An Investigation Into the Perceived Effectiveness of GitHub Repositories to Teach Programming

Abstract

The utilization of Git for version control and collaboration has long been the staple of the software development industry. To ensure that Computer Science students are industry-ready, academics adopt the use of platforms like GitHub in their teaching in different ways to expose students to these tools. In earlier studies, GitHub has been integrated for the purposes of student management, collection of assessments and facilitation of collaborative programming exercises. This paper explores the use of lecturer-provided GitHub repositories as a tool to support the teaching of core aspects of a programming curriculum. The pedagogical approach constructivism required students to learn core concepts by following repositories to build simpler applications. Thereafter, students are assigned more complex applications to develop. Students were required to work in pairs and submit their repositories for evaluation. This study adopted a case study approach supported by a combination of a student survey and a focus group discussion among lecturers and the teaching assistant involved in the course. Key findings included that integrating GitHub repositories presents several opportunities for collaboration, knowledge enhancement, self-directed learning, and reduced stress. However, this approach also resulted in team and technical challenges becoming prevalent, with students finding their own ways to overcome these challenges. Additionally, lecturers observed varied levels of engagement, reliance on lecturer-provided code, and occasional contextual challenges related to Internet connectivity. Lecturer-provided repositories can be enhanced in terms of structure, the inclusion of more comments explaining code, and through the inclusion of images and video. Recommendations are provided for academics who are looking to integrate GitHub into their teaching practice as well as suggestions for future work.