The work-reflection-learning cycle - Department of Computer and ...

The work-reflection-learning cycle in SE student projects: Use of collaboration tools
development methodology but is not necessarily strongly supported within the
development methodology itself. In this thesis, the SE student projects of the case
studies generally use iterative methodologies to structure their work.
At this point there is a need for clarification about the use of the terms software
development (SD) and software engineering (SE), for which definitions vary in the
associated professions and research fields. This thesis concentrates on the SD
components of software engineering work. In the research papers I use the term
software engineering when I refer to and address the research fields and professions of
software engineering and SE education. In the publications for the CSCW and TEL
communities, the focus is on software development as a particular domain of work, and
I refer to software development. In the thesis introduction, to be consistent I use only the
term software engineering.
A second, major characteristic of SE student projects is that they are based on the
pedagogical approach of project based learning (PBL). To be considered an instance of
PBL, a project must have the following characteristics (Thomas 2000):
• be central, not peripheral to the curriculum
• be focused on questions or problems that “drive” students to encounter (and
struggle with) the central concepts and principles of a discipline
• involve students in a constructive investigation
• be student-driven to some significant degree
• be realistic, not like school work
PBL bears similarity to problem based learning, and the distinction between the two
approaches is not necessarily clean in practice (Prince and Felder 2007). One main
difference is that PBL, as opposed to problem based learning, involves the construction
of concrete artifacts (Helle et al. 2006). Another difference is that PBL is based on
students mainly applying knowledge that is previously acquired, with the final product
as the primary focus. Problem based learning generally has a stronger focus on the
solution process and no formal instruction to provide the necessary background for
solving the problem (Prince and Felder 2007).
As argued in Section 1.1, PBL resides at the intersection between education and work.
This creates a tension between the associated educational and practice logics (Dohn
2009). Educational practices are generally based on an acquisition metaphor of
learning, in which the goals are external to participation: the learner, by participating in
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