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

Abstract
In project based learning, students learn from hands-on experience with the challenges
and complexities of real work. To achieve this learning, reflection is essential. In project
work in industry, retrospective reflection on the project process is established practice,
e.g. in project debriefings. Student projects often include retrospective reflection as a
mandatory exercise seen as important to learning but not as a part of the „real work‟.
The research in this thesis is guided by the idea that making retrospective reflection
integral to the work practice in project based learning can help students learn more from
their project experience. The thesis explores how retrospective reflection in Software
Engineering student projects can be supported, particularly taking into account the use
of collaboration tools – typically lightweight tools – by teams in their daily project
work.
To this end, a set of interpretive case studies have been conducted. The studies examine
the current use of state-of-the-art lightweight collaboration tools in Software
Engineering student projects, focusing on the role of the tools in work and learning
within the teams and in collaboration with other project stakeholders. The thesis
research also includes studies in which interventions have been made in the projects by
introducing facilitated retrospective reflection activities with and without the aid of
collaboration tools. These interventions can be considered as initial steps of a design
research effort with the aim of improving the pedagogical design of the course as well
as developing new theory on reflection in project based learning.
The resulting contributions include new knowledge about the use of various types of
lightweight collaboration tools to support day-to-day work in the projects; within the
teams and in collaboration between the teams and other project stakeholders. These
contributions can be used to aid the organization of future SE student projects including
the choice and use of collaboration tools in the projects. The thesis also provides
insights on how retrospective reflection, seen as a part of a collaborative work practice,
can be supported in SE student projects and project work more generally. This research
contribution includes a design for retrospective reflection workshops in educational
settings (adapted from industry practice and empirically tested in a project course), a
prototype tool extending wiki functionality to support navigation of relevant historical
data, and empirical results demonstrating how a collaboration tool used in daily project
work can be used as an aid to memory in retrospective reflection. Finally, a main
contribution of this PhD work is a model of reflection, conceptualized in terms of
distributed cognition. Drawing on learning theory as well as current practice for
Software Engineering retrospectives, the model represents a novel and practical view of
v