This week, I’ve got a couple of updates on UW-Madison’s Capstone class and one of our partners, who is returning for a second year: PBS Wisconsin. This fall’s course began last Monday and I am so excited to work with this year’s students. They seem smart, enthusiastic, and ready to take on the world.
PBS Wisconsin Article
One of the best parts about teaching UW-Madison’s Computer Science Capstone is getting to work with partners from many different industries. For the last year, one of those partners has been PBS WI, an organization that has truly enhanced my life and knowledge base over the years. Recently, PBS WI wrote a fantastic article about their experience with the Capstone program. I encourage you to check-out the article if you’d like to learn more about student Capstone experiences.
PBS Wisconsin Sponsors Cohorts in UW-Madison Computer Sciences Capstone Courses
Project Examples from PBS Wisconsin
PBS WI has run two projects over the past year and are partnering with us again this fall! The first project was a hybrid video game and accessibility project that was linked to an upcoming new television series. With the second project, students used AI to help improve PBS WI’s closed captioning system. Both projects turned out really well. I am so excited to be working with PBS Wisconsin again this year!
Capstone Self-Selection is This Week!
Speaking of the Capstone, I’m also gearing up for students to select their teams this week. We use a process called self-selection which allows students to choose their teammates and partners. It works really well and embodies the agile teaming principle of empowerment in a highly satisfying way. If you’re intrigued about how self-selection works, visit the link above, or any of my articles about self-selection. I’ve used it dozens of times to form teams at start-ups, big consulting firms, and large corporations like another one of our partners, Capital One! We use self-selection every year to form teams in my course as well. The students appreciate being able to choose what they work on and we get better team productivity and results because students are working on projects they care about.
Next Week: A Chance To Learn More About Self-Selection
I’ll be giving a talk soon on self-selection, so come back next week for more info on that!