Integrating Formal and Informal Learning through a FLOSS-Based Innovative Approach

It is said that due to the peculiar dynamics of FLOSS communities, effective participation in their projects is a privileged way to acquire the relevant skills and expertise in software development. Such is probably the reason for a number of higher education institutions to include in their Software Engineering curricula some form of contact with the FLOSS reality. This paper explores such a perspective through an on-going case study on university students’ collaboration in FLOSS projects. The aim of this research is to 1) identify what should be learnt about software development through regular participation in a FLOSS project/community, and 2) assess the didactic potential of this kind of non-standard learning experiences. To this aim we resorted to a participatory research action approach and qualitative methods, namely case studies combining direct observation and interviews.