Embracing Experiential Learning: Hackathons as an Educational Strategy for Shaping Soft Skills in Software Engineering

In recent years, Software Engineering (SE) scholars and practitioners have emphasized the importance of integrating soft skills into SE education. However, teaching and learning soft skills are complex, as they cannot be acquired passively through raw knowledge acquisition. On the other hand, hackathons have attracted increasing attention due to their experiential, collaborative, and intensive nature, which certain tasks could be similar to real-world software development. This paper aims to discuss the idea of hackathons as an educational strategy for shaping SE students' soft skills in practice. Initially, we overview the existing literature on soft skills and hackathons in SE education. Then, we report preliminary empirical evidence from a seven-day hybrid hackathon involving 40 students. We assess how the hackathon experience promoted innovative and creative thinking, collaboration and teamwork, and knowledge application among participants through a structured questionnaire designed to evaluate students' self-awareness. Lastly, our findings and new directions are analyzed through the lens of SelfDetermination Theory (SDT), which offers a psychological lens to understand human behavior. This paper contributes to academia by advocating the potential of hackathons in SE education and proposing concrete plans for future research within SDT. For industry, our discussion has implications around developing soft skills in future SE professionals, thereby enhancing their employability and readiness in the software market.