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Prototyping with Blockchain: A Case Study for Teaching Blockchain Application Development at University

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Learning in the Age of Digital and Green Transition (ICL 2022)

Part of the book series: Lecture Notes in Networks and Systems ((LNNS,volume 633))

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Abstract

Blockchain technology is believed to have a potential for innovation comparable to the early internet. However, it is difficult to understand, learn, and use. A particular challenge for teaching software engineering of blockchain applications is identifying suitable use cases: When does a decentralized application running on smart contracts offer advantages over a classic distributed software architecture? This question extends the realms of software engineering and connects to fundamental economic aspects of ownership and incentive systems. The lack of usability of today’s blockchain applications indicates that often applications without a clear advantage are developed. At the same time, there exists little information for educators on how to teach applied blockchain application development. We argue that an interdisciplinary teaching approach can address these issues and equip the next generation of blockchain developers with the skills and entrepreneurial mindset to build valuable and usable products. To this end, we developed, conducted, and evaluated an interdisciplinary capstone-like course grounded in the design sprint method with N = 11 graduate students. Our pre-/post evaluation indicates high efficacy: Participants improved across all measured learning dimensions, particularly use-case identification and blockchain prototyping in teams. We contribute the syllabus, a detailed evaluation, and lessons learned for educators.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Center for Digital Technology and Management (CDTM), Munich, Germany

    Michael Froehlich, Jose Vega, Amelie Pahl & Sergej Lotz

  2. Ludwig Maximilian Universität, Munich, Germany

    Michael Froehlich, Amelie Pahl & Albrecht Schmidt

  3. University of the Bundeswehr Munich, Munich, Germany

    Michael Froehlich & Florian Alt

  4. Technical University of Munich, Munich, Germany

    Sergej Lotz & Isabell Welpe

Authors
  1. Michael Froehlich
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  2. Jose Vega
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  3. Amelie Pahl
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  4. Sergej Lotz
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  5. Florian Alt
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  6. Albrecht Schmidt
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  7. Isabell Welpe
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Correspondence to Michael Froehlich .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. CTI Global, Frankfurt, Germany

    Michael E. Auer

  2. Federal Ministry of Education, Science and Research, Vienna, Austria

    Wolfgang Pachatz

  3. Tallinn University of Technology, Tallinn, Estonia

    Tiia Rüütmann

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Froehlich, M. et al. (2023). Prototyping with Blockchain: A Case Study for Teaching Blockchain Application Development at University. In: Auer, M.E., Pachatz, W., Rüütmann, T. (eds) Learning in the Age of Digital and Green Transition. ICL 2022. Lecture Notes in Networks and Systems, vol 633. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-26876-2_94

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