Project-Oriented Teaching Approach of Decentralised Applications for Undergraduate Students

The emergence of new technologies and software engineering methodologies in the decentralised Web, referred to as Web 3.0, often requires using new approaches to supplement conventional development concepts such as object-oriented programming and design patterns. Therefore, it is essential to understand the blockchain fundamentals and modular development of distributed systems built from multiple components. This paper proposes a project-oriented teaching approach of smart contracts-based distributed applications (dApps) integrated into existing (Web 2.0) Web applications. First, we present the main overview of the Web programming course for a bachelor study program, prior knowledge requirements, and the characteristics of the lectures. Second, we define the dApp functional requirements for student projects that intend to consolidate the dApp theoretical concepts with a practical approach to complement the Web 3.0 concepts. The study of our teaching approach is based on an experiment where we thoroughly analyse performance on the course level, projects and individual students. The results indicate a high correlation between students' performance inWeb 2.0 and Web 3.0 development, and a higher degree of iterative process is also associated with better-performing students. Moreover, the student project outcomes also provide a basis for possible future course improvements.