Scrum across the CS/SE curricula: a retrospective

  • Authors:

  • Charles Wallace;Sriram Mohan;Douglas Troy;Mark E. Hoffman

  • Affiliations:

  • Michigan Technological University, Houghton, MI, USA;Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology, Terre Haute, IN, USA;Miami University, Oxford, OH, USA;Quinnipiac University, Hamden, CT, USA

  • Venue:
  • Proceedings of the 43rd ACM technical symposium on Computer Science Education
  • Year:
  • 2012

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Abstract

Scrum is one of the many agile approaches to software development that have been widely adopted over the past decade. Agile processes allow developers to embrace under-defined problems in complex environments where change in requirements is inevitable. The key agile features of Scrum are a flexible, adaptive schedule; democratic, collaborative teams; and frequent, iterative project and process reviews [2]. While students may engage with Scrum in the context of software development, the characteristics that suit many software problems to an agile approach also describe the student learning environment: complexity (new and unfamiliar concepts), under-defined problem space (students don't know what they don't know), short timeframe with frequent meetings (terms and class meetings), and inevitable change (apply new knowledge). This makes Scrum not only a software development strategy but a general learning strategy. Scrum facilitates frequent and iterative practice with timely feedback, development of mastery, and self-direction [1]. In this panel, the participants will describe how their students learn and practice Scrum in a software development context, how they use it to manage student projects outside the software development context, and how Scrum provides opportunities to integrate communication skills into the Computer Science (CS) and Software Engineering (SE) curricula. As participants in the NSF-funded CPATH II project (NSF Grants 0939122 and 0939081) "Incorporating Communication Skills Throughout Computer Science and Software Engineering Curricula," each panelist has developed Scrum-based assignments that exercise the skills of reading, writing, speaking, and teaming. The participants will discuss the design of these assignments and their experiences with them to date.