WIP: Introducing active learning in a software engineering course

Abstract

This paper describes the authors' experiences introducing active learning opportunities in junior level software engineering courses. The project team critically examined existing software engineering courses at our institutions and created new active learning style instructional materials for selected course topics. We devised delivery strategies that incorporated academic research findings and industry best practices. Based on our assessment data, we believe that students participating in the activities created for our courses are better equipped with fundamental theoretical knowledge and invaluable hands-on experiences that can measurably increase their ability to contribute to the software industry.