Gaining hands-on experience via collaborative learning: Interactive computer science courses

Abstract

In this paper we report on the practical outcomes of Software Studio (SS) undergraduate course, but also on a graduate Software Engineering for Internet Applications (SEIA) course, both of which are taught collaboratively by IT and non-IT faculty members. In the latter, students are assigned to projects proposed by actual customers and work together in teams to deliver quality results under time and resource constraints. We are interested in the learning results, such as skills acquired, e.g. by analysing the interaction between students and customers to determine how and to what degree the students transform through project based collaborative learning. As for the SEIA course, the primary goal is to allow students to manage a relatively large number of tools with little prior knowledge and having to work out how to obtain detailed information about given features, when required. In other words, students have to understand the key ideas of web application development in order to be able not only to apply technical knowledge, but also to successfully interact with all the stakeholders involved. In the process, we look for the added value of collaborative teaching, aiming at equipping the participants with both technical and non-technical skills required for their prospective jobs.