The Power of Digital Platforms: Facilitating the Collaboration of Undergraduate Computer Science Project Teams

A required undergraduate computer science 15-week project course at North Carolina State University, Department of Computer Science, USA, has grown rapidly in 29 years from serving 3 student teams to up to 39 teams. To maintain the integrity of the award-winning program and to facilitate the collaboration of hundreds of students in an academic year, the use of digital platforms to augment the face-to-face experience has become necessary. The use of commercial tools (Slack, Zoom, Google Workspace, and Panopto) are described. Customized digital tools to facilitate a feedback loop for student team assignments and to monitor student participation are also outlined. Balancing face-to-face advising with the creative and consistent use of appropriate digital platforms is a necessity for teaching and monitoring effective student collaboration. [For the full proceedings, see ED636095.]