Agile Transformation for Capstone Projects: Preparing Graduates for the Job Market

Preparing graduates for the job market is a key objective of higher education. The Information Technology (IT) department at King Saud University has adopted a strategy of program alignment with industry to ensure that program outcomes are in line with the market needs and requirements. Graduates in the field of Information Technology should be equipped with software development skills needed by industry to drive business value and deliver high quality software products and services. To this end, the IT department undertook the decision to adopt an agile transformation strategy for the final year capstone project course converting it from a waterfall software development process model to an agile approach in response to the job market need. In this paper, we present the transformation strategy, the design of the course, and discuss opportunities and challenges. Reporting our transformation experience will provide insights and guidance to those who want to undergo a similar transformation.