Introduction
The CS 467 Capstone Project at Oregon State University provides students with a chance to participate in team-based projects that simulate the software development process in the tech industry. Among all the courses in the online post-baccalaureate program, this one was the most engaging as it required students to apply the knowledge they had gained from previous courses. Below is my SWOT analysis of how the course could be improved.
Strengths
The course I took had two great strengths: the instructors and the graders’ guidance towards project goals, and the resources provided to help us prepare for our future careers.
For my project, I chose AI Coder, which involved development and research. To complete it, my team decided to create an animal adoption web application, and I was responsible for the frontend development. I chose React, but I wasn’t familiar with the new framework. In the first week, I tried to master React before implementing it, but I realized it was an impossible goal due to the timing and my lack of experience.
Thanks to my grader’s feedback, I recognized my tendency towards perfectionism, which is a weakness I often overlook. In the second week, I worked on the first feature of my app and was tempted to add extra features. However, after reading the course materials on Just-In-Time (JIT), I realized that expanding features in the early phase is unwise. This helped me understand how to balance the product’s quality with time constraints.
While hard skills are essential, I believe that fostering one’s mindset can have an even greater impact in a real-life work environment. This course was excellent in preparing me for personal development, which is crucial for long-term career success.
Weaknesses
The course has some weaknesses that need addressing. One of the main issues is the team-based approach, which doesn’t have enough communication methods in place. This can be especially challenging for online classes, as students often have to juggle work and family responsibilities. However, this can be improved by incorporating communication tools and rules that are used in the business world.
Another problem is that the course emphasizes agile methodologies, but students are not required to strictly follow them. Encouraging students to adopt these methodologies would significantly enhance the course. For example, students could be guided to include user stories in their project plans and base their implementation plans on these stories.
Lastly, the course project choices mainly focus on functioning features rather than quality aspects. Expanding the criteria to include quality aspects like UX/UI design, robustness, or accessibility could broaden students’ learning experiences and better prepare them for the tech industry.
Opportunities
The course presents numerous opportunities in terms of potential collaborations with businesses and organizations, which can provide students with more real-world projects and career insights. This approach is not limited to merely guiding students towards ideal outcomes but also focuses on developing more practical characteristics that are crucial for overcoming real-world challenges. Although such challenges require foundational technical solutions, my past career experience has taught me that soft skills are often more in demand in such circumstances. Therefore, collaborations should address the necessity of soft skills in this context so that students can develop these skills as they prepare themselves for their future careers.
Threats
One challenge facing this course is its difficulty in keeping up with the fast-paced industry. I have noticed that some of the materials on Canvas in previous courses were slightly outdated. Although these courses have been updated, it remains a challenge to maintain up-to-date materials while continuing to operate ongoing courses.
Conclusion
I discovered that this course is already doing a great job of promoting team-work-based projects in an environment that simulates the challenges present in real-world businesses. However, I believe that incorporating practical approaches such as agile methodologies and emphasizing soft skills through collaboration with real-world businesses and organizations would greatly enhance the quality of the course and keep up with the rapidly changing industry.
