2025 SIGCSE BoF

2025 SIGCSE BoF #

At the 2025 SIGCSE Technical Symposium we organized a Birds of a Feather session focusing on best practices in software projects with community partners to share ideas and continue building a community of practice. Participants discussed concerns and challenges of working with community partners, and shared wisdom and insights gained from teaching courses that involve working with such partners. Below is a summary of the discussions during the BoF.

Workload & Time Commitment, Logistics & Institutional Support #

Concerns: #

  • Service learning requires additional work for both faculty and students.

  • Balancing service projects with existing coursework can be challenging.

  • Administrative tasks (e.g., paperwork, approvals, and coordination) can be overwhelming.

  • Need for clear guidelines on integrating service learning into the curriculum.

  • Lack of institutional incentives or support structures for faculty.

  • Bureaucratic delays in approvals and funding.

  • Concerns about fairly assessing student contributions.

Best Practices & Mitigation Strategies: #

  • Having administrative support (e.g., a service-learning office) reduces faculty workload.

  • Using standardized templates for agreements and project guidelines makes adoption easier and simplifies repeat use.

  • Aligning service-learning projects with existing course objectives ensures integration without excessive additional effort.

  • Replacing traditional assignments with service-learning projects (instead of adding extra work) reduces student and faculty burden.

  • Setting realistic expectations by starting with small, manageable projects before scaling up.

Finding & Maintaining Community Partnerships #

Concerns: #

  • Ensuring a strong match between student projects and community needs.

  • Some community partners may be unreliable or inconsistent.

  • Difficulty in securing long-term partnerships that align with academic schedules.

  • Need for Memorandums of Understanding (MoUs) or other formal agreements to set expectations.

Best Practices & Mitigation Strategies: #

  • Establishing clear agreements (e.g., MoUs) helps define expectations and ensures smooth collaboration.

  • Having a dedicated liaison between the university and community partners improves communication and alignment.

Student Readiness & Engagement #

Concerns: #

  • Varying levels of student motivation—some may not take service learning seriously.

  • Ensuring students are adequately prepared for real-world interactions.

  • Potential for negative student experiences if projects are not well-structured.

Best Practices & Mitigation Strategies: #

  • Structuring projects around students’ skills and interests increases engagement and motivation.

  • Providing clear guidelines and training before engagement leads to better student performance and confidence.

  • Reflection activities (journals, structured discussions) help students connect their work to course concepts and personal growth.

Project Scope & Impact #

Concerns: #

  • Ensuring projects are meaningful and beneficial for both students and the community.

  • Fear that projects may not be sustainable beyond the semester.

  • Aligning service-learning goals with course learning objectives.

Best Practices & Mitigation Strategies: #

  • Designing projects with long-term sustainability in mind benefits both students and community partners.

  • Encouraging multi-semester or multi-cohort participation ensures continuity in service projects.