Improving Students' Learning Skills for Developing a Software Project using Active Learning Techniques: Service-learning and Agile Software Development

Agile software development methodologies are currently used to improve the performance of software application development with the active participation of the client. Service-learning is an active methodology that has been applied in several teaching areas and multiple areas of knowledge at college level. Several papers propose software project development based on agile methods in learning contexts, but papers focusing on efforts to combine Service-learning with agile software development methods to improve students' software development project skills are not so common. This paper reports the experience of combining Service-learning with the stages of a software development methodology inspired by Agile Manifesto. It describes a teaching innovation, which consists in providing students with an active and motivating teaching-learning environment in a computing subject to attain three objectives: (1) improving students' skills for developing high-quality software applications in a working context similar to professional software development practice; (2) decreasing the subject drop-out rate; and (3) familiarizing students with solidarity and community work. This pilot experience at a university in northern Chile involves the active participation of a community partner (Help Desk for People with Disabilities at Antofagasta Municipality). This paper describes the methodology used in the creation of a software product (prototype version) in the context of solidarity work for regional Paralympic games. The innovation was developed within the framework of a subject in the Major in Computer and Information Technology Engineering. Twelve students participated in this teaching innovation, obtaining encouraging results concerning the attainment of objectives. There was an active participation with 90% passing students; drop-outs decreased to 0%; and students worked very closely and professionally with the community partner.