Autumn of Code UC: an Experience Teaching Software Engineering Contributing to Open Source Projects

This study presents the experience of Autumn of Code UC as a new modality for the semester project in the Software Engineering II course at the Universidad CatÓlica Nuestra Señora de la Asunción (Paraguay). Students participate in a real Open Source project under the mentoring of a leading professional or a company. The study follows a qualitative approach and focuses on the observations and reflections on the experience of a privileged actor in the process. The main findings are: i) Autumn of Code UC is contributing to a greater linkage with the productive sector; ii) it helps the development of skills valued in professional performance; iii) the quality of the contributions is variable but usually does not reach the use of the community; iv) the main motivations for participation are: mentoring, enriching the curriculum vitae, and learning in challenging projects. A challenge is to engage the mentors, although companies are motivated by the talents they can incorporate into their team.