Diversity in the Development of Computing Projects

Developing projects in computing-oriented courses is a well-known practice. However, the dynamic nature of the computing sciences poses new challenges for students and their instructors. They have a direct influence on the diversity in the project development aspects: diversity of the project types, topics, goals, participation, presentation, assessment, applications, and ethical issues introduced in the project. The concrete academic environment should be also considered when assigning projects of different types. The job market of computing professionals also plays an important role in the selection of appropriate computing projects. The theoretical and practical orientation of the related work requires the student to display imagination, originality, significant knowledge and skills and even multidisciplinary vision in most cases. Very often, the complexity of the computing projects requires the students’ close collaboration in teams. This paper considers the variety of projects developed in liberal arts environment and presents their role in obtaining a strong background for the future students’ activity after the graduation from the respective academic institution.