Using contributing student pedagogy to enhance support for teamworking in computer science projects

Abstract

This paper discusses the progress made in an enhancement project completed at two Universities in the United Kingdom. It is reported that whilst teamworking is valued by employers, its inclusion is less well received by learners themselves [2,14,25]. The project is an example of contributing student pedagogy [9]. The work began as a project completed by a placement student as part of a university's' funded project [BLINDED]. The work explores learners' perceptions and experiences of teamworking before and as part of taught courses. These views have been intercalated into an evolving set of guidelines that have been used to inform further enhancements. These guidelines were written to enable learners to develop their own teamworking agreements to set out expected behaviors for working in the team. Whilst a work in progress, the approach and outcomes will be of interest to others engaged in the delivery and enhancement of student teamwork within computing related programmes and potentially other disciplines.

Gender parity in peer assessment of team software development projects

“…Peer assessment and related web-based peer assessment has been advocated as a mechanism for equitable assessment of contribution to team and team software development projects for a number of years [2,4,7,9,15,16]. It has also been reported that, when it is used in a summative context, there can be bias due to affiliation with a group [3], and learners sometimes do not want to award a low mark to their peers (and, understandably, particularly to their friends) [20].…”

“…testing of the product). Assuring fair contributions from all learners to collective tasks can present challenges [15]. One common approach to address this challenge is peer assessment [9].…”

Co-Constructing a Community of Practice for Early-Career Computer Science Academics in the UK

“…Student satisfaction as measured by satisfaction surveys is reported as commonly below that of other disciplines [23] and varies across the discipline with some subdiscipline areas facing particular challenges to navigate [13]. Discipline related challenges linked to delivering teamwork are also reported [7,19]. The employment prospects of graduates from some computing related degrees have been reported as inferior to other disciplines [20].…”

The Impact of COVID-19 in Collaborative Programming. Understanding the Needs of Undergraduate Computer Science Students

“…This is more evident in the field of software development, as it is considered to be a significantly creative and collaborative process [3], and it has been proved that programming in groups improves the process of solving software projects, the quality of the programs generated [4,5], and the programmers' confidence [6]. Therefore, universities should prepare their students effectively for the job market by including the opportunity for teamwork in their curricula [7]. As a result, most undergraduate CS programs related to software development are designed to include the completion of various programming projects of small and medium size, which has been found to have a positive effect on students: they enjoy the social interaction resulting from collaborative activities, and improve their engagement, retention, and performance [8].…”

“…It is still too early to know the real impact that the coronavirus pandemic will have on the education system, especially within the CS community [17] in which collaborative work plays a key role. Recent studies have focused on improving student collaboration in the context of group work and pair programming [18] although students' perceptions and needs about teamwork have not been sufficiently studied [7], especially those arising from the need to use new strategies and work tools to move from a traditional PP-based model to a DPP or CP approach. On the other hand, current trends in collaborative work propose that the challenge be not only technical but also social [19].…”