Abstract

Agile software development has become a prevalent approach for capstone projects, particularly through the utilization of the Scrum framework. According to this framework, Sprint Retrospectives are imperative for teams to regularly reflect on and enhance their development process. However, empirical analysis of their content has received scant research attention.In this study, the Sprint Retrospective summaries produced during a final-year software capstone project were subjected to qualitative coding by two independent experts. The objective of this study was to ascertain which Agile practices were documented as having been adopted and to determine the variability in their adoption over time.The findings of the present study indicate that student teams predominantly reported adopting communication practices, followed by practices related to software versioning and integration, team proactivity, and acquiring technical knowledge. A thorough examination of the evolution of these practices reveals a discernible pattern. Initially, emphasis is placed on effective communication, while the final Sprint is characterized by a focus on technical mastery. © 2025 IEEE.