Code Collaborate: Dissecting Team Dynamics in First-Semester Programming Students

TL;DR

Results indicate that students often slightly overestimate their contributions, with more engaged individuals more likely to acknowledge mistakes, and the complete absence of plagiarism underscores the effectiveness of proactive academic integrity measures, reinforcing honest collaboration in educational settings.

Abstract

Understanding collaboration patterns in introductory programming courses is essential, as teamwork is a critical skill in computer science. In professional environments, software development relies on effective teamwork, navigating diverse perspectives, and contributing to shared goals. This paper offers a comprehensive analysis of the factors influencing team efficiency and project success, providing actionable insights to enhance the effectiveness of collaborative programming education. By analyzing version control data, survey responses, and performance metrics, the study highlights the collaboration trends that emerge as first-semester students develop a 2D game project. Results indicate that students often slightly overestimate their contributions, with more engaged individuals more likely to acknowledge mistakes. Team performance shows no significant variation based on nationality or gender composition, though teams that disbanded frequently consisted of lone wolves, highlighting collaboration challenges and the need for strengthened teamwork skills. Presentations closely reflected individual project contributions, with active students excelling in evaluative questioning and performing better on the final exam. Additionally, the complete absence of plagiarism underscores the effectiveness of proactive academic integrity measures, reinforcing honest collaboration in educational settings.

Figures (10)

• Figure 1: Overview of the study implemented in this research across each significant period.
• Figure 2: The distribution of team formation trends indicates a notable involvement of students from diverse nationalities, particularly within teams that experienced dropout cases during the project.
• Figure 3: The distribution of the trend to form teams according to the members' gender, highlighting the prevalence of same-gender teams and the occurrence of mixed-gender teams within the student cohort, reflecting diverse team compositions based on gender dynamics.
• Figure 4: The average distribution of student commits throughout the project development period.
• Figure 5: Estimation of students' self-assessment of their contributions to the project's components.