Software Engineering: Industry Meets Academia

Abstract

Software Engineering education stands at a turning point as industry continues to assert the need for more of an industry perspective in the education of software engineers and computer scientists. A two-semester course sequence in Software Engineering, taught at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute is attempting to meet that demand by balancing theory and practice in an education environment which simulates industrial development of Software Engineering tools. Prevalent methodologies across the software life cycle are addressed, alternatives are assessed, and preferences are designated as the courses progress through the life cycle. The projects are assigned to teams and are directly related to automating parts of software production. Case studies are used on a weekly basis to reinforce concepts and to explore alternatives. An essential set of software engineering process principles serves as the foundation for this teaching approach. The students, while taxed with a demanding work load, have indicated that the approach is highly rewarding in the graduate education program.