A cross-curricular approach to fostering innovation such as virtual reality development through student-led projects

As the Computer Science (CS) Curricula 2013 report states, CS programs should prepare students “for the workforce in a more holistic way than simply conveying technical facts. Indeed, soft skills (such as teamwork, verbal and written communication, time management, problem solving, and flexibility) and personal attributes (such as risk tolerance, collegiality, patience, work ethic, identification of opportunity …) play a critical role in the workplace.” It also states that CS programs must “expose students to multiple programming languages, tools, paradigms, and technologies as well as the fundamental underlying principles”. Meeting all of these curricular goals is a challenge, especially for small CS programs, where resources are limited. This paper describes a model for enabling student innovation through the use of student-led projects, across the CS curriculum, within several foundational CS courses and as part of the senior design course. To illustrate how this model incorporates emerging technologies, sample student-led Virtual Reality (VR) projects are described. Results show student-led projects promote learning and help students express creativity and innovation while developing their soft skills and personal attributes. Additionally, this approach instills a culture of creativity and innovation embraced by the CS student body, where advanced students assist newer students as they embark on their journey; and it has had a significant impact on retaining CS students.