Applying Scrum Project Management in ECE Curriculum

Scrum is a cyclical project management technique whereby members of a development team work together to define product development strategies in pursuit of a common objective in an adaptable and incremental manner. We have found that Scrum is a promising approach for exposing students to project management of undergraduate engineering projects. But, the technique is not used often in undergraduate education, and it is virtually unknown outside of software engineering circles. We are experimenting with using Scrum in projects across several years of undergraduate engineering education. Our goal is to gradually expose students to project management in order to make their project experiences and learning more efficient and effective. We report on successful initial implementations in freshman courses and senior capstone design courses. Obstacles include expanding practice across all four years, accommodating a diverse student population, and overcoming a lack of experience in assessing Scrum project management