On the use of the Lotus Blossom Technique to Foster Collaboration among Students in Software Development
Abstract
Collaboration is essential in software development but is often hindered by skill gaps and communication barriers. Techniques like Lotus Blossom provide a structured brainstorming approach to enhance teamwork and ideation. However, its role in fostering collaboration in product discovery remains underexplored. This study examines how undergraduate students applied the Lotus Blossom technique to enhance collaboration. As a methodology, we conducted a 2.5-hour activity where students applied the technique. Researchers assessed its impact using questionnaires. Our findings indicate that Lotus Blossom improved collaboration, helping students structure ideas, coordinate problem-solving, and strengthen teamwork. As a contribution, this study validates the Lotus Blossom technique as an effective method for fostering collaboration in software development education.References
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Parizi, R., Prestes, M., Marczak, S., and Conte, T. (2022). How has design thinking being used and integrated into software development activities? a systematic mapping. Journal of Systems and Software, 187:111217.
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Shen, T.-l., Lai, J.-c., and Tsai, M.-c. (2016). The performance and impact of applying lotus blossom technique in teaching on creative problem solving. In 2016 International Conference on Advanced Materials for Science and Engineering (ICAMSE), pages 614–617. IEEE.
Sousa, J. P. (2004). Elementos de teoria e pesquisa da comunicação e da mídia. Letras Contemporâneas, Florianópolis. 456 p.
Anaya, A. R. and Boticario, J. G. (2011). Application of machine learning techniques to analyse student interactions and improve the collaboration process. Expert Systems with Applications, 38(2):1171–1181.
Antunes, D. H. P. (2021). A importância da liderança nas equipas dentro das organizações. Master’s thesis, Universidade Catolica Portuguesa (Portugal).
Berlo, D. K. (1987). El proceso de la comunicación: introducción a la teoría ya la práctica. In El proceso de la comunicación: introducción a la teoría ya la práctica, pages 173–173. El Ateneo.
Canha, S. M. S. d. S. (2021). A comunicação entre as equipas multidisciplinares de apoio à educação inclusiva e os centros de apoio à aprendizagem no concelho de Santarém. PhD thesis, Escola Superior de Educação e Ciências Sociais, Politécnico de Leiria.
Chen, C.-Y., Hsu, P.-Y., and Vu, H.-N. (2023). Collaborative process tailoring in evolutionary software development: a teamwork-quality perspective. Software Quality Journal, 31(1):89–119.
Cheng, L.-T., de Souza, C. R., Hupfer, S., Patterson, J., and Ross, S. (2003). Building collaboration into ides: Edit¿ compile¿ run¿ debug¿ collaborate? Queue, 1(9):40–50.
Dornelles, P., Dantas, J., and Parizi, R. (2024). Brewing ideas: An experience report on the use of world café’s to spin on collaborative learning of software development life cycles. In Anais do IV Simpósio Brasileiro de Educação em Computação, pages 143–152, Porto Alegre, RS, Brasil. SBC.
Freitas, C. C. d., Mussatto, F., Vieira, J. d. S., Bugança, J. B., Steffens, V. A., Baêta Filho, H., Magajewski, F. R. L., and Figueiredo, D. d. R. (2022). Domínios de competências essenciais nas práticas colaborativas em equipe interprofissional: revisão integrativa da literatura. Interface-Comunicação, Saúde, Educação, 26:e210573.
Fuks, H., Raposo, A. B., Gerosa, M. A., and de Lucena, C. J. P. (2004). Applying the 3C model to groupware engineering. PUC Rio de Janeiro.
Gavrilă, C. and Tulbure, C. (2018). Lotus blossom technique-interactive group teaching-learning method. Research Journal of Agricultural Science.
Gonsales, P. et al. (2017). Design thinking e a ritualização de boas práticas educativas. Instituto Educadigital, São Paulo, SP, Brasil.
Hanesová, D. et al. (2014). Development of critical and creative thinking skills in clil. Journal of language and cultural education, 2(2):33–51.
Jesionkowska, J., Wild, F., and Deval, Y. (2020). Active learning augmented reality for steam education—a case study. Education Sciences, 10(8):198.
Jiménez, M., Piattini, M., and Vizcaíno, A. (2009). Challenges and improvements in distributed software development: A systematic review. Advances in Software Engineering, 2009(1):710971.
Joshi, A., Kale, S., Chandel, S., and Pal, D. K. (2015). Likert scale: Explored and explained. British journal of applied science & technology, 7(4):396–403.
Knutas, A., Ikonen, J., and Porras, J. (2019). Computer-supported collaborative learning in software engineering education: a systematic mapping study. arXiv preprint arXiv:1906.10710.
Krippendorff, K. and Bock, M. A., editors (2009). The Content Analysis Reader. SAGE Publications, Thousand Oaks, CA. 481 p.
Lanubile, F. (2006). Collaboration in distributed software development. In International Summer School on Software Engineering, pages 174–193. Springer.
Majid, S., Liming, Z., Tong, S., and Raihana, S. (2012). Importance of soft skills for education and career success. International Journal for Cross-Disciplinary Subjects in Education, 2(2):1037–1042.
Miranda, G. M. and da Rosa Mangini, F. N. (2020). Trabalho em equipe interdisciplinar na contemporaneidade: limites e desafios. Sociedade em Debate, 26(3):177–193.
Parizi, R., Prestes, M., Marczak, S., and Conte, T. (2022). How has design thinking being used and integrated into software development activities? a systematic mapping. Journal of Systems and Software, 187:111217.
Peduzzi, M., Agreli, H. L. F., Silva, J. A. M. d., and Souza, H. S. d. (2020). Trabalho em equipe: uma revisita ao conceito ea seus desdobramentos no trabalho interprofissional. Trabalho, Educação e Saúde, 18(suppl 1):e0024678.
Pérez, B. and Rubio, A. L. (2020). A project-based learning approach for enhancing learning skills and motivation in software engineering. In Proceedings of the 51st ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education, SIGCSE ’20, page 309–315, New York, NY, USA. Association for Computing Machinery.
Pânis, oară, I.-O. (2015). Effective Communication: Methods of Educational Interaction. Polirom, Ias, i, Romania, 4 edition. 432 p. Originally published in Romanian as Comunicarea eficientă. Metode de interact,iune educat,ională.
Shen, T.-l., Lai, J.-c., and Tsai, M.-c. (2016). The performance and impact of applying lotus blossom technique in teaching on creative problem solving. In 2016 International Conference on Advanced Materials for Science and Engineering (ICAMSE), pages 614–617. IEEE.
Sousa, J. P. (2004). Elementos de teoria e pesquisa da comunicação e da mídia. Letras Contemporâneas, Florianópolis. 456 p.
Published
2025-06-02
How to Cite
KLEINPAUL, Enzo; PIRES, Alexandre; MACHADO, Letícia; PARIZI, Rafael.
On the use of the Lotus Blossom Technique to Foster Collaboration among Students in Software Development. In: BRAZILIAN SYMPOSIUM ON COLLABORATIVE SYSTEMS (SBSC), 20. , 2025, Manaus/AM.
Anais [...].
Porto Alegre: Sociedade Brasileira de Computação,
2025
.
p. 215-227.
ISSN 2326-2842.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.5753/sbsc.2025.6892.
