GitHub Issues and user testing as authentic assessment

In his Startup Programming course at the University of Victoria, Alexey Zagalsky emphasizes user-centric product design and collaborative software development, where students work in teams to deliver projects at various milestones, from idea generation to public beta launch with user feedback. The course bridges academia and industry by involving mentors from local startups to evaluate student work, highlighting the importance of understanding user needs and integrating feedback to enhance software design. Alexey uses GitHub for collaboration, allowing students to learn from their coding mistakes through issues and feedback, fostering intrinsic motivation through agile methodologies rather than focusing solely on final products. His research suggests that collaborative software development enriches future software by incorporating diverse perspectives and social learning, and he encourages educators to adopt industry tools like GitHub, Slack, and Stack Overflow to improve student engagement and career preparedness.