Blending Team, Paired, and Individual Work in a Computing Course: Using Best Practices
Author: Tammy VanDeGrift
Source: Proceedings of the 2019 STEM-STEAM Hawaii University International Conference
URL: https://huichawaii.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/VanDeGrift-Tammy-2019-STEM-HUIC.pdf
Abstract
The paper describes the organization and materials for a data structures course that combines in-class teamwork, in-class paired lab work, and out-of-class individual work. The course is organized around weekly topics with two class sessions per week utilizing teamwork for conceptual understanding and one session per week utilizing pair programming for implementation practice. Students apply skills through individual programming projects and exams. Research questions include RQ1: How did student attitudes toward group and individual learning change over the term? RQ2: How did teamwork and lab activities contribute to learning? Survey data, team activities, homework assignments, and exams were collected from students who consented to participate in the study in Spring 2018. Overall, students’ attitudes shifted more positively to enjoy learning things with other people, seeing the value of teamwork, and seeing the importance of working in groups in the profession, although none of these changes were statistically significant. Students felt value in the team activities in terms of solidifying individual understanding of concepts and students noted that participation by all members was high. When asked about process skills, students were mixed about improving their skillset in team roles. Students’ perceived benefits of group work was gaining multiple perspectives from peers and understanding content. Labs helped students practice with coding and understanding concepts. Results from the final exam show that questions most closely linked to the teamwork and labs had similar grades as questions most closely linked to homework, suggesting that all three forms of practice are beneficial to student learning.
Metadata
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| author | Tammy VanDeGrift |
| title | Blending Team, Paired, and Individual Work in a Computing Course: Using Best Practices |
| year | 2019 |
| url | https://huichawaii.org/… |
| booktitle | Proceedings of the 2019 STEM-STEAM Hawaii University International Conference |
| series | STEAM 2019 |