Improving an Online Web Development course for Undergraduates at Tampere University
Pham, Anh (2025)
2025
Master's Programme in Computing Sciences and Electrical Engineering
Informaatioteknologian ja viestinnän tiedekunta - Faculty of Information Technology and Communication Sciences
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Hyväksymispäivämäärä
2025-05-19
Julkaisun pysyvä osoite on
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:tuni-202505185709
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:tuni-202505185709
Tiivistelmä
In recent years, online education has transformed the landscape of higher learning, particularly in attractive fields like Computer Science. This thesis analyzes the most basic and popular concept in the field - Web Development - with its challenges and opportunities in education for Bachelor’s students in an online setting. The rapid development of digital tools and educational platforms provides new avenues for fostering engagement, enhancing interactivity, and promoting deeper understanding of complex concepts, combining with unforeseen circumstances like the COVID-19 pandemic leads to an even higher demand for such tools and platforms. However, these innovations also demand a rethinking of traditional pedagogical approaches to meet the diverse needs of remote learners.
Research is conducted on the course COMP.CS.500 - Introduction to Full Stack Development (formerly known as Web Development 1 - Programming). Using the action research method, the research first includes literature review on the main components of web development and suitable teaching methods. A separate course renewal project is conducted on the COMP.CS.500 course as part of the research, which evaluates previous implementations of the course on what should be kept and what adjustments and improvements are needed for future implementations, how the changes are applied in the Fall 2024 edition of the course, and how the student feedback from that edition can be used to develop the course henceforward. After a successful course implementation, many aspects of the course practicalities are improved, with better course structure, clearer exercise instructions, faster grading duration, and more informative grader feedback. After the course, analysis shows an increase of satisfaction from students with higher level of engagement and more positive post-course feedback.
Research is conducted on the course COMP.CS.500 - Introduction to Full Stack Development (formerly known as Web Development 1 - Programming). Using the action research method, the research first includes literature review on the main components of web development and suitable teaching methods. A separate course renewal project is conducted on the COMP.CS.500 course as part of the research, which evaluates previous implementations of the course on what should be kept and what adjustments and improvements are needed for future implementations, how the changes are applied in the Fall 2024 edition of the course, and how the student feedback from that edition can be used to develop the course henceforward. After a successful course implementation, many aspects of the course practicalities are improved, with better course structure, clearer exercise instructions, faster grading duration, and more informative grader feedback. After the course, analysis shows an increase of satisfaction from students with higher level of engagement and more positive post-course feedback.