Title: Group learning: an analysis of individuals in software development teams who perform interdependent tasks

Authors: Letícia Rodrigues Da Fonseca; Marcelo Ribeiro Silva; Sheldon William Silva; Guilherme Marques Pereira

Addresses: Faculty of Business Administration, University of Vale do Rio Verde, Unincor, Brazil ' Business and Administration School (Esan), Federal University of Mato Grosso do Sul, UFMS, Brazil ' Faculty of Business Administration, Federal University of Lavras, Ufla, Brazil ' School of Language Science, University Vale do Sapucaí, Univás, Brazil

Abstract: This paper aims to understand how group learning occurs within software development organisations (SDOs). The specific objectives are: 1) understand and describe the learning process in teams that perform interdependent tasks according to the addressed theoretical perspective; 2) understand and describe how developers apply the resources and infrastructures available in these organisations for their learning. Qualitative research of a multiple case study was conducted in four SDOs applying semi-structured interviews. The subjects interviewed were involved in the software development process. The analyses were performed with the qualitative data analysis software Weft_QDA. The results show that group learning does occur in SDOs through information and communication technologies, which allow developers to interact and share their knowledge. There is an asset repository that stores the knowledge acquired during the projects, equivalent to a transactive memory system (TMS).

Keywords: group learning; interdependent tasks; software development organisations; SDOs.

DOI: 10.1504/IJIL.2021.111833

International Journal of Innovation and Learning, 2021 Vol.29 No.1, pp.89 - 105

Received: 08 May 2019
Accepted: 22 Nov 2019
Published online: 16 Dec 2020 *

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