UT Institute of Computer Science Graduation Theses Registry

Name

Carolin Kirotar

Abstract

The spread of the corona pandemic in 2020 caused a shift in the teaching form from traditional face-to-face learning to distance learning. This required adjusting to a new type of approach, with which previous exposure was minimal and there was also little literary material about similar situations. The following year of 2021 continued using the same form, but by this time the parties concerned had gained a little more experience. No new restrictions were imposed in 2022 and learning could continue in the old-fashioned manner or as a new hybrid learning solution. Finding the ideal selection among these possibilities is important because each of the mentioned forms has its own advantages and the students and teachers have their own preferences. The aim of the Master’s thesis was to find out what are the advantages and disadvantages of the study forms, how the students’ learning outcomes have changed over the course of five years, and what are the changes in learning outcomes in case of different study forms. In order to answer the research questions, a study was conducted by analyzing the academic performance of the last five years of the course “Object-oriented programming” at the University of Tartu. Based on the points obtained in the course, the highest results were achieved in 2020 when emergency remote teaching was used. The results for 2019 were the weakest, while those for 2021 were back to their pre-corona levels. Distance learning’s outcomes in 2022 were as high as in 2020. Those of face-to-face learning were similar to the previous years of face-to-face learning. Comparing the various study forms revealed that there is no one optimal method, but instead, it depends on the preferences and dedication of both students and teachers.

Graduation Thesis language

Estonian

Graduation Thesis type

Master - Software Engineering

Supervisor(s)

Marina Lepp

Defence year

2023