternative
constructions of a situation. “It is good to have (or generate) as many
perspectives as are relevant to a situation”
Her teaching
style facilitates the consideration of a number of perspectives. “I set
the structure so they [the students] can’t go wrong – but they propose
the content, by and large”. Mildred believes the students’ views, and
the information they bring into classes are at least as interesting as
hers “and probably more so”. She maintains that she can’t be an expert
in everything. “In many situations, the students are in a better
position to research a topic.”
It is
important to remember that Mildred started her career as a teacher.
“I’m probably more of an educationist, than a computer scientist when it
comes right down to it” she explains. Mildred’s role as educator, and
her long-held PCP orientation are two instrumental forces behind the
computer programs she researches and creates. The knowledge acquisition
she facilitates in class, and the knowledge acquisition she facilitates
with her computer programs is driven by the same PCP philosophy.
Mildred has
been President of NAPCN since 1992, and plans to step from this position
in the near future.
Dr. Mildred L. G. Shaw
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