Scaling a framework for client-driven open source software projects: a report from three schools

Abstract

While large ongoing humanitarian open source software (HFOSS) projects are often seen as a way to engage students in capstone courses, they can be difficult to incorporate into an academic setting. One way this problem can be mitigated is by growing student-oriented open source projects within academia while still involving real world clients. One such project, called Homebase, involved a team of students working with a local Ronald McDonald House to develop volunteer scheduling software. In true open source fashion, this project has since been extended over a number of course iterations, with different clients, and has been adopted at other schools. In this paper, we report on our experiences using this approach for similar projects at three quite different schools, and discuss ways to adapt and enhance this approach for differing student populations.

References

1. H. J. C. Ellis, M. Purcell, and G. W. Hislop, "An approach for evaluating FOSS projects for student participation," Proceedings of the 43^rd ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education - SIGCSE '12, p. 415, 2012.
2. Morelli, R., T. de Lanerolle, and A. Tucker, "The HFOSS Project: Engaging Students in Service Learning through Building Software," Chapter 5 in Nejmeh, B (ed), Service Learning in the Computer and Information Sciences, Wiley and IEEE Press, 2012.
3. Tucker, A., R. Morelli, R., and C. de Silva, Software Development: An Open Source Approach, CRC Press, Boca Raton, 2011.

Index Terms

• Applied computing

  • Enterprise computing

• Social and professional topics

  • Professional topics

    • Computing education

      • Computing education programs

        • Computer science education