134,842 research outputs found
Closing the gap between software engineering education and industrial needs
According to different reports, many recent software engineering graduates
often face difficulties when beginning their professional careers, due to
misalignment of the skills learnt in their university education with what is
needed in industry. To address that need, many studies have been conducted to
align software engineering education with industry needs. To synthesize that
body of knowledge, we present in this paper a systematic literature review
(SLR) which summarizes the findings of 33 studies in this area. By doing a
meta-analysis of all those studies and using data from 12 countries and over
4,000 data points, this study will enable educators and hiring managers to
adapt their education / hiring efforts to best prepare the software engineering
workforce
Walking Through the Method Zoo: Does Higher Education Really Meet Software Industry Demands?
Software engineering educators are continually challenged by rapidly evolving concepts, technologies, and industry demands. Due to the omnipresence of software in a digitalized society, higher education institutions (HEIs) have to educate the students such that they learn how to learn, and that they are equipped with a profound basic knowledge and with latest knowledge about modern software and system development. Since industry demands change constantly, HEIs are challenged in meeting such current and future demands in a timely manner. This paper analyzes the current state of practice in software engineering education. Specifically, we want to compare contemporary education with industrial practice to understand if frameworks, methods and practices for software and system development taught at HEIs reflect industrial practice. For this, we conducted an online survey and collected information about 67 software engineering courses. Our findings show that development approaches taught at HEIs quite closely reflect industrial practice. We also found that the choice of what process to teach is sometimes driven by the wish to make a course successful. Especially when this happens for project courses, it could be beneficial to put more emphasis on building learning sequences with other courses
Latin American perspectives to internationalize undergraduate information technology education
The computing education community expects modern curricular guidelines for information technology (IT) undergraduate degree programs by 2017. The authors of this work focus on eliciting and analyzing Latin American academic and industry perspectives on IT undergraduate education. The objective is to ensure that the IT curricular framework in the IT2017 report articulates the relationship between academic preparation and the work environment of IT graduates in light of current technological and educational trends in Latin America and elsewhere. Activities focus on soliciting and analyzing survey data collected from institutions and consortia in IT education and IT professional and educational societies in Latin America; these activities also include garnering the expertise of the authors. Findings show that IT degree programs are making progress in bridging the academic-industry gap, but more work remains
Media Usage in Post-Secondary Education and Implications for Teaching and Learning
The Web 2.0 has permeated academic life. The use of online information
services in post-secondary education has led to dramatic changes in faculty
teaching methods as well as in the learning and study behavior of students. At
the same time, traditional information media, such as textbooks and printed
handouts, still form the basic pillars of teaching and learning. This paper
reports the results of a survey about media usage in teaching and learning
conducted with Western University students and instructors, highlighting trends
in the usage of new and traditional media in higher education by instructors
and students. In addition, the survey comprises part of an international
research program in which 20 universities from 10 countries are currently
participating. Further, the study will hopefully become a part of the ongoing
discussion of practices and policies that purport to advance the effective use
of media in teaching and learning
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Using the Internet of Things to Teach Good Software Engineering Practice to High School Students
This paper describes a course to introduce high school students
to software engineering in practice using the Internet Of
Things (IoT). IoT devices allow students to get quick, visible
results without watering down technical aspects of
programming and networking. The course has three broad
goals: (1) to make software engineering fun and applicable,
with the aim of recruiting traditionally underrepresented
groups into computing; (2) to make young students begin to
approach problems with a design mindset; and (3) to show
students that computer science, generally, and software
engineering, specifically, is about much more than
programming. The course unfolds in three segments. The first
is a whirlwind introduction to a subset of IoT technologies.
Students complete a specific task (or set of tasks) using each
technology. This segment culminates in a “do-it-yourself”
project, in which the students implement a simple IoT
application using their basic knowledge of the technologies.
The course’s second segment introduces software engineering
practices, again primarily via hands-on practical tutorials. In
the third segment of the course, the students conceive of,
design, and implement a project that uses the technologies
introduced in the first segment, all while being attentive to the
good software engineering practices acquired in the second
segment. In addition to presenting the course curriculum, the
paper also discusses a first offering of the course in a threeweek
summer intensive program in 2017, including
assessments done to evaluate the curriculum.Cockrell School of Engineerin
Relevance, benefits, and problems of software modelling and model driven techniques—A survey in the Italian industry
Context Claimed benefits of software modelling and model driven techniques are improvements in productivity, portability, maintainability and interoperability. However, little effort has been devoted at collecting evidence to evaluate their actual relevance, benefits and usage complications. Goal The main goals of this paper are: (1) assess the diffusion and relevance of software modelling and MD techniques in the Italian industry, (2) understand the expected and achieved benefits, and (3) identify which problems limit/prevent their diffusion. Method We conducted an exploratory personal opinion survey with a sample of 155 Italian software professionals by means of a Web-based questionnaire on-line from February to April 2011. Results Software modelling and MD techniques are very relevant in the Italian industry. The adoption of simple modelling brings common benefits (better design support, documentation improvement, better maintenance, and higher software quality), while MD techniques make it easier to achieve: improved standardization, higher productivity, and platform independence. We identified problems, some hindering adoption (too much effort required and limited usefulness) others preventing it (lack of competencies and supporting tools). Conclusions The relevance represents an important objective motivation for researchers in this area. The relationship between techniques and attainable benefits represents an instrument for practitioners planning the adoption of such techniques. In addition the findings may provide hints for companies and universitie
Security and computer forensics in web engineering education
The integration of security and forensics into Web Engineering curricula is imperative! Poor security in web-based applications is continuing to cost organizations millions and the losses are still increasing annually. Security is frequently taught as a stand-alone course, assuming that security can be 'bolted on' to a web application at some point. Security issues must be integrated into Web Engineering processes right from the beginning to create secure solutions and therefore security should be an integral part of a Web Engineering curriculum. One aspect of Computer forensics investigates failures in security. Hence, students should be aware of the issues in forensics and how to respond when security failures occur; collecting evidence is particularly difficult for Web-based applications
Design and Implementation of Performance Metrics for Evaluation of Assessments Data
The objective of this paper is to design performance metrics and respective
formulas to quantitatively evaluate the achievement of set objectives and
expected outcomes both at the course and program levels. Evaluation is defined
as one or more processes for interpreting the data acquired through the
assessment processes in order to determine how well the set objectives and
outcomes are being attained. Even though assessment processes for accreditation
are well documented but existence of an evaluation process is assumed. This
paper focuses on evaluation process to provide insights and techniques for data
interpretation. It gives a complete evaluation process from the data collection
through various assessment methods, performance metrics, to the presentations
in the form of tables and graphs. Authors hope that the articulated description
of evaluation formulas will help convergence to high quality standard in
evaluation process
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