A Tri-Level Industry-Focused Learning Approach for Software Engineering Management

Abstract

Most engineering classes in higher education rely heavily on the traditional lecture format, despite the fact that a number of investigations have shown that lectures, even when given by good lecturers, have limited success in helping students make sense of the engineering practices they are learning. Recently, the Software Engineering Body of Knowledge (SWEBOK) highlighted the importance of professional practice in producing high quality engineering programs. The integration of industry links in teaching pedagogy is essential. In this paper, the authors introduce a new industry-oriented tri-level teaching approach in order to offer students the opportunity to be involved in industry projects and gain important work experience during the academic period. To prioritize industry hands-on activities for students and shape the traditional classroom toward an industry environment, three entities are involved in this approach: industry guest speakers, teachers, and students. Traditionally, guest lecturing is centered on the speaker, who delivers a presentation and follows with a short question and answer session. Students are often passive learners in this process. A blended learning approach was therefore integrated between all entities to allow more flexible learning opportunities, wherein students participated in each step of guest lecturing, including preparation, questions, and reflection. A software project management case study was introduced to measure students' performance and satisfaction.