Nurturing Hybrid Work Literacy in Upper Secondary Schools: Selecting the Best Hybrid Work Configuration for Coding Camps

This research full paper presents findings on whether different hybrid work configurations during coding camps result in equal quality prod-ucts.- Background: Hybrid work has become the new normal way of working for many professionals, including software developers - some work from home, others from their office, and others from a combination of both. Thus, educating people on hybrid work is crucial. However, there is a lack of evidence and guidance to support educators in organizing hybrid non-conventional learning experiences, such as coding camps and hackathons. Research question: How do different hybrid work configurations impact the final product teams develop during coding camps for upper secondary school students? Methodology: We organized a hybrid coding camp at our university to teach upper secondary school students (aged 15–19) Agile-based Software Engineering practices and enhance their ability to develop high-quality software. The 180 participants (75% M; 25% F) had diverse backgrounds and little or no previous software development experience. The camp lasted 20 hours and integrated components from two baseline camps (onsite and on-line). We randomly assigned the 60 teams to two groups following different hybrid work configurations and compared the mobile apps they developed. Moreover, we compared all the apps of the hybrid coding camp to those of the baseline camps. Findings: The quality of the hybrid, onsite, and online coding is similar. The products of the two hybrid work configurations have similar quality. One configuration places slightly more emphasis on the User Interface, whereas the other concentrates slightly more on programming logic. This work has direct implications for educators, who can use both configurations without affecting the overall quality of the product.