Abstract:

In order to increase software developer skills among students who complete their academic education in information technologies professions, the use of the PBL(Project Based Learning) strategy is an adequate didactic tool for the development of the subject. This strategy is not only innovative but also leads to a significant change in teaching-learning processes and is recognized as a strategy that fosters meaningful learning.
The objective of the present study is to evaluate the skills acquired by the students as software developers during the software development project described with PBL, proposed in the subject Data Structures in Computer Engineering Career at the Academic Unit of Electrical Engineering of the Autonomous University of Zacatecas, Mexico.

The projects that can be proposed with the PBL teaching-learning strategy deal with a real-world problem, that can be described by the teacher, by the students themselves, or even by employers. In applying the strategy in the data structure course, a project was proposed to address a real-world need of the ISSSTE (Institute for Social Security and Services of State Employees), the project addresses the problem of implementing the emergency medical care process, which can be described computationally with priority queue data structures implemented with linked lists.
The methodological design of the research focused on the quantitative approach using the experimental method within a quasi-experimental design with an intact control group and an experimental group, with both groups subjected to a pretest and a posttest.

The data collection instruments used to assess the skills acquired by the students in the development of the software project were: two rubrics or assessment matrices. One assessed group work in software development and the other was used to assess students' individual work in developing the project.
In summary, it was found that by involving students in a software development project aimed at solving a real-world problem, there was a change of perspective among the students, each of them fulfilled their assigned role, and had the willingness and support to form a good working team, which enabled the experimental group to acquire greater skills in software development.

Keywords:

Project Based Learning, Software Development, Significant Learning, Assessment, Rubrics.