Page 242 - La investigación como vínculo enter educación y sociedad

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Introduction. Pair programming is a practice where two people use the same computer to
develop software, and they exchange keyboard and mouse at regular intervals. In MOB pro-
gramming, three or more people work on the same project, and they share a common space
and the same computer. Objective. A quantitative and transversal research was conducted to
compare the Pair Programming and the MOB programming approaches in a university course
of intermediate programming. Method. The participants were 24 students who worked during
their class in the development of software projects in two modalities: by pairs and MOB. Upon
completion, they were asked to assess several aspects of both approaches. SPSS was used
to perform Wilcoxon tests and to determine which differences were statistically significant. Re-
sults. The results show differences in favor of Pair Programming in relation to: the global rating
given to the methodology, its ease of: understanding it, adapting it and working with it, the com-
munication among the members, and the level of trust and satisfaction with the final program.
Conclusions. It is recommended to adopt the work in pairs regularly in the laboratory practices
of the university courses of programming since it is well accepted by the students, and it does
not need adjustments in the location of the furniture and equipment as the MOB programming

approach. Further research is required to determine the feasibility of implementing MOB pro-
gramming as a practical learning strategy. At the same time it is required to prioritize the factors
to be taken into consideration in this process in order to achieve truly collaborative learning.

Key words: Software Development, Higher Education, MOB Programming, Pair Program- LA INVESTIGACIÓN COMO VÍNCULO ENTRE EDUCACIÓN Y SOCIEDAD
ming.

INtRODuCCIóN

Las prácticas que realizan los alumnos en los cursos universitarios de programación general-
mente se llevan a cabo de manera individual a través del uso de una computadora por persona,

lo cual aísla a cada estudiante del resto y limita las interacciones que favorecen el aprendizaje
colaborativo. Sin embargo, para intentar revertir esta situación ha surgido la programación por
pares, un enfoque metodológico en el que dos personas trabajan juntas utilizando la misma
computadora e intercambiando el teclado y el ratón en periodos frecuentes.

La programación mob, por el contrario, es una estrategia mediante la cual tres o más personas
que comparten un espacio trabajan con la misma computadora y proyecto de manera simul-
tánea. Esta modalidad implica tener un espacio de trabajo suficientemente amplio e insonori-
zado para que todos los integrantes interactúen y sean productivos. Asimismo, requiere de un
sistema de proyección nítido para que la imagen emitida pueda ser percibida claramente por 221
todos.