CodeLab
CodeLab is a teaching innovation project for introductory subjects in programming learning.
It is born from the challenge posed by the teaching and learning of programming in non-contact contexts and by students of training programs not directly related to engineering. The Degree in Digital Design and Creation and the Degree in Arts at the UOC have compulsory programming subjects in their curriculum, understanding that computational thinking is a necessary competence in the digital age and that programming is a language expressive essential.
In this master’s degree there is a subject of “programming for design and the arts”. Students in this subject are preparing to become designers, and most have had little or no previous contact with programming. The purpose of the CodeLab project is, to begin with, to smooth the learning curve for programming for these students.
Development
The CodeLab project began its development in 2019. Iteratively, different functionalities have been designed, developed and piloted: learning plan, collection of exercises, resolution of exercises, monitoring of progress, communication and different programming languages.
The development has been carried out as a collaboration between the Studies of Computer Science, Multimedia and Telecommunications that has contributed the expertise in teaching of programming and the expertise in the design and development of technological tools for the online teaching and learning; and the eLearn Center, which provided project coordination, technology coordination, and budgeting.
Pilots
CodeLab has been piloted in the subject Programming for Design and the Arts of the Degree in Digital Design and Creation and in the subject Web Programming of the Degree in Multimedia.
The pilots have been based on the definition of the learning plan of the subjects: definition of challenges and the collection of exercises for each challenge.