Developing non-technical skills in a technical course

Among their educational objectives, Computer Science courses do not usually aim at developing skills such as the gathering of information, oral and written communication, or teamwork; nor do they seek to heighten students' awareness in terms of solidarity, the environment, justice or progress. In the subject "PC Architecture" at the Facultat d'informatica de Barcelona (Spain), the aforementioned items are indeed included in the educational objectives, but without any additional effort to the student. The teaching strategies include the following: (i) students are organized into groups, which prepare a project on a topic related to the objectives of the course, (ii) students are required to make a public presentation of their project and answer questions from their colleagues, and (iii) the lab work is done in collaboration with an NGO. It consists of repairing PCs provided by donars. Once repaired, PCs are destined for projects in solidarity with developing countries. Over the last two years, we have evaluated four courses by means of student surveys, whose results have been very positive. As instructors, we have observed a remarkable improvement in the quality of the presentations throughout the course. Furthermore, some students continue their collaboration with the NGO beyond the end of the course.