Student support during project-based learning using simulated automated formative feedback: an experimental evaluation

The simulated working environment in a project-based software engineering course

A senior-level, project-based Software Engineering course taught at the University of Central Arkansas serves as the capstone course for the Computer Science Program and introduces students to the theory, tools, and techniques used to build large-scale software systems in a project-driven setting. Foundational to the course is the use of a class-wide, semesterlong course project to emphasize the theoretical aspects of the software process and the system used for scoring student performance on the project. One project is selected for the entire class with students divided into teams of four to six students to support different functional requirement areas. A milestone-driven approach is used following a modified version of the Unified Process for project development. Student scores on the project are divided into a group score, assignable via a rubric-like grade sheet, and an individual score which is determined by the individual’s effort as assigned using the task-management tool, Issue-Tracker. Experiences gained and lessons learned in teaching the course are provided as a guide for those wishing to follow a similar approach to teaching Software Engineering in the future.

Making Explicit the Problem and Context to Address in Project-Based Software Engineering Courses

ABSTRACTIn recent years, software engineering education has rapidly changed to incorporate more realistic ways of learning. More frequently the software industry requires more skilled and qualified staff; however at the university level students are young, inexperienced, and relatively homogeneous in background and abilities. This article describes an approach that integrates a student teamwork methodology (TSPi) and project‐based learning (PBL) to improve software project managerial skills in undergraduate students. As complementary support, a computational tool, theTeamwork Platform for Software Engineering Education, has been developed to establish an interactive software engineering course with local software industry collaboration. Experimental results show that a set of software metrics was defined to demonstrate performance improvement of 45 students following our approach.© 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Comput Appl Eng Educ 22:736–749, 2014; View this article online atwileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/cae; DOI10.1002/cae.21566

We discuss an approach to project-based software engineering courses. Considerations based on experience illustrate the myth of the real-world environment to project-based course in university. Characteristics of real projects are outlined and conditions that make them applicable are stressed. The experience with a real project-based course is briefly described.

In software engineering education, large projects are widely recognized as a useful way of exposing students to the real-world difficulties of team software development. But large projects are difficult to put into practice. First, educators rarely have additional time to manage software projects. Second, classrooms have inherent limitations that threaten the realism of large projects. Third, quantitative evaluation of individuals who work in groups is notoriously difficult. As a result, many software engineering courses compromise the project experience by reducing the team sizes, project scope, and risk. In this paper, we present an approach to teaching a one-semester software engineering course in which 20 to 30 students work together to construct a moderately sized (15 KLOC) software system. The approach combines carefully coordinated lectures and homeworks, a hierarchical project management structure, modern communication technologies, and a web-based project tracking and individual assessment system. Our approach provides a more realistic project experience for the students, without incurring significant additional overhead for the instructor. We present our experiences using the approach the last 2 years for the software engineering course at The College of William and Mary. Although the approach has some weaknesses, we believe that they are strongly outweighed by the pedagogical benefits.

Project-based capstone software engineering courses are a norm in many computer science (CS) and computer science & engineering (CS&E) accredited programs. Such cap-stone design courses offer an excellent vehicle for educational outcomes assessment to support the continuous improvement process required for accreditation. A project-based software engineering capstone course near the end of a student’s program can span the majority of CS and CS&E program objectives, providing a significant means to assess at-tainment of these objectives in a single course location. One objective of this chapter is to explore the role of a project-based, software engineering course in accreditation. An addi-tional objective is to relate over twelve combined years of experience in teaching such a course, and in the process, highlight what works and what does not. We candidly examine both the successes and the failures that we have encountered over the years, and provide a roadmap for other instructors and departments seeking to institute such courses.

A much-needed book presenting the latest developments in software engineering education will be published in early 2008 by the IDEA Group, Inc. Titled Software Engineering: Effective Teaching and Learning Approaches and Practices, the book is edited by Heidi Ellis (Trinity College), Steven Demurjian (University of Connecticut), and Fernando Naveda (Rochester Institute of Technology). The book will contain contributions from approximately 20 software engineering educators from around the world and encompasses areas including student assessment and learning, innovative teaching methods, project-based software engineering, educational technology, professional practice and ethics, curriculum management and certification and licensing. To give you a taste of what is coming, tentative chapter titles include Software Engineering Apprenticeship by Immersion, Managing the Intellectual Commons Associated with Academic Software Teams, and Professional Software Engineering Credentials: An International Perspective.

The goals of computer science department and software engineering courses are not always clear as they could be, and exactly how much of a computer science curriculum should be spent on software engineering topics at the expense of topics with more immediate relevance to computer science majors is far from clear. Computer science students are sometimes skeptical about the relevance of software engineering course topics, particularly those who have had some experience in industry. They report that the techniques and procedures covered in standard software engineering texts are seldom used in industry. There is not enough communication between Industry and Academia, and graduates often must be re-trained for their new jobs. This is a proposal for a modification in the approach to software engineering education for computer science majors, and for clarification of the goals of computer science programs, and calls for procedures to increase the relevancy of computer science and software engineering courses to meet the needs of industry.

The instructors generally utilize conventional methods in teaching software engineering courses, where the students are provided theoretical knowledge based on text books or lecture notes. Usage of collaborative tools may be a solution to the problems of not practicing the depth of the components of the subject. This study proposes the usage of a collaborative tool, namely, Google Docs in a software engineering course based on predefined scenarios. The review meeting subject was selected for this purpose and students’ reactions were assessed with a survey after the completion of the experiments. The survey data were analysed using least square regression method. The results have shown that efficiency, certainty, satisfaction, advantage, complexity, learnability, and intention are indicators of the adoption of the online collaborative tool.

Recent advances in AI-powered writing tools provide powerful support for students but also raise concerns about academic misconduct, especially in large-enrollment courses where monitoring is challenging. To address these concerns, this paper presents a case study on implementing video-based assignments as an alternative to traditional written assessments in an introductory BSc-level Software Engineering course. In this approach, students recorded concise video presentations responding to specific tasks and/or questions, demonstrating both conceptual understanding of course topics and analytical skills — making it more difficult to rely solely on AI-generated text. Survey data and follow-up interviews indicate that this video-based format not only curbed AI-assisted misconduct but also fostered deeper engagement, enhanced communication skills, and reinforced perceptions of fairness in evaluation. These findings underscore the potential of video assignments as a scalable method for mitigating emerging AI-related challenges while enhancing essential soft skills in software engineering education.

Laboratory courses in software engineering are more problem solving oriented than regular courses, thus flipped learning seems to be an effective teaching approach. We present a principled flipped learning paradigm for laboratory course in software engineering to enable student-centered learning. The paradigm consists of three instruction models: the goal-assessment model, the process model, and the course evolutionary model. The goal-assessment model is used to guide and assure the success of the course, following a divide-then-conquer strategy. The process model breakdowns the learning life cycle and arranges them as a spiral process. Finally, the course evolutionary model connects the aforementioned two models together: if there is any unsatisfied subgoal, then the course process model will be renewed in the next cycle or semester. To investigate the effectiveness of the proposed paradigm, we also present our practices in a case study.

University Extension is an educational, cultural, and scientific process that establishes the exchange between academic and popular knowledge. Project-Based Learning (PjBL) consists of allowing students to confront the issues and problems of the world through a real project. PjBL has been adopted in Software Engineering (SE) teaching to motivate and engage students in studying and applying processes and methods. In this work, the university extension was integrated with the PjBL in teaching SE in a postgraduate course to bring students closer to real practices of software development, meeting a demand from the State of notorious value for society. Interviews were conducted with stakeholders, artifacts were delivered, and students received feedback from the professor and the stakeholders. Through a questionnaire, the students provided feedback about the practical activity, the learning method, and their perceptions regarding their evolution and dedication to group work. We can highlight the following findings: (i) the use of PjBL together with extension and the development of a real project was promising for the evolution of learning; (ii) greater motivation of the students, who evaluated: (iii) the learning method as satisfactory, and (iv) the practical activity and their evolution of learning as good and excellent. Our main contribution is the lessons learned that might guide future experiences that adopt PjBL in SE teaching and extension.

In teaching software engineering, it is a major challenge to integrate applied methodology and theory into the practice of software development. Today teaching a course in software engineering involves a theoretical approach with white board and doing a project at the end of the course. Teaching Software engineering as a course involves many disciplines and requires delivering lectures accompanied by lecture demos and hands on lab sessions to accompany individual constituent topics or areas that form the bricks and mortar of this course. Only when the bricks and mortar of software engineering have delivered a solid foundation, is it then the software engineering as a course will be delivered in a true and meaningful sense. This paper presents a method to teach Software Engineering using the applied approach that the author designed and successfully used.

Software development is a fast-changing area. New methods and new technologies emerge all the time. As a result, the education of software engineering is generally considered not to be keeping pace with the development of software engineering in industry. Given the limited resources in academia, it is unrealistic to purchase all the latest software tools for classroom usage. In this chapter, the authors describe how free/open-source data and free/open-source tools are used in an upper-level software engineering class at Indiana University South Bend. Depending on different learning objectives, different free/open-source tools and free/open-source data are incorporated into different team projects. The approach has been applied for two semesters, where instructor’s experiences are assembled and analyzed. The study suggests (1) incorporating both free/open-source tools and free/open-source data in a software engineering course so that students can better understand both development methods and development processes and (2) updating software engineering course regularly in order to keep up with the advance of development tools and development methods in industry.