Face-to-Face vs. Computer-Mediated: Analysis of Collaborative Programming Activities and Outcomes

In this paper we present the analysis of a laboratory experiment designed to understand the effect of two communication environments, that is, face-to-face or computed-mediated, on group achievements when participants are involved in programming tasks, within an academic computer science course. Results show better students´ performances in the computer-mediated setting, as stated by a statistically significant difference between the two approaches when considering the quality of the produced projects, in terms of the teacher´s evaluation to pass the final exam. Our analysis shows that the integration of a collaborative instrument in a development environment helps students to achieve better results.