This project supports the development and testing of the Software Enterprise model, a model that uses student project experiences as the contextual teaching and learning vehicle, instead of as a summative experience. In this model, students engage in traditional classroom learning, group-oriented lab exercises, implementation on scalable projects, and reflective assessment co-located in time for each module. The result is a student who not only acquires a new skill, but understands how to put that skill in practice. This project focuses on the two activities: 1) Performing a longitudinal assessment of student performance in industry after graduation; and 2) Creating new curricular modules in subject matter areas currently lacking, including design, architecture, quality assurance, and maintenance. Dissemination activities include packaging Enterprise modules for online delivery and conducting tutorials on the method and benefit of structuring Software Engineering Education (SEE) according to the Software Enterprise pedagogical model.
Intellectual Merit: The Enterprise contributes a new pedagogical model to SEE. While the model is new, it builds off previous contributions to SEE. The objective of this model is to accelerate the industry preparedness and skill level of software engineering graduates, and this project performs a longitudinal assessment to validate this claim.
Broader Impacts: This project produces SEE modules supporting a reinforcing teaching and learning model. These modules are made available to the SEE community through a project website as well as through SWENET (www.swenet.org). The results of the assessment activity are reported to the community with an analysis of the viability of this pedagogical approach.
