Based on the feedback they received, students could correct any misunderstandings and make course corrections right away.
In the past, capstone projects were rarely complete, and almost never met client expectations. Students often ended the quarter stressed and frustrated. They quickly saw the benefits of Scrum. In post-class reflections one student wrote, "I will advocate the use of Agile practices in projects in the workplace because, from what we have done so far, the sprint, backlog, daily stand-up, and storyboard concepts would make a project more collaborative and also make each individual in the project accountable." Additionally, "Agile is probably the best tool I've seen to improve communication and productivity,” wrote another. “It's great for keeping the team focused and on the same page."
Additionally, I was challenged to think about what I teach and how I teach it. Several times an industry partner asked why I included a certain topic or took a certain approach. For example, the most recent partner asked why we were using Agile, when the one before asked why we weren’t. This provided me with an opportunity to reflect on and articulate my rationale for engaging in certain practices. Because of my Agile industry partner, I now incorporate a “focus on the most important things first” philosophy into all of my project-based courses, as well as a scrum cycle that involves regular feedback and reflection. Additionally, my design partner convinced me that students needed exposure to effective design principles earlier on on, and so now, we discuss the rudiments of design, as well as usability and accessibility, even in introductory courses.