Distributed Team Project

Course Description

IST 295A Distributed Team Project (3) This course offers a web-based distributed project that simulates an internship of a student in a company. Faculty gather information system design projects from industry or units within the university. These projects are announced on the web and students bid to join groups to work on the projects. Each project has a faculty mentor with an additional industrial mentor where appropriate. Student groups are formed by the mentors based on the resumes and skill sets of the students. Students bid on one project at a time until they have been selected to be a member of a project team. Membership in a group may include students from different campuses throughout the Penn State System. The majority of communication within the groups and with the mentors is to be via the internet. This course gives a true experience in information project development. Students will be graded as a team by the faculty mentor on the quality of the project. An individual written report detailing the work accomplished during the course is required from all team members. The grade of the individual report and the team project grade form a basis for student evaluation.The objectives of the course include: (1) teaching students the importance of teamwork, project management, and oral and written communication skills: and (2) exposing students to the virtual workplace and providing them with meaningful information and technology related tasks.