Abstract
In introductory math courses, especially Calculus 1, dropout rates and failure are generally high, and creating activities that increase retention and motivate students to obtain better final results is a challenge. In order to develop several competencies in our students of Software Engineering courses, Calculus I at Universidad ORT Uruguay focuses on several competencies such as: synthesis, abstraction and problem solving (based on the ACM/IEEE Curriculum Guidelines for Undergraduate Degree Programs in Software Engineering). Every semester we reflect on our practice and try to answer the following research question: What kind of activities can we design in Calculus 1 to retain students and obtain better results? This paper explores students’ perspectives on creating an article based on IEEE conference format related to one of the course topics and present the work in class using a poster. Preliminary results show an increase in retention and significant differences in final course results compared with two control groups. Collaborative learning activities using online editing tools encourage students to become self-learners and our role as teacher changed from being the center of the class to becoming a moderator where the principal figures are the students.
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Adorjan, A. (2017). Fostering Math Competencies Through Online Collaborative Editing Tools. In: Auer, M., Guralnick, D., Uhomoibhi, J. (eds) Interactive Collaborative Learning. ICL 2016. Advances in Intelligent Systems and Computing, vol 544. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-50337-0_5
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-50337-0_5
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