WIP: Easing the Transition to Project-Based Software Engineering Courses with Externally Sourced Projects
Abstract
This work-in-progress research-to-practice paper describes the process of adopting a framework for employing community-engaged service learning in project-based software engineering courses at a small private liberal arts school. Working on semester-long authentic projects for external clients is a valuable learning experience for students, but running a projectbased course comes with numerous challenges for instructors. In this paper, we discuss the initial struggles involved in our efforts to develop a new project-based course and the iterative improvements made to our approach over four semesters. The adoption of a course framework that was initially developed at another institution greatly accelerated improvements to the course and has led to a collaboration to refine the framework to make it suitable for different institutional contexts. Our framework provides guidance in vetting projects, course structure, student deliverables, and project handoff.
