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TEAM LEARNING PROGRAM FOR INFORMATION
TECHNOLOGY ENGINEERS USING PROJECT-BASED LEARNING
Case Study of the “Upper Process” in IT Engineering
Minoru Nakayama
1
, Manabu Fueki
2
, Shinji Seki
3
, Toshikazu Uehara
4
and Kenji Matsumoto
4
1
Human System Science, Tokyo Institute of Technology, Ookayama 2–12–1, Meguro, 152–8552, Tokyo, Japan
2
Computer College Niigata, Benten 2–3–13, Chuou-ku, 950–0901, Niigata, Japan
3
Computer College Hokkaido, Kikusui 6–3, Shiroishi-ku, 003–0806, Sapporo, Japan
4
Software Consultant Corporation, Nakano 5–62–1, Nakano-ku, 164–8505, Tokyo, Japan
Keywords:
Team Learning, Project based Learning, Learning Management System, Learning Evaluation, Upper Process.
Abstract:
This paper reports the case of an educational practice and evaluation of team learning in an Engineering
course. This course uses project-based learning and is supported by a learning management system. Its
subject is the “Upper Process” of Information Technology systems development. The course was conducted
at a computer college which trains information technology engineers to meet the demands of industry. The
course content consists of team practice sessions to understand “requests for proposals” (RFP) and to learn
how to propose “requirement definitions”. Student’s communication skills are also taught throughout the team
learning sessions. To assess what was learned, the results of the team learning sessions were evaluated and self
evaluations of learning activities were conducted. After this, a feasibility study of the team learning activity
was discussed. Also, the evaluation scores of the functions of the learning management system were correlated
with the assessment scores.
1 INTRODUCTION
The development of engineers in various disciplines
requires human resources training in the higher and
vocational education systems and the improvement
of the educational system (Japanese Ministry of Ed-
ucation, Sports, Culture, Science and Technology
(MEXT), 2010). The development of educational
programs and evaluation methodologies have been
discussed and disseminated (Shinoda, 2011), result-
ing in many revisions to these programs.
Also in the area of information technology
(IT), human resource development issues such as
the amount of engineers needed and the quality
of engineering performance(Information-Technology
Agency, 2010) have been discussed. In particu-
lar, the IT industrial sector claims that informa-
tion technology engineers should have systems de-
velopment experience as members of a team which
has practiced resolving problems while they were
learning fundamental engineering theory. Addition-
ally, it is often suggested that IT engineering gradu-
ates from departments of computer science have in-
sufficient communication skills, leadership qualities
and project management experience (Information-
Technology Agency, 2010).
Since most IT engineers have been trained at com-
puter colleges, these colleges have to develop educa-
tional program to meet the above requirements. Most
college students in Japan are around 20 years old, and
have little experience as engineers. Also, IT engi-
neers have to learn business manners in order to bet-
ter communicate with customers and business part-
ners. One approach is to employ team learning as a
form of project based learning (PBL). Team learn-
ing means that students work together as a project
team, and resolve problems collectively. These teams
require collaboration, and members have to play in-
dividual roles which are assigned in advance (Itoh,
2011). Therefore, team learning is different from
group learning or collaborative learning (Ichikawa,
1995; Bransford et al., 2000). Team learning may
consist of discussions, learning through experience,
and teaching each other. There have been some dis-
cussions about team learning (Decuyper et al., 2010;
Yazici, 2005), and the difference between team learn-
ing and other group learning styles is not clear. How-
ever, our purposeis not to clarify the difference. Stud-
105
Nakayama M., Fueki M., Seki S., Uehara T. and Matsumoto K..
TEAM LEARNING PROGRAM FOR INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY ENGINEERS USING PROJECT-BASED LEARNING - Case Study of the “Upper
Process” in IT Engineering.
DOI: 10.5220/0003897101050111
In Proceedings of the 4th International Conference on Computer Supported Education (CSEDU-2012), pages 105-111
ISBN: 978-989-8565-06-8
Copyright
c
2012 SCITEPRESS (Science and Technology Publications, Lda.)