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The work describes a model for graduate-undergraduate mentorship that enhances the learning of both groups, while also enabling more opportunities for students to get real-world experience in a way that benefits the university's greater community. 

Successfully implementing service learning presents many challenges. This is particularly true when working with community partners which are frequently small, understaffed non-profits, lacking in technical expertise. Participating faculty not only manage the student end of the partnership, but often need to manage/educate the community partner as well. Despite its challenges, community-based service learning is worthwhile for the profound impact it has for students. Many computing graduates only see the utilitarian aspect of computing as a tool to solve technical problems. By presenting and teaching CS as a discipline possessing key insights towards making headway on pressing social, environmental, and economic problems, students can be exposed to the impact of computing solutions on the betterment of their communities and improving the human condition. One step toward accomplishing this is by utilizing community-based service learning projects for non-profits and community organizations. In particular, since the community-based service learning partners are local, the impact of students' efforts is not abstract, but can be directly seen. It is hoped this may lead to a culture shift regarding CS, potentially also broadening participation. Clearly forming a community of practice for those undertaking or hoping to undertake service learning is an important step towards both greater adoption and approach success rates. It is hoped that this BoF can aid both current practitioners as well as provide a helping hand to potential new adopters. Our goal is to provide an opportunity to share best practices as well as the hard-learned lessons from previous attempts. 

In this panel, the presenters will discuss their collective experience of teaching software engineering courses and/or running software engineering projects that help students learn about and experience the impact of computing on society and the social good. While the benefits of practical experience in software engineering are generally indisputable, the logistics and management of such projects are often discouraging for faculty, leading many to exclude live clients from software engineering courses. The presenters will demystify and discuss the realities of running client-oriented classes and projects in the contexts of our institutions, which vary greatly in size and student demographics and represent both public and private colleges. In particular, we will discuss various approaches used to identify, design, create, and evaluate software engineering projects for societal and social impact. Project duration ranges from one semester to two or more, and participation in team projects is modeled as pre-professional training, complete with software tools, interpersonal dynamics, and evaluation methods. 

Recent publications strongly support refocusing undergraduate CS education toward competency-based learning. This shift places increased responsibility on departments to prepare responsible computing practitioners who appreciate how computing is inextricably intertwined with society. It emphasizes that content coverage is less important than authentic experiences that develop both ethical decision-making and industry-desired technical skills. One timetested successful strategy that helps meet these goals is communitybased service learning (CBSL). However, while CBSL has a strong track record, service learning can be challenging to implement and may not always guarantee successful student experiences. A key factor associated with CBSL's success or failure is the management of the community partner relationship. This includes initial project vetting, setting partner expectations, the role of the partner as a participant in the students' education, and final project hand-off. We introduce Scaffolded Projects for the Social Good (SPSG), a framework based on the software studio model that guides CBSL adopters through all stages of a CBSL experience. The SPSG framework pays particular attention to what are considered the most vexing aspects of CBSL: project scoping and skill matching, managing project timelines that extend beyond a single term, community partner engagement and relationship management, and project handoff and maintenance. Preliminary results from the adoption of the SPSG framework demonstrate that students were able to iteratively improve their competencies throughout the semester as a result of the regular formative feedback enabled by the SPSG framework. 

This innovative practice work in progress paper presents a systematic approach for screening and aligning service-learning projects that maximize student learning outcomes. We introduce a feasibility assessment model with criteria evaluated through a standardized rubric that guides instructors to critically assess the project fit to help in proactively identifying risks to student outcomes. The rubric serves a dual purpose: guiding the assessment process and prompting discussions with potential project partners. These discussions elicit crucial details about the project scope, potential challenges, and other critical factors. This not only facilitates effective project selection but also allows for necessary adjustments to project parameters, significantly improving the chances of successful student completion. This work builds on the experience accumulated by CCSU's Software Engineering Studio which connects community project partners with teams of 4–5 seniors working on software development projects spanning one or several semesters. Since 2014, the Software Engineering Studio has facilitated over 65 distinct projects and engaged over 550 students. By capturing the lessons learned across a wide range of successful service-learning projects, we show the value of using a feasibility assessment model to evaluate potential projects based on criteria including alignment with course goals, student skill sets, workload manage-ability, educational engagement, and other considerations. The application of this model is illustrated with a case study, which demonstrates how this model helps instructors align projects with academic goals while considering scope, risks, and other critical elements. This example demonstrates how the model facilitates communication with project partners, identifies potential risks, and guides project adjustments to ensure a successful learning experience for students. The approach is transferable to other disciplines with adaptations for project types and student skills. This work contributes to the field of service learning by offering a practical framework for integrating valuable real-world projects into the curriculum while prioritizing student learning outcomes. 

This innovative practice work in progress paper describes an interdisciplinary course, “Industry 4.0 Robotics,” aimed at fostering deep learning and innovation in students across Manufacturing, Robotics, Computer Science, Software Engineering, Networking, Cybersecurity, and Technology Management. The course, jointly taught by faculty from different domains, emphasizes interdisciplinary connections in Industry 4.0 (IN4.0) Robotics through a combination of lectures, real-world insights from industry guest speakers, and hands-on interdisciplinary project-based learning. The contribution of this work lies in its innovative approach that combines proven best practices in education, inspiring deep learning, and an appreciation of interdisciplinary teamwork. The course design builds upon education research on the benefits of leveraging student creativity and requirements engineering practices as learning tools that allow students to develop a deeper understanding. While the benefits of these practices, commonly cited for developing enhanced problem-solving and cognitive flexibility skills, are becoming well understood in many individual disciplines, far less has been published on best practices for achieving this in interdisciplinary thinking. This course design explores this through using hybrid experiential problem based learning and project based learning for students to develop an understanding of interdisciplinary challenges and opportunities. While the benefits of individual educational practices have been studied within specific disciplines, this work extends the understanding of these practices when applied to interdisciplinary challenges, such as those encountered in Industry 4.0 robotics. The course design aims to bridge the gap between the technical aspects of individual disciplines and the social dimensions inherent in interdisciplinary work. This work in progress seeks to share early results showcasing the benefits of interdisciplinary teamwork and problem-solving. By articulating observations of commonalities and differences with prior work within individual disciplines, the paper aims to highlight the unique advantages of this interdisciplinary learning experience, offering insights into the potential impact on student learning. The chosen approach stems from the anticipation of future challenges increasingly necessitating interdisciplinary solutions. The goal of this work is to understand how best practices from individual disciplines can be effectively incorporated into interdisciplinary courses, maximizing student learning, and uncovering unique learning outcomes resulting from this innovative approach. The course design intentionally bridges the gap between the technical aspects of individual disciplines and the social dimensions inherent in interdisciplinary work, to encourage effective communication and collaboration within mixed student teams. While this remains a work in progress, initial observations reveal a heightened interdisciplinary curiosity among students, driving deep learning as they explore the interconnectedness of their own discipline with others within their teams. This curiosity propels self-led exploration and understanding of how their expertise intersects with diverse knowledge areas, creating opportunities for innovative solutions at these disciplinary intersections. This work contributes to the broader landscape of engineering and computing education by offering insights into the practical application of interdisciplinary learning in preparing students for the complex challenges of Industry 4.0. 

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. 

Community-engaged learning is an emerging term for a wide spectrum of learning activities that bring together students and community partners in a mutually beneficial way. Service learning is a subcategory of community-engaged learning which traditionally involves the students using their skills or expertise on a project that will directly benefit the community partner. In computer science, service learning projects often include a deliverable, such as designing and building an application. Community-based service learning is service learning with a community partner, usually a non-profit, whose mission is to improve the social, environmental, or economic situation for community members. Undertaking service learning in general and community-based service learning in particular presents significant challenges. Some of these include the identification of an appropriate non-profit community partner and project, project skill alignment, managing partner expectations (failure is an option), and the reconciliation of the variable length of meaningful service-learning projects with the fixed length of a single term. However, given how these unique learning opportunities are known to be highly beneficial to students, educators continue to pursue them in spite of their inherent difficulties. This BoF seeks to gather together seasoned hands, novices, plus those interested in trying out community-based service learning to - Build a community of practice? among those who undertake community-based service learning, - share best practices, - present innovations, and - illuminate pitfalls and other practices to be avoided. 

Scaffolded Projects for the Social Good (SPSG) is an adaptable service-learning framework with a low adoption threshold based on the studio model. Its goal is to enable instructors to easily embed externally sourced projects supporting Computing for the Social Good (CSG) concepts into existing software engineering or similar courses and addresses the barriers common to service learning, as well as other frameworks with similar CSG-related objectives. Establishing connections between computing and its societal benefits has proven to be an effective strategy for attracting students, especially those from underrepresented groups within the discipline. Furthermore, this work supports competency-based learning by offering students an opportunity to solve real-world problems in an authentic environment using current industrial practices and tools coupled with strong mentoring support from volunteer professionals and near-peers. Using a studio model helps overcome the timing impedance between the length of a single academic term and the timeframes required to complete real-world projects with student teams.