What Do We Do When We Teach Software Engineering?

Many UK higher education institutions offer software engineering programmes, but the purpose and relevance of these programmes within computing science departments is not always obvious. The reality is that while advanced economies require many more skilled software engineers, universities are not delivering them. This is at least true in the context of the United Kingdom, where there are high numbers of software engineering vacancies and unemployed software engineering graduates. A possible explanation could be that curriculum content of software engineering programmes in universities needs to be reconsidered to meet the needs of industry. However, reconsidering curriculum content alone is unlikely to be transformative as there is little to be gained from changing to an emerging methodology, language or framework. Instead, an alternative direction could be to reconsider curriculum delivery and the identity of software engineering within computing science itself. In this paper, we contextualise the challenge by considering the history of software engineering education and some of its key developments. We then consider some of the alternative delivery approaches, before arguing cooperative programmes provide a opportunity for institutions to reconsider software engineering education

Report on the 2nd Software Engineering Education Workshop (SEED 2019) co-located with APSEC 2019

SEED 2019, The 2nd International workshop on Software Engineering Education (co-located with Asia-Pacific Software Engineering Conference – APSEC 2019, 2-4 December, at Putrajaya, Malaysia with a theme 'Engineering Impactful Software for the Society towards IR4.0'), aims to bring together Software Engineering (SE) educators and practitioners into a dialogue to build a shared understanding of Software Engineering curriculum topics and specific issues in teaching and learning of Software Engineering with respect to the emerging topics of Artificial Intelligence, Cloud Computing, and Internet of Things (IoT) and corresponding Industry practices. SEED 2019 invited Position Papers (maximum 6 pages long) in the area of Software Engineering. The workshop accepted 5 papers and consisted of keynote talk as well as group discussion in addition to the position paper presentations

A Software Engineering Schema for Data Intensive Applications

The features developed by a software engineer (system specification) for a software system may significantly differ from the features required by a user (user requirements) for their envisioned system. These discrepancies are generally resulted from the complexity of the system, the vagueness of the user requirements, or the lack of knowledge and experience of the software engineer. The principles of software engineering and the recommendations of the ACM's Software Engineering Education Knowledge (SEEK) document can provide solutions to minimize these discrepancies; in turn, improve the quality of a software system and increase user satisfaction. In this paper, a software development framework, called SETh, is presented. The SETh framework consists of a set of visual models that support software engineering education and practices in a systematic manner. It also enables backward tracking/tracing and forward tracking/tracing capabilities - two important concepts that can facilitate the greenfield and evolutionary type software engineering projects. The SETh framework connects every step of the development of a software system tightly; hence, the learners and the experienced software engineers can study, understand, and build efficient software systems for emerging data science applications

Teaching MLOps in Higher Education through Project-Based Learning

Building and maintaining production-grade ML-enabled components is a complex endeavor that goes beyond the current approach of academic education, focused on the optimization of ML model performance in the lab. In this paper, we present a project-based learning approach to teaching MLOps, focused on the demonstration and experience with emerging practices and tools to automatize the construction of ML-enabled components. We examine the design of a course based on this approach, including laboratory sessions that cover the end-to-end ML component life cycle, from model building to production deployment. Moreover, we report on preliminary results from the first edition of the course. During the present year, an updated version of the same course is being delivered in two independent universities; the related learning outcomes will be evaluated to analyze the effectiveness of project-based learning for this specific subject.Comment: Accepted in 2023 IEEE/ACM 45th International Conference on Software Engineering: Software Engineering Education and Training (ICSE-SEET

Building a Research University Ecosystem: the Case of Software Engineering Education at Sofia University

This paper analyses the specifics and the tendencies in building of the knowledge society and the role of the universities in this process. Some European policies and programs dedicated to the new role of the universities in realizing the Lisbon Strategy are analysed as well. It is emphasized on the importance of integration of the ‘knowledge triangle’ (education, research and innovation) into a research university and on the urgent need to re-design the university activities according the new requirements. This paper describes some real experiences, emerging models and lessons learnt based on the case of Software Engineering education and research being held at Sofia University

Exploiting Adaptive and Collaborative AUV Autonomy for Detection and Characterization of Internal Waves

Advances in the fields of autonomy software and environmental sampling techniques for autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs) have recently allowed for the merging of oceanographic data collection with the testing of emerging marine technology. The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Laboratory for Autonomous Marine Sensing Systems (LAMSS) group conducted an Internal Wave Detection Experiment in August 2010 with these advances in mind. The goal was to have multiple AUVs collaborate autonomously through onboard autonomy software and real-time underwater acoustic communication to monitor for the presence of internal waves by adapting to changes in the environment (specifically the temperature variations near the thermocline/pycnocline depth). The experimental setup, implementation, data, deployment results, and internal wave detection and quantification results are presented in this paper.United States. Office of Naval Research (Grant N00014-08-1-0013)United States. Dept. of DefenseUnited States. Air Force Office of Scientific ResearchAmerican Society for Engineering Education. National Defense Science and Engineering Graduate Fellowship (32 CFR 168a

Enhancing Student Usability of 3D Bioprinting

3D bioprinting is an emerging technology that is changing the face of tissue engineering through the ability to print cells, scaffolding and matrix materials, and other bioactive reagents. 3D bioprinters are a culmination of various scientific and engineering disciplines with respect to their operation and bioprints, and as such, offer a prime case study on the convergence of the technical fields in research. In order to capitalize on this fact and make 3D bioprinting more accessible for interdisciplinary education applications, we sought to translate 3D bioprinting into the classroom environment as a tool for education. In collaboration with SE3D Education, a start-up that manufactures affordable desktop 3D bioprinters, we designed biological array experiments and software that allows students to easily design and bioprint their own experiments using the SE3D R3bel Classroom 3D Bioprinter. Through extending the utility of a desktop 3D bioprinter into the hands of students, we hope to assist schools in administering interdisciplinary, hands-on instruction, and empowering students to become proficient in the next generation of technological tools

Mentoring Mentors in Cooperative Software Engineering Education Programmes

Cooperative programmes are principally partnerships between academia and industry to deliver education partly on campus and partly in the workplace. Mentors in the workplace are crucial in such cooperative programmes as they scaffold appropriate development activities for students. A workplace mentor in this situation is important not only for the development of detailed technical knowledge, but also in the development of software engineering skills that are almost never in fact taught in higher education, e.g. navigating large, neglected code bases. Consequently, workplace mentors are a key component of any high-quality education programme delivered in partnership with industry. However, higher education institutions and enterprises not only need to appreciate the importance of mentors in such schemes, but also ensure such staff are supported to use their experience to increase their skill as a mentor. Mentors need the space and support to reflect on their own practice, develop skills and attain new knowledge. In this sense, the challenge is not dissimilar to that faced by computing science school teachers that need to continually consider their own practice as well as have the time to consider emerging programming languages and frameworks. Many of the structures and existing research on how to support computing science school teachers could be adapted to support these workplace mentors, e.g. support groups. In this poster, we present initial research and models for mentoring mentors in cooperative software engineering programmes. The aim is to share initial work, receive feedback and to connect with potential collaborators

ISO/IEC 29110 and Software Engineering Education: A Systematic Mapping Study

Abstract: This article presents a study of the publications made on the ISO/IEC 29110 standard in the university context, especially from the perspective of software engineering education. ISO 29110 is a life cycle profiles for very small entities on systems and software engineering standard, published in many parts. ISO 29110, since its publication in 2011 and its continuous evolution to these days, is the subject of study in different contexts, with education being a relevant axis. Considering, that software engineering education has implications in the software industry in emerging countries, it is necessary to identify and consolidate the work done in this context. In this study, the main research question was what researches have been done at ISO 29110 in the training of software engineers? To answer this question, a systematic mapping study (SMS) was performed. In the SMS, 241 articles were obtained with search string and 17 of them became as primary study after a process selection. Based on these studies, it was possible to determine that the software engineering Basic profile of ISO 29110 and its processes (Project Management and Software Implementation) have been the most studied. Besides, it was identified that project-oriented learning and gamification techniques have been the most used ISO 29110 learning strategies in the training of future software industry professionals

Integrating Industry Seminars within a Software Engineering Module to Enhance Student Motivation

Engineering students increasingly demand and require coverage of emerging technologies to prepare themselves for subsequent research and employment. Industry and professional bodies are also concerned that engineering education doesn't always prepare students adequately for the world of work. The software engineering postgraduate professional practice module at University College London is designed to provide real-world experience, before students commence their industry research projects. Industry speakers are invited from a range of organizations, including ThoughtWorks, IBM, Form3, Verne Global, and Fujitsu. Seminars include: DevOps, microservices, cloud-native architectures, machine learning and quantum technologies. Before each topic is covered, students are asked their understanding of the subject matter, via questionnaires. This information is shared with industry speakers to ensure the content of presentations is compatible with students' prior knowledge. It has proved valuable to allow time for discussions to facilitate professional networking, which particularly benefits female students. Students have indicated they highly value the real-world project examples delivered by industry experts. This suggests that integrating industry seminars can enhance engineering education and motivate students by covering leading-edge technologies and practices. However, this requires considerable time in coordinating and codeveloping seminars, and such initiatives need to be adequately resourced to be effective