Respond to change or die: an educational scrum simulation for distributed teams

ABSTRACT
Scrum is best learned by doing, e.g. through simulation, as it is
simple to understand but di"cult to master. During the Covid19 pandemic, we could not use the traditional face-to-face Scrum
Lego simulation game, but had to utilize something workable in
an online environment. In this paper we present an online Scrum
simulation for distributed teams that was created in a multiplayer
game “Don’t Starve Together” (DST) through iterative re#ective
work and analysis. We ran the simulation with 25 Scrum teams
on four di$erent courses with participants from eight universities
located in three countries. We collected feedback from 244 participants by analysing 196 student learning diaries and 84 student
evaluation surveys, and by running a retrospective with 19 industry
participants. The participants’ feedback was highly positive. The
main reported learning outcomes were communication, estimation,
Scrum in practice, communication and collaboration with industrial
Product Owners, Scrum events, work organisation, teamwork and
prioritisation.