Single development project

An often-cited problem in undergraduate software engineering courses states that some topics are difficult to teach in a university setting and, although laboratory work is a useful supplement to the lectures, it is difficult to make projects realistic and relevant. In recognition of this problem, and based on our past experience, we started preparing a new course by examining the pedagogies and curricular aspects of software engineering that are important for the Net Generation of software engineers. The course project described in this paper concentrates on those aspects that can be dealt with effectively within the environment, i.e., the software lifecycle, system interdependences, teamwork, and realistic yet manageable project dynamics, all supported by various means of communication. The workload per students must be balanced with their lack of knowledge and skills, so that their unpreparedness to deal with complex issues does not abate their motivation. The approach was tested on six large projects over the period of one semester. We believe that the results reflect the students' strong interest and commitment, and demonstrate their ability to stay focused and work at a level that is well above the obvious.