Towards Inter-Subject Project-Based Learning in Programming-Related Courses at Computer Science Studies

Abstract

[EN] Curriculum design of University Degrees in Spain is mainly based on scheduling atomic, self-contained semester subjects during a 4-year period. This scheduling is driven by one major constraint: to ensure that previous subject pre-requisites are met for each course. Thus, basic subjects without college-level pre-requisites are typically scheduled in the first year, first semester, while the rest are properly planned in a sequential manner, complying the aforementioned condition. This is, basically, the only proof of inter-subject coordination in such degrees, taking place at the design stage. During the academic period, however, there is no vertical nor horizontal inter-subject coordination, not even among closely-related subjects. In order to increase inter-subject coordination and to exploit its potential benefit for students, the projectbased learning (PBL) methodology shows on the scene. This approach organizes learning around student-driven projects aiming to solve real-life problems. This close applicability to the real world expedites intrinsic motivation of students, and consequently, their learning process tends to be deeper and more significant. Furthermore, PBL applied at the inter-subject level increases curriculum cohesion and makes students more engaged and compromised with its global objectives. In this paper we describe the design of PBL models involving two pairs of programming-related subjects from the Computer Engineering Degree at the Universitat Politècnica de València. The first one associates the ¿Programming¿ with the ¿Data Structures and Algorithms¿ subject, while the second one engages the ¿Introduction to Video-Games Programming¿ with the ¿Digital Image Synthesis¿ one. It is an ambitious pilot programme that will require a high coordination effort among participating professors and student teams.