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xPBL: a Methodology for Managing PBL when Teaching Computing
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In order to exploit the benefits of PBL and mitigate the risk of failure when implementing it, the NEXT (iNnovative Educational eXperience in Technology) research group has been working on methods and tools focused on managing the PBL approach as applied to Computing. In this context, this article proposes a teaching and learning methodology based on PBL, called xPBL, consisting of elements that reinforce PBL principles, namely: real and relevant problems; a practical environment; an innovative and flexible curriculum; an authentic assessment process; close monitoring by technical tutors and process tutors, and finally, professional practitioners as teachers and tutors. Based on these elements, the paper describes the design of a PBL approach for a Design course, grounded on acquired knowledge of Design content and past PBL experiences in Software Engineering courses. This approach provides an insightful guide to implementing PBL from xPBL methodology, and provides instruments based on management techniques such as 5W2H (what, why, who, when, where, how and how much) and the production of artifacts to support the conception process of courses based on PBL.
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... In summary, PBL manifests as an educational paradigm anchored in problem-solving, providing students with real-world scenarios pertinent to their academic domain. Its extensive utilization in SE education is attributed to its inherent applicability and the fostering of collaborative skills [10,11,22,28]. ...
... According to dos Santos et al. [10], there are five key concerns to pay attention to when planning an educational program with PBL. Firstly, the identification and definition of the Problem serve as the foundational step, establishing the project to be undertaken by the students. ...
... Americanas S.A. is an active enterprise in the Brazilian retail market. We detail the educational program based on the Lean R&D PBL hereafter, aligning it with the five key PBL concerns outlined by dos Santos et al. [10]. ...
Context] Software Engineering (SE) education constantly seeks to bridge the gap between academic knowledge and industry demands, with active learning methods like Problem-Based Learning (PBL) gaining prominence. Despite these efforts, recent graduates struggle to align skills with industry needs. Recognizing the relevance of Industry-Academia Collaboration (IAC), Lean R&D has emerged as a successful agile-based research and development approach, emphasizing business and software development synergy. [Goal] This paper aims to extend Lean R&D with PBL principles, evaluating its application in an educational program designed by ExACTa PUC-Rio for Americanas S.A., a large Brazilian retail company. [Method] The educational program engaged 40 part-time students receiving lectures and mentoring while working on real problems, coordinators and mentors, and company stakeholders in industry projects. Empirical evaluation, through a case study approach, utilized struc-tured questionnaires based on the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM). [Results] Stakeholders were satisfied with Lean R&D PBL for problem-solving. Students reported increased knowledge proficiency and perceived working on real problems as contributing the most to their learning. [Conclusion] This research contributes to academia by sharing Lean R&D PBL as an educational IAC approach. For industry, we discuss the implementation of this proposal in an IAC program that promotes workforce skill development and innovative solutions.
... The xPBL is a methodology that aims to align methods and tools for managing the PBL approach to education in fields such as Computer Science, in order to ensure that the principles are respected in its adoption. It was officially defined and proposed in 2014, but researches that supported its creation only started in 2006 [1]. To ensure that PBL principles that go beyond its educational objectives are met, the methodology xPBL is based on five elements: (1) Problem; (2) Environment; (3) Content; (4) The human capital and (5) Process. ...
... The purpose is to illustrate, for those who carry out the planning, what kind of response is expected for each question. The artifact item refers to the field Output from the proposed guide in article [1], which defines the xPBL methodology. As well as in the guide, this item represents a suggestion of a planned aspect formalization or support tool during its implementation. ...
The PBL (Problem-Based Learning) methodology provides many benefits to those who use it in teaching. In this light, it is important to plan well when using this methodology, efficient to the purposes established by an educator, in a way to avoid those vital aspects to educational planning in the PBL approach that are neglected or forgotten. However, there is a lack of specific tools to help educators in the task of planning their teaching, specifically geared to the PBL approach. As an alternative to this problem, this paper proposes a tool consisting of a Canvas PBL and a set of cards intended to guide the planning of teaching in the PBL approach.
... As a solution to these challenges, in 2017, the professor of the EMS discipline invited the professors of PM and BPM for collaborative planning of their courses. Taking the PBL methodology defined in [23] as a reference, five main elements were considered in this planning: ...
Higher Education in Computing (ESC) has changed significantly in the last decade, addressing the competencies development as a mix of knowledge, skills, and attitudes demanded by complex problem-solving in real-world situations. Pressured by the constant evolution of technology, the importance of the human aspects in technological projects, and the demand for qualified professionals much greater than the supply, the reference curricula have shifted from specialized and content-based training to training focused on practice and competencies development. In this context, active learning approaches based on practical experiences, such as PBL (Problem-Based Learning), can be used as an educational strategy in line with the new guidelines for teaching computing. PBL also faces challenges; therefore, it is not always possible to fully implement it. These challenges involve new elements to the learning environment concerning human resources, practical and stimulating activities, continuous assessment process, infrastructure aligned with the labor market, and, almost always, curricular reforms, considering that problem-solving is multidisciplinary. As it is not always possible to have the ideal environment for PBL, institutions have implemented creative models, allowing a change in educational strategy even without significant structural and organizational changes in their curricula. This study describes the design and implementation of an interdisciplinary PBL experience in an adverse context with low resources. For this, real problems integrate three disciplines of an undergraduate curriculum in Information Systems (IS), offered in the same timeline: Enterprise Management Systems (EMS), Project Management (PM), and Business Process Management (BPM). These subjects are independent within the curriculum; therefore, interdisciplinarity is implemented on the initiative of the three teachers. To resolve problems through interdisciplinary projects, a collaborative teaching plan is carried out by professors of the three disciplines, PBL tutors, and IT managers in the role of real clients of the projects. As a research method, we used the PDCA process (Plan-Do-Check-Act) to describe the experience planning and its conduction, results, and lessons learned. As a main contribution, we highlight the interdisciplinary proposal of PBL based on collaboration between teachers and a case study showing how to use this proposal. This report argues that we can implement new successful PBL experiences, using the results of the current study as an argument for the broader adoption of PBL in CHE.
... PBL follows some principles such as (i) an authentic learning environment, simulating the situation found in the professional environment, (ii) the use of real problems as a learning object, and (iii) the monitoring of evaluation by continuous feedback [42]. Santos and colleagues [48] defined ten principles for the teaching of computing that founded a methodology called xPBL [49], as shown in Fig. 2. ...
In Computing Higher Education (CHE), the desired transformation of traditional teaching and learning methods, almost always based on the transmission of information and content-based curricula, has been the objective of several educational institutions that wish to combat students’ demotivation and dropout. Among successful approaches, Problem-Based Learning (PBL) stands out as one of the most effective and radical methods regarding pedagogical innovations. While the PBL implementation means a great opportunity to achieve better educational performance, it also represents many challenges that can only be managed if they are first known and understood. In this context, the motivation for this study comes from the following research question: “How to know if an institution at CHE is ready to implement the PBL?”. As a response, an institutional diagnostic model regarding the adoption of PBL is proposed. It conducted an opinion survey in two kinds of educational institutions: technical and academic ones. Thirty-eight technical educational institutions in computing answered this survey, involving 302 participants, and fifteen academic institutions, involving 20 participants. The results showed that the model reached its objective, allowing the identification of favorable, warning, and critical points regarding the adoption of PBL in these institutions. This study is an evolution of the results focusing only on technical institutions published at the CSEDU 2021 conference and conducted by the NEXT Research Group.
... PBL is a teaching approach that employs projects as pedagogical tools [9], and a teacher's role within a PBL class is not that of a lecturer but that of a mentor or instructor [10]. The PBL focus is on developing social, cognitive, and metacognitive capabilities through real-world motivated artifact-building tasks [11], [12], and not only by immersing students in professional practice environments, as occurs in supervised internships. ...
... PBL follows some principles such as an authentic learning environment and simulation of the situation found in the professional environment, the use of real problems as a learning object, the monitoring of evaluation by continuous feedback (Ribeiro, 2008). In (Santos et al., 2013), ten principles were defined for the teaching of Computing that founded a methodology called xPBL (Santos et al., 2014), as shown in Figure 1. The xPBL methodology defines five manageable elements for PBL planning: 1) Problem; 2) Learning Environment; 3) Human Capital, that includes students, pedagogical team and market partners; 4) Content, as a guide and support to solve problems; And 5) Processes, concerning educational objectives and assessment processes. ...
... PBL follows some principles such as an authentic learning environment and simulation of the situation found in the professional environment, the use of real problems as a learning object, the monitoring of evaluation by continuous feedback (Ribeiro, 2008). In (Santos et al., 2013), ten principles were defined for the teaching of Computing that founded a methodology called xPBL (Santos et al., 2014), as shown in Figure 1. The xPBL methodology defines five manageable elements for PBL planning: 1) Problem; 2) Learning Environment; 3) Human Capital, that includes students, pedagogical team and market partners; 4) Content, as a guide and support to solve problems; And 5) Processes, concerning educational objectives and assessment processes. ...
In Computing Higher Education (CHE), the desired transformation of traditional teaching and learning methods, almost always based on the transmission of information and content-based curricula, has been the objective of several educational institutions that wish to combat students' demotivation and dropout. Among successful approaches, Problem-Based Learning stands out as one of the most effective and radical methods regarding pedagogical innovations. While the implementation of the PBL means a great opportunity to achieve better educational performance, it also represents many challenges that can only be managed if they are first known and understood. In this context, the motivation for this study comes from the following research question: "How to know if an institution at CHE is ready to implement the PBL?". As a response, an institutional diagnostic model regarding the adoption of PBL is proposed. From an opinion survey with 38 technical educational institutions in computing, involving 302 participants, the results showed that the model reached its objective, allowing the identification of favorable, warning, and critical points regarding the adoption of PBL in these institutions.
... The studies were analyzed in order to answer the four research questions outlined in Section III-A. To facilitate the understanding, the PBL methodology defined in [PS50] was used to categorize the results of the questions RQ3 and RQ4. This methodology is composed of five elements: 1) Problem; 2) Learning Environment; 3) Human Capital, that includes students, pedagogical team and market partners; 4) Content, as guide and support to solve problems; And 5) Processes, concerning educational objectives and assessment processes. ...
Contribution: This article adds to the results of previous systematic mapping study by addressing a more ample context of problem-based learning (PBL) in computing education. Background: PBL is defined as an instructional method of constructivist teaching that uses real problems as a motivating element for learning. Although PBL was born in medical education, it has been used in computing education to facilitate the students' engagement and learning capacity, contributing to developing skills, such as teamwork, holistic vision, critical thinking, and solving problem. Considering that approach much more descriptive than prescriptive, it favors the implementation of diverse methodologies on its behalf.
Future professional competencies in the field of computing, recommended by international forums and reference curricula, comprise a combination of knowledge, skills, and attitudes. These competencies can be developed through educational objectives which integrate theory and experience through teamwork, intense collaboration, and problem-solving. For this, it is necessary to have an authentic learning environment and well-defined pedagogical processes. In this context, this book argues that the educational strategy of Problem-Based Learning (PBL) can translate educational objectives into professional competencies. This book proposes a methodology to implement PBL in a manageable way. It also reports teaching and learning experiences concerning several computing professional profiles, providing a realistic picture of this methodology.
Problem-Based Learning (PBL) tem sido uma boa alternativa para atender às necessidades educacionais da Computação. No entanto, faltam ferramentas digitais específicas para ajudar os educadores na tarefa de planejamento de ensino PBL. Como solução para esse problema, este artigo propõe a concepção de um sistema colaborativo orientado aos princípios PBL para o planejamento de ensino. Os resultados iniciais indicam um bom índice de aceitação da ferramenta.
The growing presence of the software in the products and services consumed daily by the society demands a level of completely dependent quality not only of technology, but of its development process and of the involved professionals. By focusing on the professionals responsible for quality assurance, as the Test Engineer, the skills and competences of these need to be developed on basis of a vision very critical and detailed of the problem. The Test Engineer needs to be an "explorer" of the solution, discovering hidden bugs and looking to elimination of defects of the applications. In this context, this article proposes an approach of teaching focuses on training of “test” discipline that make use of problem-based learning to develop real skills required, supported by processes of planning and continuous assessment, in a computer aided software factory. To prove the applicability of this proposal, an empirical study was developed with positive results in teaching the discipline of “exploratory testing”.
The continuous growth of the use of Information and Communication Technology in different sectors of the market calls out for software professionals with the qualifications needed to solve complex and diverse problems. Innovative teaching methodologies, such as the "Software Internship" model and PBL teaching approaches that are learner-centered and focus on bringing market reality to the learning environment, have been developed and implemented with a view to meeting this demand. However, the effectiveness of these methods cannot always be satisfactorily proved. Prompted by this, this paper proposes a model for assessing students based on real market practices while preserving the authenticity of the learning environment. To evaluate this model, a case study on skills training for software specialists for the Telecom market is discussed, and presents important results that show the applicability of the proposed model for teaching Software Engineering.
The increasing application of student-centered teaching approaches to solve real problems, driven by the market's demand for professionals with better skills, has prompted the use of PBL in different areas, including in Computing. However, since this represents a paradigm shift in education, its implementation is not always well understood, which adversely affects its effectiveness. Within this context, this paper puts forward a model for assessing the maturity of teaching processes under the PBL approach, the PBL-Test, with a view to identifying points for improvement. The concept of maturity is defined in terms of teaching processes adhering to PBL principles, taken from an analysis of the following authors: Savery & Duffy (1995), Barrows (2001) Peterson (1997) and Alessio (2004). With a view to validating the applicability of the model, an empirical study was conducted by applying the PBL-Test to three skills in the Computing area. Results showed that although the model has shown it needs further enhancement, it has already been possible to identify improvements in PBL teaching processes that clearly affect the effectiveness of the approach.
In computing courses, the teaching and learning approach normally emphasizes theoretical knowledge at the expense of practical knowledge. The major disadvantages of this approach are learners' lack of motivation during class and their quickly forgetting the knowledge they have acquired. With a view to overcoming these difficulties, Problem Based Learning (PBL), an institutional method of teaching, has been applied to teaching computing disciplines. Despite the growth of the practice of PBL in various disciplines of Computing, there is little evidence of its specific characteristics in this area, the effectiveness of different PBL methodological approaches, or of benefits and challenges encountered. In this context, this paper presents a systematic mapping study in order to identify studies which involve best practices when using the PBL method in Computing between 1997 and 2011, answering five research questions: “What are the main characteristics of PBL that support teaching in Computing?”; “What are the criteria for applying PBL effectively in this area?”; “How is the PBL methodology applied?”, “What are the advantages and benefits of applying PBL in Computing?” and, finally, “What are the main challenges about learning in PBL in Computing?”.
The increasing application of student-centered teaching approaches to solve real problems, driven by the market´s demand for professionals with better skills, has prompted the use of PBL in different areas, including in Computing. However, since this represents a paradigm shift in education, its implementation is not always well understood, which adversely affects its effectiveness. Within this context, this paper puts forward a model for assessing the maturity of teaching processes under the PBL approach, the PBL-Test, with a view to identifying points for improvement. The concept of maturity is defined in terms of teaching processes adhering to PBL principles, taken from an analysis of the following authors: Savery & Duffy (1995), Barrows (2001) Peterson (1997) and Alessio (2004). With a view to validating the applicability of the model, an empirical study was conducted by applying the PBL-Test to three skills in the Computing area. Results showed that although the model has shown it needs further enhancement, it has already been possible to identify improvements in PBL teaching processes that clearly affect the effectiveness of the approach.
Many graduate and professional programs include Problem Based Learning (PBL) as a mainstay in their curricula. For many undergraduate students, this is a change from a teacher-centered to a student-centered learning method. This study was undertaken to learn about perceptions and test performances of college students (N=116) enrolled in liberal education classes when PBL is used vs. traditional teaching methods. Results indicated students perceived traditional teacher-centered learning more favorably than student-centered PBL. Nevertheless, test scores were similar. Negative student perceptions about learning in PBL classes did not support either teacher observations of learning activity in the classroom or compromised test performances.
This paper proposes the yPBL learning methodology, based on the well-known PBL method and adapted to software engineering process by using the "y" methodology. The yPBL methodology is defined as a mapping between the roles and phases considered in PBL methodologies to the roles, iterations and phases considered in the "y" methodology. Moreover, the yPBL method includes different situations of active and passive learning roles not only for the students involved in a course but also for the instructors. Indeed, software engineering instructors face the same challenge of any software engineer and needs to continuously update their knowledge in software technologies. The yPBL method has been designed using the Unified Modeling Language (UML) and the various interactions points between the various process actors as well as the information to be exchanged during the synchronous and asynchronous learning process have been specified using this language. Finally, interesting preliminary results of the experience of using this methodology in the INSA of Toulouse are included in this paper.
The software test program (STP) is a cooperation between Motorola and the Center for Informatics of the Federal University of Pernambuco. It has been conceived with inspiration on the medical residency, adjusted to the software development practice. A software residency includes the formal teaching of the relevant concepts and deep practice, with specialization on some specific subject; here the focus is on software testing. The STP has been of great benefit to all parties involved.