Virtual teams and employability in global software engineering education

Universities face many challenges when creating opportunities for student experiences of global software engineering. We provide a model for introducing global software engineering into the computing curriculum. Our model is based on a three year collaboration between Robert Gordon University, UK and the International Institute for IT Bangalore, India. We provide evidence based on student feedback from three cohorts of virtual team who never met face to face. We found potential employers were supportive of global software engineering in university curricula. We identify four key principles for global software engineering student projects: reconcile contrasting assessment demands between institutions, create a detailed joint timetable to reconcile teaching calendars, provide a project management framework to support phased delivery and carefully manage project scope

Design collectives in education: evaluating the atelier format and the use of teaching narrative for collective cultural and creative learning, and the subsequent impact on professional practice

This paper reviews the case for ‘cultural and creative design collectives’ in design education. Higher education taught design courses use a diversity of studio models ranging from the atelier format in which students have their own shared studio space, through to hot-desking and, increasingly, no-desking formats. Drawing on observation and experimentation with pedagogical and organizational formats and case studies in industrial design and architecture, the authors investigate whether peer group excellence is best achieved by encouraging and facilitating a cultural and creative collective among students, in which ownership, learning and definition of the course increasingly falls to the student group, leaving staff to act as catalysts and enablers, while offering students an objective critique. Through examples, the authors examine how this collective-peer approach in education impacts on the ability of graduate designers entering practice to work flexibly and in modes in which competition and collaboration can co-exist

A gentle transition from Java programming to Web Services using XML-RPC

Exposing students to leading edge vocational areas of relevance such as Web Services can be difficult. We show a lightweight approach by embedding a key component of Web Services within a Level 3 BSc module in Distributed Computing. We present a ready to use collection of lecture slides and student activities based on XML-RPC. In addition we show that this material addresses the central topics in the context of web services as identified by Draganova (2003)

Innovative learning in action (ILIA) issue five: Learning technologies in the curriculum

Consideration of the papers and snapshots in this edition of Innovative Learning in Action, focused on learning technology, will provide the reader with insights into a range of excellent and innovative approaches to the application of learning technologies to enhance learning both in the classroom and at a distance. It also provides us with examples of how learning technologies can both stimulate and support partnership with staff and students and collaborative learning and working. This edition is particularly timely given the aim of the University’s 2005-2008 Learning Technologies Implementation Plan (LTIP), which is to enhance the quality of, and access to, learning, teaching and assessment by supporting and developing the curriculum through the appropriate and effective use of learning technologies. The LTIP is designed to help us to reach a situation where the effective use of appropriate learning technologies becomes part of our normal teaching, research and enterprise activities, and enhances access to our programmes by all our students whether they are learning on campus, at a distance, or in the workplace. The emphasis at the University of Salford has consistently been on the identification and creative application of the appropriate blends of ICT and traditional methods, shaped by pedagogical, rather than technological drivers, and acknowledging and reflecting different academic contexts and professional and vocational requirements. We have some excellent examples of how this has been achieved here, ILIA once again providing us with an opportunity to reflect on practice and student learning, to share experience and hopefully to identify future areas for collaboration in a key area of curriculum development

Equipping Software Engineering Apprentices with a Repertoire of Practices

International audienceArgyris and Schön distinguish espoused theories - those which people speak about - from theory-in-use - those which can be inferred from action. In small software teams, developing reflective thinking about action is a vital necessity in coping with change. We address these issues in a Masters of Software Engineering, performed with an alternation between university and industry. University periods are dedicated to a long-term project performed in a reflective practicum. It aims to develop a repertoire of practices which helps young engineers deal with the 'messiness' of situations. Such a practicum provides students, working in groups, with the possibility of reflecting on action. We propose using the Course-of-Action framework to record observable aspects of the actor's activity into semantic wikis. Two hypotheses are discussed (1) self-analysis and self-assessment help to reveal theories-in-use; (2) the Course-of-Action observatory helps maintain awareness of the repertoire. A case study of a 6-apprentice team illustrates the observatory use and the reconstruction of apprentices' activity. Primary conclusions are that self-observation and self-analysis of a software engineer's activity help raise awareness of the initial structure of the repertoire. We are however unable to conclude that it helps reveal their theory-in-use (w

Good Practice Report : Curriculum Renewal

This good practice report, commissioned by the ALTC, provides a summative evaluation of useful outcomes and good practices from ALTC projects and fellowships on curriculum renewal. The report contains: -a summative evaluation of the good practices and key outcomes for teaching and learning from completed ALTC projects and fellowships -a literature review of the good practices and key outcomes for teaching and learning from national and international research the proposed outcomes and resources for teaching and learning which will be produced by current incomplete ALTC projects and fellowships -identifies areas in which further work or development are appropriate

Business Process Management Education in Academia: Status, challenges, and Recommendations

In response to the growing proliferation of Business Process Management (BPM) in industry and the demand this creates for BPM expertise, universities across the globe are at various stages of incorporating knowledge and skills in their teaching offerings. However, there are still only a handful of institutions that offer specialized education in BPM in a systematic and in-depth manner. This article is based on a global educators’ panel discussion held at the 2009 European Conference on Information Systems in Verona, Italy. The article presents the BPM programs of five universities from Australia, Europe, Africa, and North America, describing the BPM content covered, program and course structures, and challenges and lessons learned. The article also provides a comparative content analysis of BPM education programs illustrating a heterogeneous view of BPM. The examples presented demonstrate how different courses and programs can be developed to meet the educational goals of a university department, program, or school. This article contributes insights on how best to continuously sustain and reshape BPM education to ensure it remains dynamic, responsive, and sustainable in light of the evolving and ever-changing marketplace demands for BPM expertise

State of Academic Affairs Report

A comprehensive overview of the Office for Academic Affairs covering the years 2013 through 2015 as it is described by the Faculty Hanbook policy A83 Annual Reports. This includes reports on all 12 schools and colleges, and on all administrative units including Enrollment Management and GEO