Using Interdisciplinary Teams in a Mobile Application Development Course

Due to the overwhelming popularity of smartphones and tablets, many computing departments are introducing mobile application development (Android, iOS, Windows Phone, etc.) courses into their curriculum. Art and Design departments are also equipping their students to design graphics for this growing market. This paper describes an experiment combining undergraduate computer science and graphic design students on interdisciplinary teams to develop Android applications. After spending the semester developing the apps, students were asked to reflect on their experiences. The responses have been analyzed and the outcomes from the experiment are being shared. It is hoped the findings in this paper will aid other instructors who are thinking about merging the talents of graphic design and computer science students to develop software.