How Agile Practices Can Improve Student Research

ABSTRACT

Agile, Lean, and Scrum (collectively referred to as Agile) are frameworks that help teams collaborate more effectively and transparently on complex projects. Originally developed in business and information technology, these methods have since been adapted for use in a variety of disciplines. Agile is based on iterative and incremental development, where requirements and solutions evolve through collaboration between self-organizing, cross-functional teams (i.e. workgroups), end users, and stakeholders. By promoting open communication and allowing teams to adapt quickly, Agile can help meet timeline expectations more efficiently. This manuscript introduces the use of Agile practices for managing research projects in kinesiology disciplines involving student contributors and discusses the challenges and benefits of this approach. Using Agile frameworks in student research can enhance students’ sense of project accountability. The framework allows faculty to lead from anywhere, whether in face-to-face, hybrid, or fully online settings. Additionally, Agile improves communication between faculty and students by increasing the visibility of work, making the project more adaptable, reducing time to completion, and improving chances of project completion. The visible work and clear communication reduce assumptions between the student and mentor, while also shifting the focus from process/project-oriented (e.g. emphasis on check-list timetables) to people-oriented (e.g. emphasis on the interpersonal skill acquisition and iterative, solution-focused communication). This shift allows students to flourish in the discovery process, which also ensures that the project is completed successfully.

KEYWORDS:

• Scrum
• Lean
• project management
• graduate
• undergraduate
• creative inquiry
• science of teaching and learning (SoTL)

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).