Overview Curriculum Capstone Assessment Resources

Scrum Methodology

From Agile Foundations to Running Real Sprints

8-Module Interactive Tutorial — Theory + Hands-on Practice with Jira

Dr. Abedal-Kareem Al-Banna

Course Overview

This step-by-step course takes you from the roots of the agile movement to confidently running real Scrum sprints. Every module pairs solid theory with hands-on practice: you will build and estimate a genuine product backlog, plan sprints, and simulate delivery in Jira — all around one running example product, TaskFlow, a task manager web app your "team" builds across the whole course.

What You'll Learn

Agile values and principles, the complete Scrum framework — accountabilities, artifacts, events — user stories, estimation, velocity, and how to facilitate every Scrum ceremony

What You'll Build

A real Jira project with an ordered, estimated product backlog for TaskFlow, plus three fully simulated sprints — planning, daily scrums, reviews, retrospectives, and burndowns

Tools & Frameworks

Scrum Guide 2020, Jira (free tier), planning poker, burndown charts, Kanban & XP comparisons, Nexus & SAFe overviews

Who Should Take This Course?

Designed for software engineering students and anyone joining an agile team

  • Software engineering and IT students preparing for industry teamwork
  • Developers joining their first Scrum team
  • Anyone preparing for PSM I / CSM certification
  • No prior agile or project-management experience required!
  • No programming needed — the practical work is process, not code

8-Module Interactive Curriculum

Module 1

Agile Foundations

Topics:

  • Waterfall: phases and why it struggles
  • Where RUP fits — the iterative bridge
  • The Agile Manifesto: 4 values, 12 principles
  • The agile landscape: Scrum vs Kanban vs XP
  • Practical: choose a delivery approach for TaskFlow
Module 2

The Scrum Framework

Topics:

  • Empiricism: transparency, inspection, adaptation
  • The 5 Scrum values
  • The complete Scrum flow in one diagram
  • Scrum Guide 2020 guided tour
  • Practical: map TaskFlow onto the Scrum flow
Module 3

Roles & Accountabilities

Topics:

  • The Scrum Team: small, cross-functional, self-managing
  • Product Owner, Scrum Master, Developers
  • Scrum Master vs Project Manager
  • Common role anti-patterns
  • Practical: cast the TaskFlow team (role-play)
Module 4

Artifacts & Your First Jira Project

Topics:

  • Product Backlog, Sprint Backlog, Increment
  • Product Goal, Sprint Goal, Definition of Done
  • Hands-on: create your free Jira project
  • Hands-on: build the TaskFlow product backlog
  • Practical: write a Definition of Done
Module 5

The Scrum Events

Topics:

  • The Sprint, Sprint Planning, Daily Scrum
  • Sprint Review & Sprint Retrospective
  • Timeboxes, purposes, and anti-patterns
  • Retrospective formats that actually work
  • Hands-on: plan Sprint 1 in Jira
Module 6

User Stories & Estimation

Topics:

  • Epics → stories → tasks; INVEST checklist
  • Acceptance criteria (Given/When/Then)
  • Story points, Fibonacci & planning poker
  • Velocity, forecasting & burndown charts
  • Hands-on: estimate the TaskFlow backlog
Module 7

Running a Sprint

Topics:

  • Day-by-day simulation of a full 2-week sprint
  • Handling blockers and mid-sprint scope pressure
  • Reading the burndown; protecting the Sprint Goal
  • Sprint Review with stakeholder feedback
  • Retrospective and closing the sprint in Jira
Module 8

Capstone & Beyond

Topics:

  • Capstone: deliver TaskFlow Sprints 2 & 3
  • Scaling Scrum: Nexus, SAFe, LeSS
  • Scrum with Kanban (flow metrics)
  • Certifications: PSM I, CSM, PSPO, PMI-ACP
  • Scrum in job interviews — 10 common questions

The Capstone: Ship TaskFlow

The course ends the way real teams work: you plan and simulate two complete additional sprints of TaskFlow in Jira — incorporating stakeholder feedback from Sprint 1, applying your retrospective action, forecasting with your own velocity, and finishing with a release-readiness recommendation for TaskFlow v1.0.

Real Backlog Stewardship

Refine review feedback into estimated, ordered backlog items — exactly as a Product Owner would

Forecast, Then Verify

Predict Sprint 3 velocity before it starts, then compare your forecast to what actually happened

Evidence Pack

Sprint reports, burndown readings, review notes, retro outputs and a release recommendation — a portfolio-ready artifact

Assessment

Every module ends with a graded project (100 points each) combining written analysis with Jira evidence. The Module 8 capstone is the largest single deliverable. Suggested weighting if used in a university setting:

Module Projects (1–7)

60% — seven projects covering analysis, role scenarios, backlog building, event facilitation, estimation, and the Sprint 1 evidence pack

Capstone (Module 8)

30% — Sprints 2 & 3 delivered end-to-end with velocity analysis and a release recommendation

Participation

10% — planning poker sessions, role-plays, and peer review of retrospective outputs

Resources

Primary Sources

The Scrum Guide (2020) · The Agile Manifesto · Scrum.org Resources

Tooling

Jira (free tier) · Atlassian Agile Coach · Retromat (retro formats)

Certification Prep

Scrum.org Open Assessments · PSM I & PSPO I paths covered in Module 8

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Overview Curriculum Capstone Assessment Resources