Exploring the Communication Behaviour Among Global Software Development Learners

Abstract

This study examines communication behaviours in global software learning teams. Using a coding scheme developed in previous research (Curtis and Lawson, 2001), the paper characterises communication behaviours of students engaged in a software development project. The paper reports the results of two pilot projects done with students in USA, England, Turkey and Panama. Through content analysis we identify distinct patterns of interactions and examine how these patterns are associated with task, culture, or performance. Our results suggest that communication patterns among global software learners may be related to task type, culture and levels of performance.