Supporting Live Student Projects: Lessons Learned from the Small Project Support Center at Radford University

Abstract

Live projects are enabling a new generation of software engineering education by engaging students in software development projects that inject realism into the students' coursework.  The educational benefits of incorporating live projects to solve real problems for real clients are well documented, but the challenges of supporting the students, clients, and deliverables are largely unaddressed.  Radford University created the Small Project Support Center to meet these challenges and facilitate additional learning opportunities that students gain by working on live projects.  This paper presents our experiences with a 360-degree view of the center, the operational challenges, and the many benefits that the center provides.  The paper concludes with a summary of lessons learned and our plans to enhance and sustain the Small Project Support Center.