Integrating formal and informal learning through a FLOSS-based innovative approach

• Author(s): Fernandes, Sara ; Martinho, Maria Helena ; Barbosa, L. S. ; Cerone, Antonio
• Date: 2013
• Persistent ID: http://hdl.handle.net/1822/26534
• Origin: RepositóriUM - Universidade do Minho
• Subject(s): FLOSS; Communities of practice; Collaborative learning
• Document Type: Conference Object
• Language: English

Description

It is said that due to the peculiar dynamics of FLOSS communities and their projects, effective participation in them is a privileged way to acquire the relevant skills and expertise in FLOSS development. Such is probably the reason for a number of higher education institutions to include in their curricula in Software Engineering some form of contact with the FLOSS reality. This paper explores such a perspective through an on-going case study on university students collaboration in FLOSS projects. The aim of this research is to 1) identify what should be learnt about software development through regular participation in a FLOSS project/community, and 2) assess the didactic potential of this kind of non-standard learning experiences. To this aim we resorted to a participatory research action approach and qualitative methods, namely case studies combining direct observation and interviews.