Making PBL teams more effective with Scrum

Scrum
is a project management methodology very popular in the software
industry with good results in terms of team work effectiveness. Scrum is
based on important team work values such as commitment, courage, focus,
openness and respect and can be described in three different
dimensions: Scrum team; Scrum Events; and Scrum artefacts. This paper
aims to analyse the implementation of scrum approach in a project based
learning context in higher education. The scrum approach was applied in
the fourth year of the Industrial Engineering and Management (IEM)
degree program, where teams of students developed a PBL project in an
industrial context during the first semester. The research methodology
focused on a qualitative approach. Semi-structured interviews were
carried out to the Scrum Team (scrum master, product owner and the
student team). Scrum Events were analysed through direct observation and
Scrum Artefacts (Product Backlog, Sprint Backlog and Increment) were
analysed based on a document analysis. The results of this study
contribute to understand the effectiveness of the application of Scrum
to complex PBL learning environments. The results presented in the study
provided important inputs to improve the way PBL student teams manage
themselves as well as their projects.