On the Relation Between Open Project-Based Learning in Undergraduate Computer Science Education and Contemporary Technological Trends

Ruben Tous, Felix Freitag, Josep Berral

2024

Abstract

Amidst rapid and constant technological change, keeping IT higher education curricula up to date is becoming increasingly challenging. For a decade, the course ”Project on Information Technologies” within the undergraduate computer science studies offered by a major technical university has been pursuing an effort of continuous curriculum adaptation and active learning practices based on an open project-based learning (PBL) methodology. This article researches the implications of employing an open-ended PBL approach, with a specific focus on the alignment of acquired skills with the trends in the professional landscape. Our analysis has identified a strong correlation between the technologies utilized in the projects and the contemporary technological trends in the areas of global technological focus, programming languages, server-side technologies, database management systems, and DevOps-related tools. For the study, we analyzed empirical data gathered from over 100 projects involving more than 400 students who enrolled in this reference course, belonging to the last year of the IT higher education programme in the last 10 years. The results suggest the open project-based design as a teaching means in the student’s study plan for fostering the student the learning of prevailing current practical technologies.

Paper Citation

in Harvard Style

Tous R., Freitag F. and Berral J. (2024). On the Relation Between Open Project-Based Learning in Undergraduate Computer Science Education and Contemporary Technological Trends. In Proceedings of the 16th International Conference on Computer Supported Education - Volume 2: CSEDU; ISBN 978-989-758-697-2, SciTePress, pages 397-404. DOI: 10.5220/0012650600003693

in Bibtex Style

@conference{csedu24,
author={Ruben Tous and Felix Freitag and Josep Berral},
title={On the Relation Between Open Project-Based Learning in Undergraduate Computer Science Education and Contemporary Technological Trends},
booktitle={Proceedings of the 16th International Conference on Computer Supported Education - Volume 2: CSEDU},
year={2024},
pages={397-404},
publisher={SciTePress},
organization={INSTICC},
doi={10.5220/0012650600003693},
isbn={978-989-758-697-2},
}

in EndNote Style

TY - CONF

JO - Proceedings of the 16th International Conference on Computer Supported Education - Volume 2: CSEDU
TI - On the Relation Between Open Project-Based Learning in Undergraduate Computer Science Education and Contemporary Technological Trends
SN - 978-989-758-697-2
AU - Tous R.
AU - Freitag F.
AU - Berral J.
PY - 2024
SP - 397
EP - 404
DO - 10.5220/0012650600003693
PB - SciTePress