STUDENT PERCEPTIONS OF PROJECT-BASED LEARNING IN A SOFTWARE ENGINEERING COURSE

STUDENT PERCEPTIONS OF PROJECT-BASED LEARNING IN A SOFTWARE ENGINEERING COURSE

D. Shoham, R. Paul, M. Moshirpour (2020).  STUDENT PERCEPTIONS OF PROJECT-BASED LEARNING IN A SOFTWARE ENGINEERING COURSE. Volume 1, pp.268-279.

This paper presents an overview of a second-year programming course in the department of software engineering at the University of Calgary. The course was recently restructured to include aspects of project-based learning (PBL) to help students meet graduate attributes and practice learning outcomes that a traditionally formatted course may not allow them to achieve. This restructuring centered around the implementation of a final term project that students completed in the final three weeks of the course. While this format does not necessarily follow the typical PBL approach, where a project is typically conducted throughout an entire semester while simultaneously acquiring disciplinary knowledge (often in other courses), it offers instructors a more accessible approach to PBL implementation that does not require restructuring at the department or faculty level. The project introduced to the course closely resembled a genuine industry project, and thus allowed students to experience what the software industry can be like, providing them with valuable experience. Data was collected in the form of a Likert-style survey that many of the students completed and supplemented with a descriptive questionnaire to which both the professor and handful students responded. This data was then analyzed using a theoretical framework based on relevant CDIO standards, and relevant findings are discussed alongside areas for improvement and further research. Students' response was generally quite positive, and the professor observed they benefited quite significantly from the implementation of PBL in the course.

Authors (New): 
Dina Shoham
Robyn Paul
Mohammad Moshirpour
Pages: 
Volume 1, pp.268-279
Affiliations: 
McGill University, Canada
University of Calgary, Canada
Keywords: 
Project-Based Learning
Software Engineering
Hybrid PBL
Student perceptions
CDIO Standard 1
CDIO Standard 2
CDIO Standard 5
CDIO Standard 7
CDIO Standard 8
Year: 
2020
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