Evaluation of team dynamic in Norwegian projects for IT students

The need for teaching realistic software development in project courses has increased in a global scale. It has always been challenges in cooperating fast-changing software technologies, development methodologies and teamwork. Moreover, such project courses need to be designed in the connection to existing theoretical courses. We performed a large-scale research on student performance in Software Engineering projects in Norwegian universities. This paper investigates four aspects of team dynamics, which are team reflection, leadership, decision making and task assignment in order to improve student learning. Data was collected from student projects in 4 years at two universities. We found that some leader's characteristics are perceived differently for female and male leaders, including the perception of leaders as skilful workers or visionaries. Leadership is still a challenging aspect to teach, and assigned leadership is probably not the best way to learn. Students is are performing well in task review, however, needs support while performing task assignment. The result also suggests that task management to be done in more fine-grained levels. It is also important to maintain an open and active discussion to facilitate effective group decision makings

AM-OER: An Agile Method for the Development of Open Educational Resources

Open Educational Resources have emerged as important elements of education in the contemporary society, promoting life-long and personalized learning that transcends social, eco- nomic and geographical barriers. To achieve the potential of OERs and bring impact on education, it is necessary to increase their development and supply. However, one of the current challenges is how to produce quality and relevant OERs to be reused and adapted to different contexts and learning situations. In this paper we proposed an agile method for the development of OERs – AM-OER, grounded on agile practices from Software Engineering. Learning Design practices from the OULDI project (UK Open University) are also embedded into the AM-OER aiming at improving quality and facilitating reuse and adaptation of OERs. In order to validate AM-OER, an experiment was conducted by applying it in the development of an OER on software testing. The results showed preliminary evidences on the applicability, effectiveness and ef ciency of the method in the development of OERs

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

Aligning Software Engineering Teaching Strategies and Practices with Industrial Needs

Several approaches have been proposed to reduce the gap between software engineering education and the needs and practices of the software industry. Many of them aim to promote a more active learning attitude in students and provide them with more realistic experiences, thus recreating industry software development environments and collaborative development and, in some cases, with the involvement of companies mainly acting as potential customers. Since many degree courses typically offer separate subjects to teach requirements engineering, analysis and design, coding, or validation, the integration of all these phases normally necessitates experience in a project context and is usually carried out in a final year project. The approach described in this article benefits from the close involvement of a software house company which goes beyond the common involvement of a potential customer. Students are integrated into distributed teams comprising students, teachers and IT professionals. Teams follow the agile Scrum methodology and use the OutSystems low-code development platform providing students with the experience of an almost real scenario. The results show that this approach complements the knowledge and practice acquired in course subjects, develops the students’ technical and non-technical skills, such as commitment, teamwork, and communication, and initiates them in the methodologies and development strategies used in these companies. The feedback from the teachers involved, software companies and students was very positive.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Better Scrum through Essence

We live at an exciting time where software has become a dominant aspect of our everyday life. Although software provides opportunities for improving various aspects of our society, it also presents many challenges. One of them is development, deployment and sustaining of high quality software on a broad scale. While agile methods (Scrum being one of the most prominent examples) ease the process, their popularity deteriorates the clarity and simplicity they were once meant to bring into software development. This article explores the synergy of Scrum and Essence, a domain model of software engineering processes, intending to become a common ground for software development methods, bringing clarity into the composition of methods from individual practices. This short communication motivates the interplay of Scrum and Essence, being accompanied with a set of videotutorials and 21 Scrum Essential cards to further guide more effective team's way of working

Модель обучения устному профессионально ориентированному англоязычному общению с использованием деловой игры

У викладанні англійської мови професійного спрямування в університеті необхідно шукати способи підвищення внутрішньої мотивації студентів - розуміння ними важливості вивчення іноземної мови. У статті розглядається модель викладання англійської мови з використанням ділової гри, розроблена для майбутніх фахівців у галузі інформаційних технологій та інформаційної безпеки. Модель заснована на проблемному підході і міждисциплінарній інтеграції дисциплін різних циклів підготовки. Ділова гра була реалізована у викладанні англійської мови для спеціальних цілей студентам третього курсу фізико-технічного інституту, Національного технічного університету України «Київський політехнічний інститут». У статті описані етапи ділової гри і її структура. Також обгрунтовано час, відведений для ділової гри.While teaching English for specific purposes (ESP) at the university, it is important to find the ways to increase students’ intrinsic motivation, so that they understood why it is important for them to learn the foreign language and how they might use their communication skills at work. A model of teaching English using business game developed for students whose speciality is connected with information technologies (IT) and information security is analysed in the article. The model is based on task-based learning and interdisciplinary connections of different cycle disciplines: “English for specific purposes” and “Information security quality assurance technologies”, thus providing situations that might occur in students’ professional life. The business game, which includes simulation of eight business meetings adapted from Agile software development methodologies and project management framework Scrum, was implemented in teaching English for specific purposes to third year students of the institute of physics and technology, National technical university of Ukraine “Kyiv polytechnic institute”. The article outlines the stages of the business game (preparation, business game itself and feedback) and its framework. Procedure of calculating time allotted to the business game is described and justified.В преподавании английского языка для специальных целей в университете необходимо искать способы повышения внутренней мотивации студентов – понимания ими важности изучения иностранного языка. В статье рассматривается модель преподавания английского языка с использованием деловой игры, разработанная для будущих специалистов в области информационных технологий (ИТ) и информационной безопасности. Модель основана на проблемном подходе и междисциплинарной интеграции дисциплин разных циклов подготовки. Деловая игра была реализована в преподавании английского языка для специальных целей студентам третьего курса физико-технического института, Национального технического университета Украины «Киевский политехнический институт». В статье описаны этапы деловой игры и ее структура. Также обосновано время, отведенное для деловой игры

Implementing Scrum Wholesale in the Classroom

As the most widely used agile software development method, Scrum has become a mainstay in many organizations that develop software. Despite Scrum’s popularity, several studies examine Scrum implementations that include some parts of the methodology and exclude others. This paper describes how Scrum has been incorporated into the classroom wholesale and highlights important considerations when using Scrum for student software development projects. Students having little to no knowledge of Scrum were able to gain confidence in using the method in a real-world setting. The paper discusses the use of a hands-on Scrum project as a pedagogical tool for teaching the Scrum methodology and software development life cycle principles. Quantitative and qualitative data were collected to understand student experiences with a wholesale Scrum implementation in the classroom. The paper concludes with data analysis and recommendations for implementing Scrum in future projects