Industrial Scrum Master Training (Spring 2021)

Abstract

The goal of this course is to learn to apply agile in practice, especially the Scrum method.

Description

The goal of this course is to learn to apply agile in practice, especially the Scrum method, mainly through practical work as a software development team Scrum Master collaborating both with the team and with an industrial customer.

Formal prerequisites

• You have read an introductory course in software development / software engineering and - maybe as part of it - participated in a small team programming project of at least six team members.
• You are able to apply some programming language to construct fully functional software programs
• You know the basics of software engineering, e.g., different software process models and related activities
• You know the basics of agile methods, especially Scrum.

Intended learning outcomes

After the course, the student should be able to:

• Plan, structure, organize and execute a software development project as a team Scrum Master in collaboration with your team and an industrial customer
• Apply the Scrum method in practice as a Scrum Master and reflect over its usage
• Identify practice problems, analyze the problems, compare and discuss different solutions based on practical situations faced in the project, as well as execute the chosen solutions. In addition, discuss the pros and cons of the practices and solutions and relate them to the relevant literature.
• Plan, organize and conduct work as a team Scrum Master of a software engineering team and solve teamwork related issues
• Plan, organize and conduct collaboration with an industrial customer as a team Scrum Master
• Analyze, discuss and relate current research in software engineering to practical problems at hand.

Learning activities

In this course the main emphasis is on the practical work as a Scrum Master for a bachelor level Scrum team (of 7-8 members) that is building working software according to the requirements of an industrial customer using the Scrum method. You will learn to apply the Scrum method, one of the agile methods, in practice by performing several short iterations together with your team. The basic elements of Scrum are: face-to-face work in small teams and in close collaboration with the customer, work prioritized in the backlog, short 1-4 week iterations, sprint planning meetings, sprint reviews, sprint retrospectives and daily Scrum meetings. The course will start by introductory lectures and team forming, followed by intensive Scrum Master training workshops. After the workshops you will start guiding and coaching your own Scrum team as a Scrum Master. You will be assigned a professional industrial Scrum Coach to support and mentor you in your new role during the whole 3 month project. As a Scrum Master, you will be actively cooperating with your team, as well as with your industrial customer. Besides guiding your team regarding Scrum, you will be actively supporting your team in their daily activities, e.g., during different meetings, while choosing technologies for the project, and while analyzing and solving software engineering related problems. Especially, you will be supporting your team while organizing teamwork in practice, while analyzing faced teamwork related problems and when implementing jointly decided solutions. During the project you will participate in project reviews with your team. In addition, there will be experience exchanges sessions both between the Scrum Masters (in the form of a Scrum Master Community of Practice), as well as between other teams. These sessions will help you to share experiences with your colleagues, deepen your learning on specific topics and receive peer guidance when facing challenges. 

Mandatory activities

There are 4 mandatory activities: 

1. Passing a Scrum Master test. 
2. Active participation in one 4-hour Scrum simulation with your own team: to practice Scrum before the projects start and writing a learning diary about the experience.
3.  Active participation in Review 1 meeting with your own team and delivering the required materials for the review: an individual learning diary and a team delivery.
4. Active participation in Review 2 meeting with your own team and delivering the required materials for the review: an individual learning diary and a team delivery.

The student will receive the grade NA (not approved) at the ordinary exam, if the mandatory activities are not approved and the student will use an exam attempt.

Course literature

Material consists of articles.

Student Activity Budget

Estimated distribution of learning activities for the typical student

• Preparation for lectures and exercises: 4%
• Lectures: 1%
• Exercises: 8%
• Assignments: 3%
• Project work, supervision included: 80%
• Exam with preparation: 4%

Ordinary exam

Exam type:
D: Submission of written work with following oral, Internal (7-point scale)
Exam variation:
D22: Submission with following oral exam supplemented by the submission.

Time and date