Keywords

1 Introduction

Including capstone or senior project courses are a common practice for most computer science and software engineering programs and is a recommendation of the Joint Task Force on Computing Curricula [1]. These courses typically involve a small team (usually 3–6 members) of students working on a large project in order to demonstrate their mastery of the different skills and knowledge that they have accrued during their college education. There is no specific format for these capstone courses and many universities have different approaches including service projects for nonprofit organizations [2], projects sponsored by software development industry clients [3, 4], and game programming [5], among several others.

Capstone courses also serve to provide students with an idea of what to expect when they begin their careers in the software development industry, and many employers consider them to be an important experience, similar to having an internship [6]. These experiences allow students to have a better understanding of how software development is commonly practiced in industry.

However, the software development industry is becoming increasingly globalized [7] and as a result many companies are developing software projects with teams in multiple locations and typically on more than a single continent [8]. This has led educators to call for courses to be taught in a way that incorporates these trends towards greater international collaboration and with globalization in mind [9].

This research focuses on achieving that outcome by providing recommendations or guidelines for educators interested in conducting international projects. To better understand how international capstone projects differ from traditional, local projects, the authors of this work have surveyed educators, software professionals, and former students who have been involved in international capstone projects. The results of this research should assist other universities or industry companies become involved in international capstone projects as well as in the formation of an international capstone exchange that would help facilitate the pairing of universities with international companies.

2 Previous Work

International software projects in an academic setting are hardly a recent phenomenon, and academic studies (in computer science or other related fields) with a focus on international collaboration have been conducted for decades. While there are many publications related to best practices or general guidelines for capstone courses [10, 11], there is relatively little research related to students participating in international software projects.

One study reports on experiences from a course where second-year students at a Canadian university participated in international software development projects and international software engineering research projects [12]. The publication provides many examples of software development or research projects that students participated in with international companies or universities as well as providing guidelines for dealing with international research sponsors.

Another publication describes international collaboration on a research project by senior-level student teams from two universities located in the United States and India [13]. The authors provide a detailed description of the process the different universities went through in order to arrange their international collaboration. A set of general guidelines (e.g., how often to conduct meetings, how instructors should interact with students, etc.) are also provided.

Instructors who led a course where students participated in a software engineering project between student teams in the United States and a non-profit organization in Turkey studied international collaboration from a student perspective [14]. They published a large number of student quotations related to their experiences and difficulties in working on an international software project as well as a list of lessons learned from the international collaboration.

The authors of this research have also published prior research related to international capstone projects including a list of best practices for universities [15], an experience paper based on international collaboration on capstone projects between a US and Australian university [16], as well as a publication detailing early efforts to establish an international capstone exchange program [17].

This research builds on the previous work by the authors by taking a more systematic approach to understanding how the different participants (i.e., educations, industry professionals, and students) have perceived working on international capstone projects. These additional perspectives on international capstone projects should provide additional support for guidelines when conducting international capstone projects as well an aid for those seeking to begin international collaboration of their own.

3 Study Design and Methodology

In order to expand on the results from previous studies as well as to identify information most relevant for educators or companies considering international capstone projects, we decided to survey the three main stakeholders (i.e., instructors, industry sponsors, and students) involved in capstone projects.

The remainder of this section provides a detailed description of the study, its participants, and the study procedure.

3.1 Research Questions

Before conducting the survey, a set of research questions were developed. These were used to help define the purpose of the research and to guide in the creation of individual survey questions.

  1. 1.

    What additional resources (human, computer, etc.) are required in order for international capstone projects to be successful?

  2. 2.

    What aspects of international capstone projects provide the most difficulty for those involved when compared to local capstone projects?

  3. 3.

    What benefits can the participants of international capstone projects expect beyond those normally found in local or traditional capstone projects.

3.2 Study Subjects

Participants in this study were educators, industry sponsors, or students who had participated in an international capstone project in conjunction with a capstone exchange program started in part by one of the authors at North Dakota State University [17].

We contacted a total of five educators, five industry sponsors, and twenty-four students who had participated in an international capstone project within the last three years. Of these, we received responses from four educators, three industry sponsors, and one student.

3.3 Study Instrument

The instrument used in this study was a short, seven-question survey related to the participants experience with an international capstone project (ICP). The individual survey questions were created using the research questions as a guideline.

Because a majority of the prospective participants were located outside of the U.S., and prior experience of one of the authors in conducting interviews with international participants, a survey was chosen instead of a structured interview in order to make participation easier for international participants and to potentially allow for a higher response rate.

Table 1 below contains a list of survey questions (edited for length) provided to instructors and industry sponsors. Due to the low student response rate, those questions have been excluded as it was felt there was insufficient data for analysis.

Table 1. Survey Questions for Instructors and Industry Sponsors
Full size table

3.4 Study Procedure

All participants were contacted via email by the study authors with a description of the research study, the necessary consent information, and a copy of the survey questions based on the category that participant fell into.

After a low number of responses from former students, an additional request was sent out specifically to students, but it did not yield any additional responses.

4 Results

Results will be broken down by participant group and question. Because there was only a single response from a former student, no detailed analysis is provided for that participant category. Although the student did enjoy the experience, many of the responses to the questions were similar to student responses in previous literature [14].

4.1 Responses from Instructors

Question 1: Student Experiences Gained from an ICP. Instructors felt that international projects provided many opportunities for students that they were less likely to gain from a traditional capstone project. Having an opportunity to learn different cultural and work practices was the most commonly provided answer. Other benefits that were described by multiple participants included having to work across several time zones and needing more rigorous project planning due to reduced interactions. One instructor also indicated that it gave students a good opportunity to improve their everyday English.

Question 2: Challenges Unique to or More Common in an ICP. Time differences were the most widely reported issue that was more particular to international projects than those conducting locally, specifically related to finding meeting times that were convenient for everyone. Another issue was managing expectations as students and industry sponsors from other countries may not be familiar with how capstone projects are conducted at that university. One instructor also noted difficulties due to the alignment of course timelines at different universities.

Question 3: Essential Tools or Resources for an ICP. Skype or some other form of communication tool (video conferencing in particular) was described as absolutely essential. Otherwise commonly used project management software (Redmine, Trello, and GitHub were all mentioned specifically) and other software development tools that are also used with any other capstone project are beneficial.

Question 4: Required Steps or Measures for a Successful Outcome. The most common response by instructors was ensuring that the international industry sponsors had a good understanding of the local practices so that expectations could be better managed. One instructor indicated that it was better to have more frequent contact with international sponsors and that more detailed planning was beneficial when working with an international company for the first time.

Question 5: How Being Paired with Another University Helped. One instructor noted that being paired with another university was critically important and helped connect them with other companies that were interested in conducting an international project. Others noted that it gave them some exposure to other models of conducting capstone projects (e.g., mixed student teams) or different processes and tools.

Question 6: Importance of University Pairing to Maintaining Opportunities. Two instructors indicated that university pairing was important because it allowed them to find replacement sponsors if an international company was unable to participate or had to drop out. Another indicated the benefits of being able to see how other universities conducted their capstone projects and to learn about other processes being used.

Question 7: Additional Comments for Improving ICPs. One instructor commented that it would be interesting to have students teams from several countries collaborate together, although it would likely be difficult to coordinate effectively. Another indicated that an earlier start in terms of project and team selection would be beneficial and one instructor indicated that having aligned semester schedules with other universities would also be helpful.

4.2 Responses from Industry Sponsors

Question 1: Projects Best or Least Suited for ICPs. Several different examples of projects that were not well suited for international student teams were described including those that aren’t well-defined initially, projects which require frequent meetings with the customer, or any project that requires a higher degree of cultural understanding in terms of how it will be used by the customer. Projects which were better suited included those where the requirements or constraints were well understood and could be easily communicated or when validation of the software system was easier.

Question 2: Challenges Unique to or More Common in ICPs. All respondents indicated that scheduling meetings due to time zone differences were the largest challenge. One industry sponsor indicated that limited contact made it more difficult to get a feeling for progress and another indicated it made understanding the group dynamic in the student team more difficult.

Question 3: Additional Resources Needed to Sponsor an ICP. Cultural awareness and an understanding of the educational system of the international university that the sponsor is working with were both described as being important for the company. One respondent indicated that it would be beneficial to have clear expectations for both the sponsor and the students.

Question 4: Benefits for Companies Sponsoring an ICP. Two industry sponsors indicated that conducting an international project was important to widening their companies branding or expanding their international presence. One respondent noted that it provided valuable experience in working with people outside of their own country. Another respondent indicated that it presented an expanded opportunity in terms of hiring new employees.

Question 5: Value of Students with ICP Experience to a Company. There was not much information provided in response to this question, perhaps due to the companies not hiring many or any students with ICP experience. However, one respondent indicated that students who had worked on an international project were likely to have better communication skills as a result of their experience

Question 6: Importance of Local University Involvement. Responses to this question were mixed. One industry sponsor indicated the local university was instrumental in providing this opportunity since they were interested in doing an international project, but were not aware of how to go about doing it. However, another industry sponsor stated that they already have a large number of capstone partnerships and internship programs in place. Another response suggested that it was helpful to have the university involved because they weren’t aware of other universities capstone programs or their quality.

Question 7: Additional Comments for Improving ICPs. None of the responses to this question contained any specific suggestions for improvement, but two did note that they felt participating in the international project was useful or and indicated an interest in doing so again in the future.

5 Discussion

This section presents a discussion of the three research questions described in Sect. 3.1 along with additional discussion in Sect. 5.4 including potential reasons for the low student participation rate.

5.1 Research Question 1: Required Resources for ICPs

Video conferencing or other communication tools were identified by participants from both the instructor and industry sponsor categories, although industry sponsors were far more likely to identify a need for understanding the university system that they will be working with as they may not be aware of all of the differences between that university and what they are accustomed to when working with local universities on capstone projects.

Communication tools like Skype and code and project management tools like GitHub are ubiquitous enough or often available at low or no cost that it is not a problem for universities to ensure that these are being used in order to ensure better outcomes for a project. It is also likely that many capstone courses have already incorporated many of these tools or software programs into the traditional projects that are being conducted. However, it would also be beneficial for instructors to compile a set of guidelines for the international companies that they will work with that better describe the culture and the students’ level of familiarity with various tools or processes. Having that information up front would help companies and universities better set and manage their expectations when working on international capstone projects.

A set of criteria for selecting projects may also be beneficial to both instructors and sponsors as industry companies did identify a number of different types of projects that were less suited for an ICP, which would be helpful for companies and universities who are participating in an international project for the first time.

5.2 Research Question 2: Challenges Faced with ICPs

Time zone differential was the most commonly identified challenge both by instructors and industry sponsors. Unfortunately this is one challenge that cannot be completely eliminated. Instructors also indicated that differences in the semester schedule between universities also made collaboration with international universities more difficult.

When pairing universities as part of an exchange it may be reasonable to attempt to do so based on time zone differences as well as the similarity of their semester schedule. This becomes easier as the number of participants in an exchange increase, but it may be useful for those universities or companies just beginning to conduct an ICP to keep in mind as it may not always be possible to find a partnership without this issue.

Because frequent or face to face communication is more difficult with ICPs, it is suggested that instructors create student teams more carefully. Members should have experience with the type of project management tools that are necessary to provide information about the project’s progress in lieu of direct communication. Although it may not always be possible to find students with experience in the exact tools used by a company, additional experience with any tools in that category may be helpful.

5.3 Research Question 3: Benefits for Participants of ICPs

All respondents (including the single student response) believed that there was some additional benefit participants of international capstone projects. The most commonly identified benefit was exposure to other cultures and practices. Multiple instructors indicated that working with another university as part of a capstone exchanged exposed them to additional tools and processes and industry sponsors felt that international collaboration was a good way to raise awareness for their brand or gain experience working outside of their own country.

One industry sponsor and multiple instructors also felt that students gained valuable experiences from an ICP as well. Improvements in communication ability were the most commonly identified benefit and the single student response indicated that being able to list an international collaborative experience on a CV was beneficial when applying for jobs.

5.4 Other Discussion

One particular aspect of the study that should be discussed is the low participation rate for former students and what could be done to ensure a better response rate in future studies. It is believed that the low response rate may be largely due to a lack of updated contact information. For most of the students contacted as a part of this study, their email address was the previous school supplied email that they may no longer be using or have not forwarded to a new email address.

For future studies it would be beneficial for the authors to spend some additional time to track down current contact information for potential participants rather than relying on potentially out of date information available through the university. One possibility is to ask students currently participating in ICPs to provide future contact information such as a personal email address so that they can be contacted in the future. Otherwise additional effort on the part of authors is required in order to track down current contact information for students who had previously participated in an ICP.

6 Conclusions and Future Work

International capstone projects are perceived as valuable by all of the different participants, however additional steps can be taken to ensure that the additional benefits do not come at such a large expense as to make them less attractive.

This research has provided some additional insights into how international capstone projects can be improved, especially from the perspective of the industry companies who sponsor the different projects as this particular point of view was not as well represented as others in the previous literature related to international collaboration for student projects.

Future work includes developing material to help universities and companies better understand each other’s culture, requirements, and expectations in order to make collaboration easier. Additional effort should be made in the future to survey former students who participated in an ICP in order to better understand the problems that they faced as well as how they overcame those challenges. With a better understanding of these issues, conducting case studies of ICPs may also be a valuable future step to better understand how to best arrange and organize these projects.