A PBL-Based, Integrated Learning Experience of Object-Oriented Programming, Data Structures and Software Design

This innovative practice full paper presents an experience report of an approach integrating the teaching and learning of Object-Oriented Programming, Data Structures and Software Design in the second term of a Computer Engineering undergraduate program. Learning object-oriented programming requires acquiring high-level skills, which is negatively affected by present curricula and pedagogies. Isolated courses with teacher-centered approaches do not allow for the appropriate practice of such skills. For 15 years, our Computing Engineering undergraduate program has been pursuing an effort of curriculum integration and active learning practices based on problems and projects. This paper presents an experience report of our approach. This experience led us to important lessons learned with our approach: the acquisition of personal, interpersonal and technical skills provided by the approach; the benefits of knowledge integration through more authentic experiences and a more disciplined practice of software production; the need for careful problem planning; the main difficulties faced by instructors to manage the course; and the challenges faced by students to develop their skills.