Designing and Assessing Authentic Software Development Projects in Undergraduate Computing Education

Abstract

Team software development projects are a crucial component of undergraduate computing education. Studies of software developers in industry underscore the need for undergraduates to acquire authentic software development experiences in which they contribute to legacy code bases within collaborative software development contexts. Despite their clear educational value, team software development projects are notoriously challenging to implement and assess. Drawing on experience and relevant research results, this Research in Practice Project Activity (RIPPA) brings together computing educators and researchers to discuss, research, and innovate approaches to designing and assessing authentic software development projects. Participants are invited to run empirical studies in their own courses in which they (a) collect subjective and objective measures of team and individual progress in software projects, and (b) explore alternative pedagogical and assessment approaches, including those supported by the use of custom learning management and data analytics tools. By the end of the RIPPA, we aim to publish one or more research papers that advance the state-of-the-art in team software project pedagogy, supporting technology, and assessment based on the results of multi-institutional research studies.