Evolution of an International Collaborative Student Project

Laxer, C., Daniel, M., Cajander, A. and Wollowski, M.

International collaborative student projects are inherently difficult for everyone concerned � the students working on the projects, the faculty guiding the students, and the clients submitting the projects. With more and more schools recommending, or even requiring, that their students have some form of international experience in their degree programs, these projects will become more prevalent in helping to educate computing students in the 21st century. Understanding cultural differences between countries helps students have a better appreciation for the global aspects of computing and the issues faced in making software work in an environment they are not used to. This paper discusses the evolution over four years of collaborative projects between computing students at two schools, one in Sweden and one in the United States. The projects are based in courses at both schools that deal with computing in society. We discuss what the faculty teaching the courses and guiding the projects have learned and how they have improved the experience, what the students learn through these projects, and how the clients interact with the students and faculty. Suggestions for further development of these projects are also made.

Cite as: Laxer, C., Daniel, M., Cajander, A. and Wollowski, M. (2009). Evolution of an International Collaborative Student Project. In Proc. Eleventh Australasian Computing Education Conference (ACE 2009), Wellington, New Zealand. CRPIT, 95. Hamilton, M. and Clear, T., Eds. ACS. 111-118.

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