Towards a Computer-Supported Collaborative Learning Approach for an Object-Oriented Programming Course

Abstract

A Collaborative Learning (CL) process from an inclusive point of view allows the integration of educational didactics, as a process of mediation of knowledge with students. When using a didactic resource, it considers that motivation is important in learning, it facilitates the predisposition of students to participate and get involved, considerably increasing the acquisition and mastery of knowledge. It is important to note that students should be encouraged to be active in nature, understanding skills, creativity, curiosity, and an interest in learning. In this sense, it is necessary to use more active environments, which include the adequate use of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT), where it is articulated as a set of technological and digital means, resources or tools that contribute to the communication and transmission of information, allowing the development of cognitive skills to understand the collaborative learning process in the classroom and identify the use of Information and Communication Resources (RIC), that integrate the communication process synchronously and asynchronously [1]. In this way, digital tools should be considered as part of the learning process in the teacher's methodology. For this study, a Computer-Supported Collaborative Learning (CSCL) approach was designed for the Systems Seminar course of the Systems Engineering program at University Antonio Jose Camacho (UNIAJC) in Cali (Colombia). The purpose is to make Object-Oriented Programming (OOP) learning not an individual process but a collective one where students play different roles to solve a software-based problem (from requirements specification to software development). This proposal was evaluated though an experts’ review and results show that this approach may be good starting point to implement CL activities in other engineering fields of computer science.