Some "non-' or "extra-functional" features, such as reliability, security, and tracing, defy

Providing students with the professional, communication, and technical skills necessary to contribute to an ongoing software project is critical, yet often difficult in higher education. Involving student teams in real-world projects developed by professional software engineers for actual users is invaluable. Free and Open Source Software (FOSS) has emerged as an important approach to creating, managing, and distributing software products. Involvement in a FOSS project provides students with experience developing within a professional environment, with a professional community, and has the additional benefit that all communication and artifacts are publicly accessible. Humanitarian Free and Open Source Software (HFOSS) projects benefit the human condition in some manner. They can range from disaster management to microfinance to election-monitoring applications. This article discusses the benefits and challenges of students participating in HFOSS projects within the context of undergraduate computing degree programs. This article reports on a 6-year study of students' self-reported attitudes and learning from participation in an HFOSS project. Results indicate that working on an HFOSS project increases interest in computing. In addition, students perceive that they are gaining experience in developing software in a distributed environment with the attendant skills of communication, distributed teamwork, and more.

Humanitarian Free and Open Source Software (HFOSS) is a category of free and open source software that improves the human condition. HFOSS projects focus on a range of societal needs including microfinance, healthcare, education, and disaster relief. Many HFOSS projects are developed by international teams whose goal is to make the world a better place. These projects are often primarily used in developing nations, but many have been adopted across the world because of the robustness of the software and the ability to contribute to its direction and applications. HFOSS projects have been successfully infused into the computing curriculum at a number of institutions in a range of ways and courses [1]. The benefits of introducing students to HFOSS projects potentially includes improved students learning, increased motivation to study computing, attracting women to computing and increased appreciation of the societal impact of computing. HFOSS projects are an excellent real-world learning environment for a number of reasons: - The altruistic nature of HFOSS makes the community welcoming of new contributors and tolerant of student participation - The ability to help others is a potential draw for women and under-represented minorities - The transparency of HFOSS projects provides artifacts that can use for instructional purposes in the classroom - Students can build a visible portfolio of their contributions to show potential employers. However, determining which project to choose, how to incorporate HFOSS into a class and deciding how to assess students' participation, can be challenging. OpenFE is an NSF-funded project whose goal is to help faculty members introduce their students to HFOSS and become contributing members in HFOSS communities. Faculty typically start with choosing a project, then learning about the chosen project, getting up to speed on the tools and communication used by the project and getting a handle on the work flow. Then faculty members have to figure out how to integrate the project into their existing curriculum and determine how to assess the student performance. The goal of the OpenFE project is to help faculty through the hurdles presented by joining an HFOSS project.

This paper describes student learning within the environment of an HFOSS project that is jointly shared between the GNOME Accessibility Team and three academic institutions. This effort differs from many project-based learning efforts in that the project is shared between the academic participants and the HFOSS community. By involving students in an HFOSS project, learning is started via apprenticeship which allows students to learn from professionals while preparing them for their professional life. Learning within the community of an ongoing FOSS project guides students in the first steps towards understanding the importance of life-long learning as well as providing an initial understanding of the ways in which such learning occurs. The results of a student survey and observations of student reflection papers are discussed.

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