  Background: Scrum is the most commonly used agile software development
method, and the role of the Scrum Master (SM) in a Scrum environment is vital.
Therefore, through an industry based university course for final year
undergraduate and masters students, we aimed to give students both theoretical
and practical understanding of the role of SM via hands-on experience on
playing the role in real-world Scrum contexts. Method: We asked them (92
students) to share their experiences and learnings on the role of SM through
reflective surveys and essays. Students participated in reflective surveys (311
survey responses) over 5 weeks in the course, and they submitted essays (92
essays) at the end of the course. We used a mixed-methods approach using
Socio-Technical Grounded Theory analysis techniques and trend and regression
based statistical analysis to analyse the survey responses and the essays.
Findings: We identified the key responsibilities and duties of the SM, common
challenges faced by the SM and the team due to the role of the SM, root causes
of the challenges, strategies used by the SM and the team to overcome the
challenges, and the overall experience of the students. Based on the results,
we present recommendations for educators.
