Supporting communities of practice in applied computer science studies

The authors discuss the experience of a longitudinal study of the course "High-tech Entrepreneurship and New Media." The course design is based on socio-cultural theories of learning and considers the role of social capital in entrepreneurial networks. By integrating student teams into the communities of practice of local start-ups, we offer learning opportunities to students, companies, and academia. The student teams are connected to each other and to their supervisors in academia and practice through a community system. Moreover, the course is accompanied by a series of lectures and group discussions. So far, the course has been conducted three times at RWTH Aachen and the University of Siegen.