In the soft-to-hard technical spectrum: Where is software engineering?

In the computer journals and tabloids, there have been a plethora of articles written about the software engineering field. But while advocates of the need for an engineering approach to software development, it is impressive how many authors have treated the subject of software engineering without adequately addressing the fundamentals of what engineering as a discipline consists of. A discussion is presented of the various related facets of this issue in a logical framework to advance the thesis that the software development process is necessarily an engineering process. The purpose is to examine more of the details of the issue of whether or not the design and development of software for digital computer processing systems should be both viewed and treated as a legitimate field of professional engineering. Also, the type of academic and professional level education programs that would be required to support a software engineering discipline is examined

Software engineering and the academy - uncomfortable bedfellows

With software engineering (S. E.) now beginning to emerge as a distinct discipline, through initiatives such as the SWEBOK [1], the growth of undergraduate programmes in the U.S. [2] and collaborative efforts to offer programmes with breadth and depth [3], the challenges for the academy in balancing rigour and relevance can only become more intense. For some reason the contrast between the academic and the professional perspectives within the software engineering community is quite marked

Toward an IT Agenda

The state of the information technology discipline is explored. A point of departure is a depiction of the IT field in a computing space along with computer science, computer engineering, software engineering, and information systems. This examination motivated a proposed distinctive anchoring theme for the IT discipline as deployment and configuration. Recommendations are made for advancing the research component of an IT agenda by seizing on jurisdictional vacancies, abstracting from professional practice, and drawing upon theoretical results from the systems sciences, serving as a reference discipline for IT. Five IT research thrust areas are proposed: IT artifacts, enterprise architectural infrastructure, interaction models, system performance, and domain induction. Appendices provide context by discussing viewpoints on the IS-IT relationship, perspectives on the role of artifacts in IS-IT research, and observations on the perceived standing of IT as a discipline or sub-discipline

A Coordinated Plan for Teaching Software Engineering in the University Rey Juan Carlos.

Un plan para organizar las enseñanzas de la ingeniería del software en las titulaciones de informática de la URJC. Nowadays both industry and academic environments are showing a lot of interest in the Software Engineering discipline. Therefore, it is a challenge for universities to provide students with appropriate training in this area, preparing them for their future professional practice. There are many difficulties to provide that training. The outstanding ones are: the Software Engineering area is too broad and class hours are scarce; the discipline requires a high level of abstraction; it is difficult to reproduce real world situations in the classroom to provide a practical learning environment; the number of students per professor is very high (at least in Spain); companies develop software with a maturity level rarely over level 2 of the CMM for Software (again, at least in Spain) as opposed to what is taught at the University. Besides, there are different levels and study plans, making more difficult to structure the contents to teach in each term and degree. In this paper we present a plan for teaching Software Engineering trying to overcome some of the difficulties above

A comparative analysis of software engineering with mature engineering disciplines using a problem solving perspective

Software engineering is compared with traditional engineering disciplines using a domain specific problem-solving model called Problem-Solving for Engineering Model (PSEM). The comparative analysis is performed both from a historical and contemporary view. The historical view provides lessons on the evolution of problem-solving and the maturity of an engineering discipline. The contemporary view provides the current state of engineering disciplines and shows to what extent software development can actually be categorized as an engineering discipline. The results from the comparative analysis show that like mature engineering, software engineering also seems to follow the same path of evolution of problem-solving concepts, but despite promising advances it has not reached yet the level of mature engineering yet. The comparative analysis offers the necessary guidelines for improving software engineering to become a professional mature engineering discipline. © 2011, IGI Global

Insights from expert software design practice

Software is a designed artifact. In other design disciplines, such as architecture, there is a well-established tradition of design studies which inform not only the discipline itself but also tool design, processes, and collaborative work. The 'challenge' of this paper is to consider software from such a 'design studies' perspective. This paper will present a series of observations from empirical studies of expert software designers, and will draw on examples from actual professional practice. It will consider what experts' mental imagery, software visualisations, and sketches suggest about software design thinking. It will also discuss some of the deliberate practices experts use to promote innovation. Finally, it will open discussion on the tensions between observed software design practices and received methodology in software engineering

Software literacy in shaping what we know in a software-saturated society

Today’s modern societies are increasingly dependent on digital technologies and the software underpinning these technologies in almost every sphere of professional and personal life. These technologies and software are poorly understood as tools that shape our engagement with knowledge, culture and society in the 21st century. None of these tools are ‘neutral.’ They embody social and cultural assumptions about their use and all have particular values embedded in their interfaces and affordances. This paper draws from a funded research project investigating the notion of software literacy (Khoo, Hight, Torrens, & Cowie, 2017). In the project software literacy is defined as the expertise involved in understanding, applying, problem solving and critiquing software when it is used to achieve particular goals. The project team hypothesised there exists three progressive tiers of development towards software literacy in professional contexts. We conducted case studies of engineering and media studies students’ learning of an ubiquitous software such as PowerPoint as well as proprietary discipline-specific software to examine how software literacy is understood, developed and applied in a tertiary teaching-learning context. In this contribution we outline the project findings then use the notion of software literacy as the lens to unpack and illustrate through three everyday examples how software literacy would seem to be an essential part of learning and living in the 21st century

Software literacy in shaping what we know in a software-saturated society

Today’s modern societies are increasingly dependent on digital technologies and the software underpinning these technologies in almost every sphere of professional and personal life. These technologies and software are poorly understood as tools that shape our engagement with knowledge, culture and society in the 21st century. None of these tools are ‘neutral.’ They embody social and cultural assumptions about their use and all have particular values embedded in their interfaces and affordances. This paper draws from a funded research project investigating the notion of software literacy (Khoo, Hight, Torrens, & Cowie, 2017). In the project software literacy is defined as the expertise involved in understanding, applying, problem solving and critiquing software when it is used to achieve particular goals. The project team hypothesised there exists three progressive tiers of development towards software literacy in professional contexts. We conducted case studies of engineering and media studies students’ learning of an ubiquitous software such as PowerPoint as well as proprietary discipline-specific software to examine how software literacy is understood, developed and applied in a tertiary teaching-learning context. In this contribution we outline the project findings then use the notion of software literacy as the lens to unpack and illustrate through three everyday examples how software literacy would seem to be an essential part of learning and living in the 21st century

From unskilled to employable: using a qualitative examination of the ‘Placement Timeline Research Method’ to explore student professional and personal development whilst on multiple WIL experiences.

This paper explores the method and findings of a qualitative examination into multiple work integrated learning (MWIL) placements. The research consisted of 14 reflective interviews with students from across discipline areas who had undertaken a series of work placements. The range of MWIL experiences included professional placements in nursing and youth work, yearlong placements in accountancy and engineering, self-directed WIL experiences in arts, informal and part-time placements. The aim of this study was to explore the transitions that took place throughout multiple placements that helped the student to become a work ready and an effective professional. A research method, 'Placement Timeline' was developed. This allows a reflective structure for the researcher to tease out skill development and work readiness. All interviews were transcribed and coded using NVivo qualitative software. The paper will discuss selected findings from the research. These provide insights into how multiple WIL experiences may benefit students in their preparation for work. In effect it was as if the work readiness and skills relating to an uncertain and ever changing job market skills were fast tracked over MWIL.This research highlights the key transitional features of MWIL

Применение игровых симуляторов в формировании профессиональных компетентностей будущих инженеров-программистов

Автореферат исертації на здобуття наукового ступеня кандидата педагогічних наук за спеціальністю 13.00.10 – Інформаційно-комунікаційні технології в освіті – Інститут інформаційних технологій і засобів навчання НАПН України, Київ, 2018. Дисертаційна робота є теоретико-експериментальним дослідженням проблеми використання ігрових симуляторів у формуванні професійних м'яких компетентностей майбутніх інженерів-програмістів. У дослідженні подано узагальнюючу теоретичну характеристику застосування ігрових симуляторів у формуванні професійних м'яких компетентностей майбутніх інженерів-програмістів. Теоретично обґрунтовано структурні компоненти моделі використання ігрових симуляторів у формуванні професійних м'яких компетентностей майбутніх інженерів-програмістів. Розроблено методику застосування ігрових симуляторів у формуванні професійних м'яких компетентностей майбутніх інженерів-програмістів. Ефективність авторської методики перевірена експериментально. Основні результати дослідження впроваджено в навчальний процес закладів вищої освіти.The thesis for a Candidate Degree in Pedagogical Sciences (Philosophy Doctor) specialty 13.00.10. – Information and communication technology in education – Institute of Information Technologies and Learning Tools NAES of Ukraine, Kyiv, 2018. The thesis is the theoretical-experimental research of the use of simulation games in the development of professional competencies of future software engineers. It analyzed scientific sources on the topic of the research, as a result of which the key concepts of "competence" and "professional competence" were selected on the basis of the Laws of Ukraine. It was also established that professional competences, according to some authors, are divided into hard and soft ones. The concept of "professional soft competencies" is summarized in this form: it is a complex of non-specialized competencies that, in one way or another, relates to problem solving, interactions between people and is responsible for a successful participation in the work process, high productivity and, unlike specialized competencies, is not related to a specific area or domain. It was determined that these are competencies that are not directly related to the control of equipment and technical skills. The following definition of "simulation games" is proposed: these are interactive applications that fully or partially simulate certain real processes or systems, and that engage and motivate students through a fun and interesting game experience, where students can perform different roles in various realistic circumstances, and that are used in educational process in cases when a real practice is not possible or not available. It is also specified that the term "game simulation" is used to describe the runtime of a specific simulation game, so the process of full or partial simulation of the specific real processes or systems. The refined classification of professional competencies of future software engineers (with the adaptation of the correspondent hard and soft competencies according to the classification) is proposed, according to which professional competences are divided into hard and soft competences. The author's model of the use of simulation games for the development of professional competencies of future software engineers, which takes into account pedagogical approaches and didactic principles and consists of the goal, three structural units and the expected result. The emergence of simulation games contributes to the improvement of the content of the discipline "Professional practice of software engineering", which is focused on the use of simulation games in the educational process. The proposed model includes the following forms: practical classes, independent work, consulting, training, as well as the following methods: adaptive learning, projectbased learning, modeling of situations, testing. The result should show an increase in the level of development of professional competencies of future software engineers. The method of the development of professional competences of future software engineers is proposed. The method includes: purpose and content of training, learning forms, methods and tools. The purpose of the use of simulation games is the development of the relevant professional competencies of future software engineers.The meaning of the training is in the improvements of the process of teaching of normative disciplines using simulation games. The following tasks were accomplished to improve the content of the normative discipline "Professional practice of software engineering": selected the simulation games, that are expedient to use in the process of the development of their professional competencies of future software engineers; improved the discipline "Professional practice of software engineering" to use the simulation games during the study of various topics; developed the methodical recommendations for the use of simulation games in the process of teaching the discipline "Professional practice of software engineering". The author's methodology includes methods, means and forms of training with use of the simulation games (such as: SimSE, Game Dev Tycoon, Software Inc.), detailing the use of each of the selected gaming simulators as a means of development of the professional competencies of future software engineers in the educational process of higher education institutions. It is substantiated and explained on examples, which professional soft competencies are developed when corresponded game simulations are passed in the selected simulation games. The materials and results can be used at institutions of higher education and at scientific institutions for training future software engineers, as well as by managers of software development companies to improve team work of software developers in the organization.Автореферат диссертации на соискание ученой степени кандидата педагогических наук по специальности 13.00.10 - Информационно-коммуникационные технологии в образовании - Институт информационных технологий и средств обучения НАПН Украины, Киев, 2018. Диссертационная работа является теоретико-экспериментальным исследованием проблемы использования игровых симуляторов в формировании профессиональных мягких компетентностей будущих инженеров-программистов. В исследовании представлено обобщающую теоретическую характеристику применения игровых симуляторов в формировании профессиональных мягких компетентностей будущих инженеров-программистов. Теоретически обоснованы структурные компоненты модели использования игровых симуляторов в формировании профессиональных мягких компетентностей будущих инженеровпрограммистов. Разработана методика применения игровых симуляторов в формировании профессиональных мягких компетентностей будущих инженеровпрограммистов. Эффективность авторской методики проверена экспериментально. Основные результаты исследования внедрены в учебный процесс высших учебных заведений