Agile Software Development Study Away.

We describe and report on a study away course held in the spring of 2015 that brought computer science students from a Midwestern university to visit companies in the Bay Area in California as part of their study of agile software development. While it may be a sufficient goal to offer study away as an encouragement for future participation in study abroad programs, study away has benefits in and of itself. In actuality, study away can build students' self-confidence, aid them in being accepting of different ideas, and help them to understand a different area of the world. The class was offered as a 1-credit computer science course and students met weekly leading up to the trip, then once again after. The class included a one-week visit to the San Francisco area, with visits to two universities and five high-tech companies. Eight undergraduates and one post-baccalaureate participated at a cost of $1700 each. Students were required to submit a five-page paper and were separated into two teams to develop and present posters at the university's student research symposium. The course was a success due to the investment of the Chief Information Officer of the university, the Office of Education Abroad, the department of Computer Science, and academic advising. Students reported upon immediate return-then once again three months later-that their interest in computer science had increased, that they had gained an understanding of a different region of the United States and that they were more accepting of different ideas.