Student experiences in developing thesis projects with software prototypes

Abstract

This paper documents the experiences of students from the Software Engineering Bachelor’s Program at the Mochis Faculty of Engineering of the Autonomous University of Sinaloa, who, in an initial stage, developed 16 thesis projects that integrate functional software prototypes. Over a 15-week period, the participants followed an academic work plan focused on scientific research, which enabled them to define a personal problem of interest—related to the application of artificial intelligence in the fields of health, sports, education, or security—justify its relevance and design a technological proposal. Throughout the process, the students received guidance from a supervising instructor and presented periodic progress reports to their thesis advisors for feedback. The experience proved enriching, strengthening technical, academic, and research competencies, as well as their graduation profile. Nevertheless, several challenges were identified that will help improve the process in subsequent stages. Thus far, the project has reached an intermediate stage; the experimental phase, data analysis, and final conclusions are still pending.