Fostering Cooperative Learning with Scrum in a Semi-Capstone Systems Analysis and Design Course

Agile methods such as Scrum that emphasize technical, communication, and teamwork skills have been practiced by IT professionals to effectively deliver software products of good quality. The same methods combined with pedagogies of engagement can potentially be used in the setting of higher education to promote effective group learning in software development classrooms. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to integrate both Scrum and cooperative learning guidelines into a systems analysis and design classroom to promote the skills of teamwork, communication, and problem-solving while learning systems analysis and design methods. This integration was implemented in a sophomore, semi-capstone design course where students were engaged in collaborative classroom activities. Two different approaches – overlapped approach and delayed approach – were used in two different semesters for this implementation. Based on the analysis of student performance in the course, student reflections on their team performance, and student overall perceptions of the teaching approach, this study suggests that the integration of cooperative learning and Scrum serves as guidance for students to effectively analyze and design software solutions, as well as to reflect on their team performance and learning process. In addition, a delayed approach for Scrum implementation appears to effectively support student learning by providing better and earlier feedback

Agile in Teaching and Learning: Conceptual Framework and Research Agenda

Agile software development methods are widespread in industry, and there is a wealth of academic research and practitioner publications currently available from this perspective. With the rise of Agile within companies worldwide, it is increasingly important for information systems education to keep up with this trend to ensure curriculum and courses are up-to-date. Students in the computing disciplines must be prepared to enter a job market where Agile is commonplace. As such, the topic of Agile in teaching and learning is critically important. The current special issue includes a rich collection of articles providing information systems educators with research-based, practical approaches for both teaching Agile (“the what”) and using Agile as a pedagogical approach (“the how”). In an effort to assist information systems educators categorize the growing amount of literature related to Agile in teaching and learning, a conceptual framework is provided which places the literature along the two axes of pedagogy (“the how”) and the content (“the what”) ranging from other, non-Agile to Agile. Finally, the authors present a call for future research integrating Agile on a meta-level in the course development process. We hope that this special issue inspires educators and researchers to consider integrating Agile into their teaching and learning

STUDI LITERATUR PENERAPAN METODE SCRUM DI SEKOLAH TINGGI MENGGUNAKAN STRATEGI COOPERATIVE LEARNING

Era revolusi industri 4.0 menjadikan dunia kerja membutuhkan sumber daya manusia yang memiliki kemampuan dalam hal pemecahan masalah dan bekerja dalam tim. Perubahan tersebut menjadikan perubahan cara pandang terhadap Pendidikan di Sekolah Tinggi. Pendidikan seharusnya mampu menyiapkan peserta didik yang dapat memenuhi beberapa keterampilan tersebut. Dalam hal ini penulis melakukan studi literatur mengenai pengimplementasian metode Scrum di sekolah tinggi formal khususnya Universitas. Tujuan penelitian ini yakni untuk mengetahui pengaruh penerapan metode Scrum di Sekolah Tinggi. Penelitian dilakukan menggunakan metode SLR (Systematic Literatur Review) dari temuan sebanyak 11 jurnal penelitian terdahulu. Dari hasil analisis yang dilakukan menyatakan bahwa pembelajaran menggunakan metode Scrum yang diintegrasikan dengan strategi cooperative learning efektif membimbing siswa untuk meningkatkan keterampilan siswa dalam memanajemen suatu proyek dan mengelola suatu kelompok kerja

Agile Teaching and Learning in Information Systems Education: An Analysis and Categorization of Literature

In this paper, we analyze and categorize research related to Agile teaching and learning in Information Systems education using an existing conceptual framework. To this end, a systematic literature review beginning with 642 papers led to the identification of 30 relevant papers written in English and published through 2018 in academic IS outlets. Our analysis reveals three ways in which Information Systems educators incorporate Agile into their courses: 1) using Agile as a pedagogical approach to teach non-Agile content, 2) using Agile as a pedagogical approach to teach Agile content, and 3) using non-Agile pedagogical approaches to teach Agile content. The majority of relevant papers were published between 2016 and 2018. We present an analysis of the three instructional approaches to serve as a resource for interested individuals and recommend directions for future studies related to Agile teaching and learning in IS education

Using Eight Agile Practices in an Online Course to Improve Student Learning and Team Project Quality

As online learning continues to increase, instructors need different teaching methods and technologies for teaching online. This study explores how Agile practices are integrated into an online IT course. We focus on incorporating eight Agile practices (team charters, daily stand-ups, Kanban boards, story cards, MoSCoW, timeboxing, showcases, and retrospectives). Students were surveyed at the end of the course and the results indicate Agile enhanced students’ learning and increased the quality of their final project

Agile Learning: Students’ Perceptions of Collaboration

Educators are encouraged to incorporate collaborative learning into their classrooms in order to promote active learning through teamwork. However, students often regard collaboration as lacking coordination and accountability among the team members, thus resulting in fewer opportunities for academic success. Nested within project-based learning, agile learning provides the framework for effective team and workflow regulation which is based on a collaborative, incremental and iterative learning process. With the help of the quasi-experimental method, both quantitative and qualitative data was collected through a series of anonymous surveys. Aimed to investigate whether the incorporation of agile learning has an effect on students’ perception of collaboration opportunities and their academic performance in college-level English for Academic Purposes (EAP) classes, the results of the study indicated that the learners did not perceive a correlation between agile learning and the aforementioned notions. The findings are discussed in relation to the learners’ preferences for learning in foreign language classrooms and their own definition of collaboration which is ultimately reduced to the individual work process

A Systematic Review of the Use of Agile Methodologies in Education to Foster Sustainability Competencies

Life-long learning and Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) in the current fast-evolving and ever-changing society requires modern pedagogical tools and methodologies that help the transmission of key competencies such as coping with uncertainty, adaptability, creativity, dialog, respect, self-confidence, emotional intelligence, responsibility and systemic thinking. The recent trend of the application of Agile methodologies for the management of projects in different fields can be a valuable tool to convey these competencies due to the participative, collaborative and constructionist principles in which they are deeply rooted. Some experiences of the application of Agile Methodologies in education—originating what is known as Agile Education—are, therefore, starting to appear in the literature. This work carries out a systematic review to analyze how this modern pedagogical tool is being used to foster key sustainable development competencies in the field of education. Results are presented for 11 out of 121 analyzed studies which present a direct link between key ESD competencies and Agile Education. It is shown that Agile Education creates a learning environment favorable for the creation of responsible and sustainable citizens while improving the performance, satisfaction and motivation of both faculty and students

An Agile Framework for Teaching with Scrum in the IT Project Management Classroom

This paper presents a framework for teaching a complete, semester-long IT project management course with traditional PMI-based content (sans software development) while featuring Scrum as the organizing logic for accomplishing coursework. This framework adapts widely-used Scrum practices from industry for use in the classroom, including how to organize student teams, homework, and activities. Organizing an existing course with Scrum is intended to maximize student learning of traditional project management content, as well as the difficult-to-teach, socially-complex, “soft” skills that lead to Scrum team success. This deep integration of Scrum into a traditional, predictive IT project management course goes well beyond single activities or units without crowding out valuable time and material. A brief overview of the agile philosophy and examples of teaching Scrum in the classroom situate this work in the teaching and learning literature. Classroom-tested Scrum rituals and example artifacts are provided to illustrate how to apply the framework. This group-based, iterative, and hands-on approach equips students to better internalize and understand the complex social interactions involved with a self-organizing team, concepts that are difficult to learn without first-hand experience. The proposed framework will help IS educators implement Scrum practices in their own courses, further addressing industry’s increasing demand for IS professionals with Scrum experience

Investigating transparency in collaborative learning and its delivery through Scrum

Collaborative learning is widespread in higher education and all evidence points to it continuing to grow in importance as a teaching and learning strategy. Collaborative learning is central to constructive education, a paradigm with historical roots in Dewey (1929), Vygotsky (1962) and Piaget (1978) that focuses on student-centred learning, with the learner as an active agent in the process of knowledge acquisition. Its potential advantages have been widely reported, yet evidence suggests that many students are still finding collaborative learning a negative, rather than a positive experience. In searching for ways to address this, the concept of transparency was uncovered as a potential means for improving collaboration, a view also backed by students, though what was meant by transparency in this context was not explained, nor were there any suggestions for how it might improve collaborative learning processes or outcomes. Initial investigations suggested that transparency was an under-researched area in the domain of collaborative learning. At the same time, an examination of successful projects in the computing industry highlighted the central role of Agile processes, and particularly Scrum, in delivering these successes. Scrum promotes transparency and continuous improvement, and this prompted the question of whether it could be adopted for collaborative learning in Higher Education, in order to provide positive outcomes in this domain. The main aim of this thesis is therefore to investigate whether the outcomes of collaborative learning in Higher Education can be improved through transparency, and to examine whether using Scrum for the management of student collaborative learning can produce high levels of transparency and therefore better outcomes for students. The study used a mixed methods approach, drawing on the strengths of both qualitative and quantitative research. Research instruments included questionnaires, peer reviews and focus group discussions. An initial study used means-end analysis to define the attributes, consequences and higher order values that students associated with transparency in the context of collaborative learning. This was then followed by an exploratory study which introduced Scrum into the second part of a student group project to compare a cohort’s experience of using both ‘conventional’ and Scrum project management. Students reported high levels of transparency and a preference for using Scrum, however the results revealed that Scrum had only been partially implemented. The final empirical study then investigated the degree to which the student centric view of transparency obtained from the initial study was supported in a collaborative project using a full implementation of Scrum. In addition, the collaborative project was based on a creative task outside Scrum’s traditional domain of software engineering, to establish whether it could be used successfully for projects of any type and perhaps become a standard for managing collaborative learning in higher education. The findings showed transparency to be a complex and multi-dimensioned concept. Although universally concerned with information disclosure, providing too much information can be counterproductive, leading to a reduction in transparency, or ‘transparency paradox’. Appropriate visibility and awareness of information was found to be important in this context. The means-end analysis study provided a student view of transparency in the form of attributes that students associated with the concept. Scrum was found to provide high levels of support for these attributes, as well as visibility and awareness through its face-to-face meetings and Product Backlogs. Students rated the transparency provided by Scrum highly, but although it contributed to better process outcomes and more satisfied students, the effect on grades was limited. Nevertheless, the overall findings of this study confirm that Scrum has potential for improving groupwork transparency, student experience and outcomes. The thesis adds to the body of knowledge on efforts to improve collaborative learning, providing a rare empirical study showing how students perceive Scrum to contribute to overall transparency, and how Scrum can be used successfully in projects outside its traditional domain. A theoretical contribution of the study is an examination of a value-oriented approach to students’ perceptions of transparency in the context of collaborative learning

Towards a digital learning ecosystem within a community of inquiry : design-based research in ICT engineering education

Yhteiskunnan lisääntyvä digitalisaatio on muuttanut oppimistapojamme ja työskentelyämme merkittävästi. Tieto- ja viestintätekniikan insinöörikoulutuksen alalla uusien digitaalisten teknologioiden ilmaantuminen ja teollisuuden vallankumous ovat synnyttäneet tarpeen kehittää uusia pedagogisia lähestymistapoja, jotka integroituvat saumattomasti alan menetelmiin ja käytäntöihin. Tämä väitöskirja keskittyy digitaalisen oppimisen ekosysteemin suunnittelukehyksen sekä sitä tukevien suunnitteluperiaatteiden luomiseen, missä verkko-oppiminen integroidaan insinöörikoulutukseen huomioiden sekä koulutuspoliittiset näkökulmat että yhteisön sidosryhmien kokemukset ja odotukset. Sidosryhmiksi tässä tutkimuksessa käsitetään opiskelijoiden lisäksi teollisuuden edustajat, sekä ohjaajina tieto- ja viestintätekniikan insinöörikoulutuksen opettajat ja yksikön tutkimus- ja kehityshanketoiminnan henkilöstö. Tutkimus sijoittuu Lapin ammattikorkeakoulun tieto- ja viestintätekniikan insinöörikoulutukseen. Tutkimuksen tavoitteena on varmistaa opiskeluun sitouttavan ja mielenkiintoa ylläpitävän ekosysteemin toteutuminen, jotta opiskelijoille tarjoutuu mahdollisuus hankkia tarvittavat tiedot ja taidot todellisten ongelmien ratkaisemiseen sekä valmistautumiseen digitalisoituvaan elinkeinoelämään ja teollisuuteen. Design-tutkimuksen tarkoituksena on syventää tietämystä alan tekniikan koulutuksen suunnittelusta sekä toteutuksen vaatimuksista ja toimintaperiaatteista. Tavoitteiden saavuttamiseksi päätutkimusongelmaa: Mitkä ovat digitaalisen oppimisen ekosysteemin suunnitteluperiaatteet ja ominaisuudet, jotka vastaavat sidosryhmien tarpeisiin ja tieto- ja viestintätekniikan insinöörikoulutuksen linjauksiin sekä ohjaaviin asiakirjoihin? lähestytään tässä tutkimuksessa kaikkiaan kolmen osatutkimuksen avulla, joista kukin on raportoitu omana artikkelinaan. Ensimmäiset kaksi osatutkimusta kattavat design-tutkimuksen ensimmäisen syklin ja kolmas osatutkimus kattaa toisen syklin. Ensimmäisessä osatutkimuksessa tutkittiin tietoja viestintätekniikan insinöörikoulutuksen sen hetkisen oppimisen ekosysteemin sidosryhmien ajatuksia ja kokemuksia. Laadullisen tutkimuksen aineisto koostui opiskelijoiden haastatteluista sekä ohjaajilta että teollisuuden ja elinkeinoelämän edustajilta kerätyistä web-kyselyn vastauksista. Tulokset analysoitiin laadullisella sisällönanalyysilla. Toisessa osatutkimuksessa pilotoitiin tiimiyhteistyöalustaa hyödyntävää projektiperustaista oppimista integroidussa opetussuunnitelmassa, käyttäen sulautettua oppimista tutkivan yhteisön (Community of Inquiry, CoI) kontekstissa. Opiskelijoiden kokemuksia arvioitiin CoI-kyselytutkimuksella ja tiimityöalustan käyttöä analysoitiin palvelimen logitietojen perusteella. Kolmas osatutkimus keskittyi opiskelijoiden oppimiskokemuksiin verkossa hyödyntäen myös CoI-instrumenttia. Sekä toisen että kolmannen osatutkimuksen CoI-kyselyn vastausten analyysimenetelmänä oli Rasch Rating Scale Model -malli. Syvemmän ymmärryksen saavuttamiseksi kolmannessa osatutkimuksessa opiskelijoilta pyydettiin myös sanallisia kokemuksia ja ajatuksia. Kunkin osatutkimuksen tulokset muodostivat perustan seuraavien vaiheiden suunnittelulle ja interventioille, tukien design-tutkimuksen etenemistä ja syventäen ymmärrystä. Tämän väitöstutkimuksen tuloksena ehdotetaan digitaalisen oppimisen ekosysteemin suunnittelukehystä tieto- ja viestintätekniikan insinöörikoulutukselle. Kehystä tukevat seuraavat suunnitteluperiaatteet: 1) tiimiyhteistyöalustan käyttöönotto, 2) kaikkien sidosryhmien aktiivinen osallistuminen yhteistyöhön, 3) ekosysteemin kulttuurin luominen, 4) sulautetun oppimisen hyödyntäminen, 5) ohjaajatiimin perustaminen, 6) online-resurssipoolin luominen, 7) projektiperustaisen oppimisen soveltaminen ja 8) toimialakohtaisten menetelmien ja konseptien hyödyntäminen. Nämä suunnitteluperiaatteet voidaan edelleen tiivistää suunnittelukehyksen ominaisuuksiksi, joita ovat: 1) koheesio, 2) yhteistyö, 3) jakaminen, 4) virtuaalisuus, 5) integrointi, 6) työkalut, 7) ongelmanratkaisu ja 8) teknologia. Tämän insinööritieteitä ja kasvatustiedettä yhdistävän tutkimuksen tulokset ovat laajentaneet insinöörikoulutuksen tietämystä ja tuottaneet teoreettisesti ja empiirisesti perustellun uuden suunnittelukehyksen ICT-insinöörikoulutuksen digitaalisen oppimisen ekosysteemin suunnittelulle. Tämä tutkimus paikkaa aukon kansainvälisessä tutkimuskentässä ja luo vankan perustan jatkokeskusteluille, tutkimushankkeille ja edistysaskeleille globaalissa digitaalisessa muutoksessa. Lisäksi se edistää korkeakoulujen ja teollisuuden välistä yhteistyötä, mahdollistaen tiedon ja asiantuntemuksen vaihdon tällä nopeasti kehittyvällä alalla.The increasing digitalisation of society has significantly transformed our learning methods and work processes. In the field of information and communication technology (ICT) engineering education, the emergence of new digital technologies and the industrial revolution have created a need to develop new pedagogical approaches that seamlessly integrate with industry methods and practices. This dissertation focuses on creating a design framework for a digital learning ecosystem and supporting design principles that integrate online learning with engineering education, taking into account both educational policy perspectives and the experiences and expectations of community stakeholders. In this research, stakeholders include students, industry representatives, instructors in ICT engineering education and personnel involved in research and development projects in the ICT unit. The research is situated in the context of ICT engineering education at Lapland University of Applied Sciences. This study aims to ensure the realisation of an engaging and meaningful digital learning ecosystem, providing students with the opportunity to acquire the necessary skills and knowledge to solve real-world problems and prepare for the digitising industry. The purpose of this design-based research (DBR) is to deepen our understanding of the design and implementation requirements and principles of ICT engineering education. To achieve the research goals of this study, which addresses the main research question, ‘What are the design principles and characteristics of a digital learning ecosystem that align with the needs of stakeholders and the policies in ICT engineering education?’, three sub-studies were conducted, each reported as a separate article. The first two sub-studies covered the first cycle of the DBR, and the third sub-study covered the second cycle. In the first sub-study, the thoughts and experiences of stakeholders within the current learning ecosystem of ICT engineering education were investigated. The qualitative research data consisted of interviews with students and web survey responses collected from instructors and industry representatives. The results were analysed using content analysis. The second sub-study piloted project-based learning supported by a team collaboration platform in an integrated curriculum, utilising blended learning in the context of a community of inquiry (CoI). The students’ experiences were assessed through a CoI survey, and the usage of the team collaboration platform was analysed based on server log data. The focus of the third sub-study was on students’ experiences in a fully online environment, which were examined using the CoI instrument. The results of the CoI instrument in the second and third sub-studies were analysed using the Rasch rating scale analysis method. To gain a deeper understanding, the students were also asked to provide verbal accounts of their experiences and thoughts in the third sub-study. The results of each sub-study served as a basis for planning subsequent phases and interventions, supporting the progress of the DBR and enhancing the understanding of the topic. As a result of this doctoral research, a design framework for a digital learning ecosystem is proposed for ICT engineering education. The framework is supported by the following design principles: 1) adoption of a team collaboration platform, 2) active participation of all stakeholders in collaboration, 3) creation of an ecosystem culture, 4) utilisation of blended learning methods, 5) establishment of an instructor team, 6) creation of an online resource pool, 7) application of project-based learning methods, and 8) utilisation of industry-specific methods and concepts. These design principles can be further condensed into the characteristics of the design framework, which establishes a connection between the framework and the emerging ideologies of the present era. The characteristics of the framework include 1) cohesion, 2) collaboration, 3) sharing, 4) virtual, 5) integration, 6) tools, 7) problem-solving, and 8) technology. The results of this research, which combines the disciplines of engineering and educational sciences, have expanded the new knowledge of engineering education and generated a theoretically and empirically justified design framework for a digital learning ecosystem in ICT engineering education. This research is significant because it fills a gap in the international research landscape and provides a solid foundation for further discussions, research projects, and advancements in the global digital transformation. In addition, it promotes collaboration between higher education institutions and industry, enabling the exchange of knowledge and expertise in this rapidly evolving field