Scrum in the Classroom: An Implementation Guide

Over the years, Agile approaches have been proven successful in industry settings, as documented in the literature. In response to this success, education professionals have developed ways to introduce Agile practices into engineering classrooms with similar success. These practices have been most popular in project-based courses because they enhance student learning and prepare students for using Agile practices in industry after graduation. The Scrum approach is one of the most popular Agile methods in industry and classroom adoption. Modified versions of Scrum are utilized within the classroom to align with student needs, familiarity with Scrum, and the materials presented within the class. As a result of this adaptation, many different Scrum-based implementations are found in classrooms. The popularity of this approach has led to numerous publications detailing individual experiments using Scrum in the classroom, with most of these adoptions occurring in engineering classrooms. This paper presents a literature review of Scrum applied in the classroom. This work explores the advantages of using Scrum in the classroom, providing details on the type and level of university classroom used for implementation. Information on methods of implementation, appropriate class subjects, and student educational levels are provided within this paper. This guide can be used by those looking to utilize Scrum within their classroom as a stand-alone practice. The findings of this paper demonstrate that Scrum can be used in correlation with a wide variety of classroom structures and topics. This paper is intended to guide future educators who wish to implement Scrum into classes and educational programs.