Engaging IT students through the NASA SUITS design challenge: An experience report

Abstract

Engaging students is at times challenging, especially when course assignments revolve around tedious work that is not applicable beyond the classroom. One way to prepare students who are about to graduate is the Capstone course, which often focuses on real-life problems that require a solution. This paper is an experience report of the integration of the NASA SUITS (Spacesuit User Interface Technologies for Students) Design Challenge into an IT Capstone course. The success of this initiative prompted a revision of projects associated with several prerequisite courses, with the aim of engaging students early on into a complex project that spans over multiple technological domains.