Software Engineering: Effective Teaching and Learning Approaches and Practices

Foreword
“It is not enough to aim; you must hit.” - Italian Proverb
“Software engineering – the “engineering” of software – is part process, part technology, part resource
management, and, debatably, until recently, part luck – which make interesting challenges for educators
at the undergraduate or graduate level. Learning to be a software engineer – learning about software
– learning about engineering (the former, a nebulous topic, the latter an equally nebulous attitude of
professionalism) form the target that educators are aiming to hit. Unfortunately, with constant “innovations”
in methodologies, technologies, and programming languages, this is a moving target.
“The great aim of education is not knowledge but action.” Herbert Spencer (1820-1903)
Simply put, the aim of this book is to better prepare educators to better prepare students to be better
software engineers. The material in the 18 chapters of this book hits the mark by providing proven ammunition
for student learning and assessment, curriculum development, innovative teaching methods,
and project approaches that solidify classroom concepts, as well as instill an engineering mindset with
respect to responsibility, ethics, certification and licensing. It provides a synergistic experience base that
can serve the ongoing and future needs of software engineering educators.
“Nothing can add more power to your life than concentrating all your energies on a limited set of targets.”
Nido Qubein
To paraphrase Yogi Berra, “Software engineering is 90% aptitude, and the other half attitude.” In my
opinion, one of the main challenges facing software engineering educators today is finding a formula
for a curriculum that balances theory and application – that channels a student’s aptitude and enhances
their ability and capability to be a software engineer. As stated earlier, software is a nebulous topic – not
all software applications require the same engineering tradeoffs, but there are key engineering concepts
that can be distilled from the experience of others, as captured in the chapters of this book, which will
help guide educators in defining and refining software engineering curriculum.
“Aim for success, not perfection. Never give up your right to be wrong, because then you will lose your
ability to learn new things and move forward with your life.” Dr. David M. Burns
Perfection is the seductive goal of all software engineering projects - yet perfection has a price
that can stand in the way of a successful software solution. The readers of this book will clearly learn
new things that I am convinced will lead to success in the classroom that will, in turn, lead to more
successful engineering graduates, that will, in turn lead to more successful engineering projects.
In closing, there is one phrase that I first heard used jokingly when I entered the job market only
4 years after the term “Software Engineering” was coined – “Ready, Fire, Aim.” At the time, I did
not appreciate its profound applicability to the real world. Software Engineering is the real world.
Academia is not, and there lies the challenge that this book addresses. Metaphorically speaking, the
material in this book will help educators get ready for software engineering students to learn as well
as the educators themselves to teach (by providing a survey of existing learning theories and blended
learning approaches as they apply to software engineering education), it will help give educators the
ammunition they need to build their software engineering programs and capstone projects (leading
to accreditation and more “experienced” students, who can better communicate and work in teams),
and finally, it better prepares the students to successfully hit the (moving) target (by giving them an
appreciation of ethics and professionalism that they can take outside the classroom).