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Software development projects sourced from external organizations can serve as an excellent platform to help build student competencies because they often provide an environment where students can practice applying their knowledge and skills in an authentic context. However, there are many challenges and risks that can jeopardize the successful execution of such projects. In this report, we discuss some of the lessons learned about the pain points encountered by computing faculty with over a decade of experience running a software engineering studio where teams of undergraduate students work on long-term projects sourced from external partners. Our experience is based on working with a mix of project partners with a major emphasis on non-profit and community organizations and non-technical project partners. We focus on a strategy to carefully screen prospective projects to reveal possible challenges in order to avoid or minimize risks that could impact student learning outcomes.
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University of Connecticut’s Climate Corps Promotes Undergraduate Workforce Development and Climate Adaptation
The University of Connecticut’s Climate Corps (https://climate.uconn.edu/climate-corps/) is an undergraduate program in which students participate in a class on climate change impacts and adaptation, followed by an independent study (IS) working on climate adaptation projects with community partners. Since its beginning in 2017, 130 students have participated in the academic course, and 76 have continued with the IS, completing 38 projects with 28 community partners.
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- Award ID(s):
- 1915100
- PAR ID:
- 10531367
- Publisher / Repository:
- Oceanography
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- Oceanography
- Volume:
- 37
- Issue:
- 1
- ISSN:
- 1042-8275
- Page Range / eLocation ID:
- 75 to 75
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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- Free Publicly Accessible Full Text
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Accepted Manuscript1.0
- Journal Article:
- https://doi.org/10.5670/oceanog.2024.203
