Fall 2018 product recap: students sprint to success in IT 355
By: Andy Orr
Tags: Project Based Learning, Diversity In Tech, Agile Scrum Methodology, Community College, Student Success

Clients from Rap For Youth alongside software development students at Green River College

IT 355 Agile Development Methods is a 10-week project-based learning course with a simple premise: build a piece of working software that delivers value to a real-world client.

Students work in self-directed Agile Scrum teams and deliver product increments every two weeks to their clients. At the end the course, teams present their finished products to an audience of faculty, staff, peers, and clients.

Yesterday’s IT 355 Project Showcase at the Auburn Center campus did not disappoint. Below, find a roundup of products that emerged from a recent offering of the course taught by Tina Ostrander.

Washington Ombudsman

Student team: Conner, Christian, Aaron, Bradley, Edward

Finding a suitable nursing home for your elderly loved ones is no laughing matter. Wouldn’t it be nice if you could have an easy-to-understand interface for making hard decisions? The Washington State Long-Term Care Ombudsman advocates for residents of nursing homes, adult family homes, and assisted living facilities. Students created a heatmap to aid and assist the volunteers and employees of ombudsman, who can now filter and find the nursing homes that have the most need. The website features color-coded marker pins to represent the different nursing homes; a search box where the user can look up a nursing home by name for ease of access; and allows users to individually sort which nursing homes they would like to look at.

Multi-Service Center of Federal Way

Student team: Benjamin, James, Dmitry

Administrators at Multi-Service Center of Federal Way sought to move from a paper-based to an online employee tracking system. Students worked with Executive Assistant Kristin Logue and MSC employees to develop a mobile-friendly website: MSC Timesheets. The new check-in portal allows employees to share their status at work or on-the-go, saving receptionist overhead and making employee activities more transparent for administrators.

Rap for Youth

Student team: Chauncey, Ben, Mary, Nick, Mershelle, Michael

Rap for Youth is a non-profit helping struggling students in the Kent, WA area who have experienced significant trauma, and it needed a web and mobile-based student input form. The online form replaces a massive 10 page intake form that both students and parents must fill out to apply, giving users an easy way to get involved and access services.

Multi-Service Center of Federal Way

Student team: Diana, Janell, Geoff, Mominur

Multi Service Center is a non-profit that provides a place to live for those in need. Housing services include family shelter and transitional housing, affordable permanent housing, senior housing, and clean and sober housing for both men and women. Each program has different eligibility requirements and a different application procedure. Students created an online application form that allows displaced individuals in recovery from substance abuse to apply for housing. The app also provides a database that allows MSC administrators to appropriately view and keep track of applicant data.

Multi-Service Center of Federal Way

Student team: Caleb, Joseph, Alex, Abdalla

The business problem: automating and taking a job application process fully online. Until now, MSC has required job applicants to fill out and submit a paper-based application form. MSC staff then have to go through each application to find the right candidates. With their new tracking system, applications are online and staff can check on an applicant’s status based on position applied, location, or on a variety of other filters. This tool also helps MSC staff keep more reliable and manageable files and records.