From this belief, we introduced learning essays into
software engineering/computer science courses several
years ago. In this paper we report our experiences over the
course of six semesters in a total of eight courses. The first
efforts asked students to provide their initial expectations
for the course. We wanted to use this activity in the spirit of
an advanced organizer, asking students to begin to deal
with the purpose of a particular course in their program of
study. The assignment was an unstructured activity without
much guidance. The results were usually submitted via
email to the course instructor. The prompt for the activity
was: