Students sprint to success in IT 355: Fall 2019 edition
By: Andy Orr
Tags: Diversity In Tech, Agile Scrum Methodology, Community College, Student Success, Applied Baccalaureate

Software development instructors at Green River College put an Agile spin on project-based learning by teaching Scrum, a set of principles and practices that help teams deliver products in short cycles, enabling fast feedback, continual improvement, and rapid adaptation to change.

Like lightning in a bottle, IT 355 Agile Development Methods is one course within our bachelor’s program that captures this distinct focus on Agile Scrum project-based learning. During this 12-week learning experience, students work in self-directed teams to build working software for a real-world client.

This week’s IT 355 project showcase at Green River’s Auburn Center campus did not disappoint. Below, find a roundup of products that emerged from our fall 2019 offering of the course, taught by Tina Ostrander.

Boxers with Parkinson’s

Student team: Cody, David, Kaephas, Vera

From the team: “Rock Steady Boxing, a 501 ©(3) nonprofit organization, gives people with Parkinson’s disease hope by improving their quality of life through a non-contact boxing-based fitness curriculum. At Rock Steady Boxing, 43,000 fighters are fighting back against Parkinson’s. We inherited the Boxers with Parkinson’s app from a previous student team to implement the final features and bug fixes to prepare it for version 1.0. The Boxers with Parkinson’s app stores all boxer data and assessment results digitally, replacing the need for cumbersome, paper files by giving coaches the ability to easily sign up and assess new boxers of all physical capabilities. For the first time ever, there’s measurable, tangible data about the impact of aerobic and neurobic exercise on Parkinson’s Symptoms!”

Valley Kidz

Student team: Bruce, Alicia, Zachary, Michael

From the team: “Completing therapy at Valley Kidz helps people identify the unhealthy behavior patterns in their life that lead to emotions they do not want to feel and identifies actions they are wanting to improve. With our tool users can ditch the cumbersome paper forms associated with their therapy and complete their daily diary entries in a simple to use digital format wherever they are! Our tool also simplifies the clinicians ability to track and facilitate clients daily therapy progress. Our goal is to help people live a happier healthy life.”

UNAMI

Student team: Jason, Max, Alvin, Trang

From the team: “Imagine if everyone was able to freely talk about their mental illness without a stigma attached. At UNAMI we are converting the NAMI WA paper training application process to an online application portal, making it possible for over 500 volunteers a year to easily apply to become training facilitators, thus, helping them eliminate the stigma around mental illness. NAMI WA wanted to streamline their training facilitator application process by moving it from an in-person, paper application to fully online. We were tasked with developing an online application portal as well as providing an admin dashboard to visualize and interact with applicant data.”

One Stop WA

Student team: Samantha, Jittima, Robert, Sang

From the team: “There is no road map for adoption; families that start this endeavor have no one to lean on for help. One Stop WA is a light in the dark for these families. Imagine one place where adoptive families can go for help. Out of 2.2 million households in Washington, approximately 1,350+ are adoptive families. One Stop WA is a comprehensive database that is easily searchable. The end goal of One Stop WA is to have every resource an adoptive family may need for their child, or for themselves. Resources can be recommended by families with experience so that One Stop WA continues to grow.”

A+

Student team: Carmen, Sukhveer, Wu, Evan

From the team: “Have you ever wondered why are schools still using outdated communication methods? Why do they fail to take advantage of easy, accessible technologies? Still using that old boring paper! A+ offers the opportunity to create interactive communications between parents and schools. Where a parent can receive real time information, sign and submit forms from the convenience of their Android phone. We use innovative technology such as electronic signature in a data driven application. View a demo here.”

Minidoka Magic

Student team: Andrew, Kat, Ryan, Zane

From the team: “Our client is the Board of Minidoka Pilgrimage, a non-profit organization that hosts pilgrimages to the historical Japanese internment camp in Twin Falls, Idaho. The business problem: a lack of central access to participant data for pilgrimage events. Managing 355 guests for a tour group can be quite tasking. Together, with the Board of Minidoka Pilgrimage, we have created a secure administrative web application to do just that. Our application helps them manage their vital event data instantly.”