Challenges & Questions

How can instructors find suitable projects easily?

• Explore various OSS and determine which set of criteria best suits classroom needs
• Filter code repositories by language, software size, number of issues, etc.
• Browse compiled lists of suggested OSS communities
  • Here is our collection of resources
• Reference courses from other institutions that implement OSS projects
• Suggested readings:
  • Selecting open source software projects to teach software engineering
  • Integrating open source software into software engineering curriculum: challenges in selecting projects
  • An approach for evaluating FOSS projects for student participation

Should instructors coordinate with OSS communities and project managers?

• If community members are willing to help, yes!
• Instructors can define expectations and project requirements with project managers to avoid overwhelming students and other contributors
• Suggested reading:
  • From the manager’s perspective: Classroom contributions to open-source projects

Should instructors dedicate time to teach software development tools in CS2?

• ACM recommends teaching basic software engineering principles in introductory CS classes
• But teaching how to use version control systems and navigate code repositories may divert focus from the core curriculum and students may be overwhelmed by those tools
• If students are not experienced in software development, projects involving direct contributions to OSS are not recommended

How should student work be graded?

• Awarding points based on whether students’ pull requests are accepted by the community may be unfair since some OSS requires a long time to review changes
• Instead, implement checkpoints to assess students’ understanding of their work, assigned OSS code base, CS2 concepts they applied, etc. in the form of write-ups or reports

Should students download and build the entire OSS?

• If their assigned software is lightweight and doesn’t require too many additional libraries to be installed, students can run/debug code on their local machines
• Otherwise, instructors can act as an intermediary between students and OSS
  • They can set up their own software build and test students’ work

Should students be expected to understand the entire OSS?

• If the code base is small and simple, students can benefit from analyzing how real-world software is implemented
• Otherwise, instructors can identify relevant components to help students grasp a general understanding of the overall architecture

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