219 A Model for Teaching and Learning in Free and Open Source Software Projects: A Constructivist Approach

Free and Open Source Software (FOSS) projects offer great opportunities for students to learn and gain significant real-world experience. However, there are few teaching and learning models which can help educators guide and mentor students involvement in Open Source Software projects. This paper presents an Open Source teaching and learning model and summarizes pilot studies used to evaluate the model. Experiences and lessons learnt in the implementation of the model shows one possible way computer science educators can guide students' involvement in FOSS projects and how this approach can be integrated into a formally structured engineering curriculum.