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Benefits of using socially-relevant projects in computer science and engineering education

Published: 01 March 2004 Publication History

Abstract

In an attempt to bridge a local technology gap, potentially provide software to health care organizations serving the needs of handicapped clients in the Western NY area, and provide innovative and interesting projects for our capstone design classes, the Computer Science and Engineering department at the University at Buffalo (SUNY) began soliciting projects from local organizations in need. The projects have been integrated into required senior-level undergraduate courses. The practical benefits of project experience on student education, and the benefits of providing useful software to the target organizations, were anticipated, but the experiences have proven to be much more. Students have responded with intensity and philanthropy. The clients have participated in the classroom experience as both recipients and teachers. The program has rescued students at academic risk, and the school is enjoying an enhanced reputation in the community. This paper explores positive and cautionary issues regarding the effort.

References

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Cited By

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  • (2024)Looking For Motivation. How to Keep Students’ Software Projects from Ending up on the Shelf?Proceedings of the 32nd International Conference on Information Systems Development10.62036/ISD.2024.74Online publication date: 2024
  • (2023)CISing Up Service Learning: A Systematic Review of Service Learning Experiences in Computer and Information ScienceACM Transactions on Computing Education10.1145/361077623:3(1-56)Online publication date: 12-Sep-2023
  • (2022)Investigating Impacts of STARS Program Components on Persistence in Computing for Black and White College Students2022 Conference on Research in Equitable and Sustained Participation in Engineering, Computing, and Technology (RESPECT)10.1109/RESPECT55273.2022.00013(23-30)Online publication date: 23-May-2022
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  1. Benefits of using socially-relevant projects in computer science and engineering education

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    Published In

    cover image ACM SIGCSE Bulletin
    ACM SIGCSE Bulletin  Volume 36, Issue 1
    March 2004
    501 pages
    ISSN:0097-8418
    DOI:10.1145/1028174
    Issue’s Table of Contents
    • cover image ACM Conferences
      SIGCSE '04: Proceedings of the 35th SIGCSE technical symposium on Computer science education
      March 2004
      544 pages
      ISBN:1581137982
      DOI:10.1145/971300
    Permission to make digital or hard copies of all or part of this work for personal or classroom use is granted without fee provided that copies are not made or distributed for profit or commercial advantage and that copies bear this notice and the full citation on the first page. Copyrights for components of this work owned by others than ACM must be honored. Abstracting with credit is permitted. To copy otherwise, or republish, to post on servers or to redistribute to lists, requires prior specific permission and/or a fee. Request permissions from [email protected]

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    Association for Computing Machinery

    New York, NY, United States

    Publication History

    Published: 01 March 2004
    Published in SIGCSE Volume 36, Issue 1

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    Author Tags

    1. socially-relevant projects
    2. software engineering

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    Cited By

    View all
    • (2024)Looking For Motivation. How to Keep Students’ Software Projects from Ending up on the Shelf?Proceedings of the 32nd International Conference on Information Systems Development10.62036/ISD.2024.74Online publication date: 2024
    • (2023)CISing Up Service Learning: A Systematic Review of Service Learning Experiences in Computer and Information ScienceACM Transactions on Computing Education10.1145/361077623:3(1-56)Online publication date: 12-Sep-2023
    • (2022)Investigating Impacts of STARS Program Components on Persistence in Computing for Black and White College Students2022 Conference on Research in Equitable and Sustained Participation in Engineering, Computing, and Technology (RESPECT)10.1109/RESPECT55273.2022.00013(23-30)Online publication date: 23-May-2022
    • (2021)Supporting Pharmaceutical Healthcare OutreachProceedings of the 52nd ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education10.1145/3408877.3432470(376-382)Online publication date: 3-Mar-2021
    • (2021)A technological bridge to equity: how VR designed through culturally relevant principles impact students appreciation of scienceLearning, Media and Technology10.1080/17439884.2021.194842746:4(564-584)Online publication date: 2-Jul-2021
    • (2017)Perceived status and valueIndustry and Higher Education10.1177/095042221770544331:4(215-226)Online publication date: 25-Apr-2017
    • (2013)IntroductionEngineering Education for Social Justice10.1007/978-94-007-6350-0_1(3-15)Online publication date: 25-Mar-2013
    • (2011)A survey of computer science capstone course literatureComputer Science Education10.1080/08993408.2011.60611821:3(201-267)Online publication date: Sep-2011
    • (2010)A Process Approach to Manage the Security of the Communication Systems with Risk Analysis Based on Epidemiological ModelProceedings of the 2010 Fifth International Conference on Systems and Networks Communications10.1109/ICSNC.2010.32(166-171)Online publication date: 22-Aug-2010
    • (2010)Applying service learning to computer science: attracting and engaging under-represented studentsComputer Science Education10.1080/08993408.2010.49216420:3(169-180)Online publication date: Sep-2010
    • Show More Cited By

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