Hackathons as a Formal Teaching Approach in Information Systems Capstone Courses

Hackathons are 'hacking marathons' in which participants collaboratively and rapidly prototype new applications over a 24-48 h period. The potential of hackathons as a strategy for stimulating interest in the CS fields is well known. Hackathons share many similarities with capstone courses, however their application as a formal teaching approach in the CS/IS curriculum is less prevalent. This paper describes the introduction of a curricular hackathon in a 3rd-year IS capstone course at a South African university. An exploratory case study was conducted to evaluate feedback from the participants and organizers. In the process, the students completed seven new applications which they had conceptualized during the course. They also learned something about new technologies and programming interfaces as well as they exhibited growth in personal and inter-personal competencies. Seven fundamental differences between curricular and traditional hackathons are highlighted. Suggestions for integrating hackathons into undergraduate CS/IS capstone courses are provided together with possible areas for further research.