A week ago, the third session of our course „Agile Development of Application Systems“ successfully concluded at Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg and the University of Leipzig. Our trusted teaching duo, Dr. Danny Hucke and Marcus Nerger, once again guided the students through the world of agile software development.
The module began on April 10 with four remote lectures in which students were introduced to the theoretical foundations of agile software development and Scrum. However, to ensure that the sessions weren’t limited to theory but also offered valuable insights into everyday work, we utilized interactive tools, feedback loops, and first-hand accounts from our Xperts.
The theoretical knowledge they had acquired beforehand prepared the students perfectly for the highlight of the module: a six-week hands-on project featuring Scrum events at our offices.
Here, the participants worked in two groups on further developing „lairn,“ a tool created in previous years—an AI-powered quiz generator for exam preparation. In the process, they took on various Scrum roles and experienced firsthand how agile processes work in practice.
Barbara (Business Informatics student, MLU):
„The fact that we were intentionally given time to plan during the module helped immensely. This structure wasn’t just a given—it was clearly intentional—and you can see from the results that it absolutely paid off. I especially liked that we learned how to work properly according to Scrum and that we were then able to put it into practice right away.“
Through regular sprints and Scrum events, not only did a shared work rhythm develop, but also a strong sense of team cohesion within both groups. Our goal was to show the students what it means to actually work in an agile way. Our Xperts were there to provide support at all times and were always available to answer questions and address concerns.
Lukas (Business Informatics student, University of Leipzig):
„It was a real challenge to stay in my own role throughout the entire process and not switch between responsibilities. It certainly took a lot of time, but compared to many other university courses, I learned a lot more here.“
There was a consensus in the concluding feedback. Agile work delivers real added value and is a way of working with a bright future.
We are very pleased with the successful collaboration with both universities and their dedicated students. We would also like to thank Prof. Dr. Stefan Sackmann (MLU) and Prof. Dr. Rainer Alt (University of Leipzig), who oversee the module on behalf of the universities and whose support makes its implementation possible. Both were also present at the final presentations and enriched them with targeted questions and expert discussion. Our team of instructors successfully took on and mastered the challenge of supervising two project groups for the first time this year. The positive experiences and constructive feedback encourage us to continue offering this module and to keep developing it further.
