A Method to Analyze Computer Science Students’ Teamwork in Online Collaborative Learning Environments

Abstract

Although teamwork has been identified as an essential skill for Computer Science (CS) graduates, these skills are identified as lacking by industry employers, which suggests a need for more proactive measures to teach and assess teamwork. In one CS course, students worked in teams to create a wiki solution to problem-based questions. Through a case-study approach, we test a developed teamwork framework, using manual content analysis and sentiment analysis, to determine if the framework can provide insight into students’ teamwork behavior and to determine if the wiki task encouraged students to collaborate, share knowledge, and self-adopt teamwork roles. Analysis revealed the identification of both active and cohesive teams, disengaged students, and particular roles and behaviors that were lacking. Furthermore, sentiment analysis revealed that teams moved through positive and negative emotions over the course of developing their solution, toward satisfaction. The findings demonstrate the value of the detailed analysis of online teamwork. However, we propose the need for automated measures that provide real-time feedback to assist educators in the fair and efficient assessment of teamwork. We present a prototype system and recommendations, based on our analysis, for automated teamwork analysis tools.

Robotics vs. Game-Console-Based Platforms to Learn Computer Architecture

“…Nintendo DS activities based on simulators and real consoles, enable students to work at home, in an individual manner, preventing some teamwork issues from occurring, even when both approaches were based on teamwork. The higher load of teamwork is a strong point of the Arduino learning activities, as it helps students to develop social skills and work in an environment that is closer to their future work environment and very valuable skills in Computer Science [72]. However, teamwork has inherent difficulties to deal with, as those derived from the conflicts that may emerge among peers, as the answers of the students to the open question show.…”

Identificação do Perfil Emocional do Aluno Através de Análise de Sentimento: Combatendo a Evasão Escolar

“…Informações sobre o estado emocional do aluno agregam valor ao seu perfil, visto que o mesmo pode afetar o desempenho acadêmico [Liting Xu et al 2008] [Vivian et al 2016. Para [Silva et al 2016], cada aluno tem sua maneira própria de receber e analisar as informações e é importante conhecer os EA para entender métodos e técnicas de ensino que funcionam melhor em cada contexto.…”

Investigating the Impact of Group Size on Non-Programming Exercises in CS Education Courses

“…Compared to working individually, group work in CS courses allow students to achieve higher retention rates [8] and grades [16] particularly for underrepresented students [12]. Furthermore, for CS, group work is important because modern soft-ware is developed in teams [4,21,27] such as the popular Agile soft-ware development approach [18,39]. As previously mentioned, team development requires individuals with "soft skills" such as problem solving, self-motivation, leadership, communication, and interpersonal skills.…”

“…Computer science (CS) courses are taught with increasing emphasis on group work. Group work helps prepare students for an industry where software is developed in teams [4,21,27] such as the popular Agile software development approach [18,39]. Furthermore, group work helps students develop the "soft skills" necessary for the workplace such as problem solving, self-motivation, leadership, communication, and interpersonal skills.…”