Transition from a Waterfall-Based Capstone Course to an Agile Model

We report on the successful process of transitioning a 4th-year university software engineering capstone course from a waterfall approach to an iterative, more agile model. The setting included external requirements on the structure of the course as well as ingrained expectations by stakeholders. We gradually introduced agile tools and methods into the existing syllabus while preserving the overall structure of the course. The selected practices included automated unit testing, iterations, wikis, and pair programming, among others. The success or failure of each technology, as well as the overall approach, was evaluated. We found that some, but not all, agile techniques proved effective in the given setting, and recommend that teachers in a similar situation consider a gradual

• Type: Conference
• Year: 2008
• Where: FECS
• Authors: Chris Lüer
• Keywords: 4th-year University Software, Agile Model, Education, Engineering Capstone Course, FECS 2008