SCRUM Methodology

Short Description

Scrum is an agile project management methodology in projects without clear goals or in collaboration with many stakeholders. It is used primarily for software development projects (with the goal of delivering new software capability every 2-4 weeks) or in product development in tech start-up’s.

In HE context it may be used as a method supporting students in efficient groupwork on projects.

Tools

Digital collaboration environment (like Google Docs)
Web based agile project management systems, like Asana.com, Trello.com or https://quire.io/

Scenario

Scenario of use described below assumes a kind of “flipped classroom” activities, where students work on their delivarables mostly at home, while in the classroom present their results, get feedback and plan next activities.

At the very beginning we suggest to prepare the prerequisites listed below:

1. a shared spreadsheet with students contacts (because of GPRD use nicknames only);
2. a detailed project plan for all the meetings within a semester;
3. precise assessments rules (product > points > grades).

Next, on the first workshop:

1. introduce a project idea;
2. ask students to fill in their nicks into a share spreadsheet;
3. ask them to form 3-4 groups of 4-5 persons; assign them to groups in a shared spreadsheet;
4. Let them choose the project goal, assign project titles to groups.

Then (after the first workshop) asking students to do the following at home:

1. set-up their digital collaboration environments, eg.:
2. set-up a shared folder on Google Drive;
3. set-up accounts and project on a web based agile PM system, eg. Asana.com or Trello.com;
4. insert the hyperlinks to these environments into a shared spreadsheet with contacts.
5. create a first draft of a project plan within a PM system, according to SCRUM methodology (see Resources section below)

During the second workshop:

1. Review (P2P assessment) these project plans;
2. Ask students to update their project plans.

Next workshops could have the following structure:

1. go through the main steps of a SCRUM project:
   1. identify user needs, prioritize them and choose required product features to be delivered in a given project phase (so called SPRINT)
   2. deliver products prototypes
   3. evaluate them.
2. Apply Flipped Classroom methodology:
   1. Students work on their project at home;
   2. On each F2F workshop each group briefly presents:
   3. what we did?
   4. what do we plan for next weeks?
   5. are there any problems/issues we all should be aware of?

On the final workshop:

1. Ask students to present their projects.
2. Evaluate them (see Assessment section below).

Assessment

Final workshop: ask groups to present their outcomes. For each presentation:

1. Project presentation (10’)
2. P2P feedback. Ask other student:
   1. What did you like most in this presentation?
   2. What should be improved?
3. Provide Your own (teachers’) feedback:
   1. What did you like most in this presentation?
   2. What should be improved?
4. Ask the presenting group for the most appropriate final grade they expect. Consult it with other students, suggest your own grade.
5. Finally, thank all students for collaboration and ask them for feedback:
   1. what are their main takeways?
   2. what did they like most in these classes?
   3. what should be improved?

Additional Resources

The SCRUM Guide

YouTube: Intro to SCRUM in 10 minutes

Connection with other methods

Project-based learning
Development Teams
Collaborative learning
Work in teams
Problem-based learning