PBL APPLIED TO SOFTWARE ENGINEERING GROUP PROJECTS
DECLAN DELANEY AND GEORGE G. MITCHELL
Depa men o Compu e Science, Na ional Uni e si y o I eland, Maynoo h, I eland.
email: [email p o ec ed], [email p o ec ed]
This pape desc ibes he applica ion o P oblem-based lea ning (PBL) o he design and implemen a ion o an E-
comme ce web si e by small g oups o so wa e enginee ing s uden s. This wo k is pa o a eal-wo ld so wa e
enginee ing cou se, augh o p e-in e nship s uden s. The use o PBL has gained signi ican in e es since i s incep ion in
he la e 1950’s, and i s la e adap a ion o small eam-based lea ning in he ea ly 1960s. By combining he PBL pa adigm
along wi h he expe ience o eaching a “ adi ional” so wa e enginee ing cou se, and by analyzing eedback om indus y,
a cou se, which we belie e p o ides s uden s wi h new insigh s in o eal-wo ld so wa e enginee ing p ojec s, has been
de eloped.
Ini ially s uden s we e o med in o eams o 4 o 5 membe s based on he weak-s ong selec ion echnique. The
cou se began wi h eam-building ac i i ies, a e which he E-comme ce p ojec p oposal was p esen ed o he eams. The
eams we e gi en comple e au onomy o e hei so wa e de elopmen s a egies bu hey we e equi ed o wo k wi h he
clien s (men o s) o elici he p ojec equi emen s and speci ica ions. Emphasis was placed on he me hodology employed
( he 'how') a he han on he end p oduc ( he 'wha ').
Assessmen o he s uden s ocused on h ee main a eas, in keeping wi h he PBL pa adigm. Fi s ly, implemen a ion
skills we e assessed by examining he inal p oduc and documen a ion p o ided by he eams. Secondly, eamwo k and
leade ship skills we e e alua ed h ough he use o sho anonymous sel -assessmen and eam-assessmen ques ionnai es, as
well as by hei demons a ed abili y o o ganize mee ings and manage hei eam skills. Finally, analy ical hinking and
in e -pe sonal skills we e e alua ed h ough pe sonal jou nals and a de ailed g oup p esen a ion. The jou nals ou lined hei
jou ney h ough he lea ning p ocess and demons a ed hei abili y o iden i y and analyze c i ical a iables in he
de elopmen cycle. The p esen a ion was ollowed by ha d-hi ing ques ions based on Bloom's axonomy om he acul y
s a membe s.
This pape de ails all aspec s o he cou se de elopmen and execu ion and concludes wi h an e alua ion o PBL and
i s applica ion o so wa e enginee ing educa ion.
Keywo ds: so wa e enginee ing, P oblem-based lea ning, g oup p ojec s
1. In oduc ion
This sec ion deals wi h wo dis inc issues:
(1) he cu en s a us o g oup p ojec s in so wa e enginee ing cu icula;
(2) he P oblem-based lea ning (PBL) app oach o educa ion.
1.1 So wa e Enginee ing Cu icula
Al hough he 1991 publica ion o he ACM1/IEEE-CS2 Join Cu iculum Task Fo ce epo on
Compu ing Cu icula [1] ne e explici ly men ioned So wa e Enginee ing, many uni e si ies ha e
de eloped unde g adua e so wa e enginee ing deg ees since i s publica ion [2][3][4]. In 1998, he IEEE-
CS and he ACM es ablished he Join Task Fo ce on Compu ing Cu icula 2001 (CC2001) o unde ake a
majo e iew o cu iculum guidelines o unde g adua e p og ams in compu ing. In con as o he 1991
epo , he cu en epo in ol es he c ea ion o se e al olumes e lec ing he di e si y o he compu ing
ield, including an explici So wa e Enginee ing Volume. This olume is being p oduced h ough he
IEEE-CS/ACM SWEEP3 p ojec [5]. This p ojec is guided by ele en p inciples which s a e, “The
p o essional p ac ice o so wa e enginee ing encompasses a wide ange o issues and ac i i ies including
p oblem sol ing, managemen , e hical and legal conce ns, w i en and o al communica ion, wo king as
pa o a eam, and emaining cu en in a apidly changing discipline.”
1.2 P oblem-based lea ning
P oblem-based lea ning (PBL) is a gene ic lea ning echnique and has i s o igins in he la e 1950s
[6]. We a e in e es ed in he small g oup PBL in oduced by McMas e Medical School in he 1960s [7].
1 Associa ion o Compu ing Machine y
2 Compu e Socie y o he Ins i u e o Elec ical and Elec onic Enginee s
3 So wa e Enginee ing Educa ion P ojec
PBL e e ses he adi ional app oach o lea ning. T adi ionally s uden s a e p esen ed wi h
cou se ma e ial and a e subsequen ly es ed on ha ma e ial h ough indi idual examina ion. PBL on he
o he hand in oduces he s uden s o a p oblem and he s uden s mus explo e he solu ion domain in a sel -
lea ning capaci y. Th ough app op ia e guidance he s uden s will lea n he cou se ma e ial h ough
p ac ical applica ion. I is o his eason ha PBL has p o en so success ul in medical educa ion, whe e
s uden doc o s apply heo e ical cou se ma e ial o he p ac ical diagnosis o pa ien s’ symp oms.
The co e aspec s o PBL a e [8]:
??Lea ning akes place wi hin he con ex s o au hen ic asks, issues, and p oblems- ha a e
aligned wi h eal-wo ld conce ns;
??In a PBL cou se, s uden s and he ins uc o become co-lea ne s, co-planne s, co-p oduce s,
and co-e alua o s as hey design, implemen , and con inually e ine hei cu icula;
??The PBL app oach is g ounded in solid academic esea ch on lea ning and on he bes
p ac ices ha p omo e i . This app oach s imula es s uden s o ake esponsibili y o hei
own lea ning, since he e a e ew lec u es, no s uc u ed sequence o assigned eadings, and
so on;
??PBL is unique in ha i os e s collabo a ion among s uden s, s esses he de elopmen o
p oblem sol ing skills wi hin he con ex o p o essional p ac ice, p omo es e ec i e
easoning and sel -di ec ed lea ning, and is aimed a inc easing mo i a ion o li e-long
lea ning.
2. PBL and So wa e Enginee ing G oup P ojec s
Since PBL is a gene ic lea ning echnique i has been success ully applied o a numbe o di e ing
en i onmen s; medicine; den is y; e e ina y and mo e ecen ly enginee ing. The Compu e Science
Depa men a NUI Maynoo h decided o apply PBL o each so wa e enginee ing p ocess o hi d yea
s uden s. This PBL cou se was en i led “Real Wo ld So wa e Enginee ing.”
The educa ional objec i e o he cou se was o each so wa e enginee ing p ocess skills h ough a
eam-based so wa e p ojec . The e is b oad ag eemen ha he eamwo k aspec o so wa e enginee ing
cu icula is inhe en o he success ul educa ion o so wa e enginee s [9]. This led us o in eg a e he PBL
model wi h he IEEE-CS/ACM cu iculum guidelines o so wa e enginee ing. PBL o e ed an excellen
oppo uni y o s uden s o p ac ice, apply and de elop skills such as p oblem sol ing, eam building, abili y
o cope wi h change and bo h sel and g oup assessmen . This was he i s oppo uni y he s uden s had o
expe ience PBL in a eam-based en i onmen .
Fo his eason he emphasis o he module was on eam-pa icipa ion skills and on he applica ion o
so wa e de elopmen p ocesses a he han exclusi ely on he deli e y o an end p oduc .
The cou se was de eloped o hi d yea unde g adua e s uden s who had s udied co e compu e science
subjec s bu only had a limi ed amoun o so wa e enginee ing knowledge. I was decided o include he
g oup p ojec as pa o he hi d yea p og am o a numbe o easons:
??Indus y: eedback om indus y indica ed ha he s uden s ound i di icul o apply so wa e
enginee ing skills du ing hei wo k in e nships, which begin a he end o hi d yea ;
??Consolida ion: i p o ides a means o consolida ing he dispa a e skills and heo e ical knowledge
acqui ed a e comple ing hal o he deg ee p og am;
??P epa a ion: i p epa es he s uden s o hei indi idual caps one p ojec du ing he ou h yea
p og am.
3. Logis ics and So wa e Enginee ing G oup P ojec s
In his sec ion we will examine h ee key logis ical aspec s o p esen ing and de eloping eal-wo ld
so wa e enginee ing g oup p ojec s:
Team o ganisa ion
Choice o p oblem
Cou se Deli e y
Team O ganisa ion
In keeping wi h McMas e ’s small g oup PBL, and he expe ience o o he uni e si ies in so wa e
enginee ing cou ses, each eam consis ed o ei he ou o i e membe s [3][8]. Team membe s we e
selec ed based on he weak-s ong selec ion echnique so ha academically weake s uden s would gain he
ad an age o wo king wi h hei academically s onge pee s [4][10][11][12]. This made he eams sel
u o ing and enabled s uden -cen e ed lea ning, independen o he lec u e s.
The P oblem
The choice o he p oblem o he so wa e enginee ing p ojec cou se is undamen al o PBL.
Sol ing he p oblem mus lead he s uden s h ough an ad en u e o disco e y ha co e s all he ma e ial
wi hin he cou se de ini ion. The eam size mus be aken in o conside a ion and each eam mus be gi en
he same p oblem. Fo hese easons a modula E-comme ce so wa e p ojec was assigned o he s uden s.
The deli e ables consis ed o a so wa e p oduc and so wa e documen a ion. The p oduc de elopmen
equi ed in es iga ion o opics such as da abases, ne wo k secu i y, sc ip ing languages and web si e
design. To p oduce he documen a ion he s uden s we e obliged o conduc equi emen s analysis, design
speci ica ions and e i ica ion and alida ion o he p oduc .
The ask assigned o he g oups was o de elop an online E-comme ce s o e comple e wi h he
da abase and including secu i y and billing ansac ions. The b ead h o he p oblem mean ha a comple e
solu ion would ha e been e y di icul o achie e wi hin he allowed ime wi hou adop ing a igo ous
so wa e enginee ing app oach and good p ojec managemen . This emphasized he How a he han he
Wha o he so wa e de elopmen p ocess. This emphasis is common in academic so wa e enginee ing
g oup p ojec s [13].
Cou se S uc u e
The cou se module was sp ead o e a 12-week pe iod and consis ed o 4 hou s pe week con ac ime
wi h men o s and 4 hou s pe week independen wo k. Each eam o 4 he e o e had 384 man-hou s o
comple e he p ojec .
The ini ial encoun e cen ed on mo i a ional exe cises. The s uden s we e in i ed o physically
di ide in o hei alloca ed eams. Ini ially a simple exe cise was gi en o he class and each s uden had o
wo k on he p oblem o a sho leng h o ime. A e wa ds he s uden s we e in i ed o pool hei esul s
wi h o he s uden s in hei eam and come up wi h a second solu ion. This was he beginning o a
con ic ion ha g oup wo k pays. A e wa ds a second exe cise was ca ied ou , o ins il he impo ance o
eamwo k, planning and asking ques ions.
The weekly lec u e con ac ime was concen a ed in a single hal -day session. This ga e he s uden s
a ela i ely long pe iod o ime o wo k oge he and p o ided hem wi h an oppo uni y o mee he clien s
( u o s) unde con olled condi ions.
A endance was compulso y o he i s hou , a e which he s uden s we e ee o chose a loca ion
ha bes sui ed hei eam. This allowed he men o s o p esen a ious opics o inc ease he s uden s’
body o knowledge and o guide he s uden s in co e issues, such as p ojec managemen and unning
mee ings. The s uden s we e hen expec ed o demons a e hei unde s anding o his ma e ial h ough
p ac ical applica ion.
4. Assessmen
Assessmen o g oup p ojec s is a challenge, pa icula ly whe e he indi idual con ibu ion o each
s uden is equi ed. Fo example, a pee assessmen app oach is ad oca ed by Rosen [14], whe eas
Younessi and G an employed he Capabili y Ma u i y Model [15]. Main aining he s anda d o assessmen
was c i ical in he de elopmen o his cou se and as a esul i was decided ha pu e eam-based assessmen
migh be a disad an age o he s onge s uden s and equally be abused by weake s uden s. A 70/30 mix o
eam and indi idual assessmen was inally decided upon.
The pu pose o he assessmen p ocedu e was o assess h ee g oups o skills. These skills we e
associa ed wi h ou di e en deli e able componen s as illus a ed in igu e 1. The h ee g oups o skills
a e ou lined in he ollowing subsec ions.
Figu e 1. Assessmen Componen s o G oup P ojec s
4.1 Implemen a ion skills
These skills ep esen ed he abili y o p og amme an implemen a ion o a gi en so wa e design
speci ica ion and o p oduce so wa e documen a ion based on bes p ac ice. This accoun ed o 30% o
he o e all cou se ma k. Each eam was awa ded a single ma k and his wen owa ds he indi idual's inal
cou se ma k. The documen a ion accoun ed o 20% o he inal ma k wi h he so wa e p oduc being
wo h only 10%. This low ma k e lec s he ac ha mos uni e si y cou ses aim o de elop so wa e
p oduc implemen a ion skills. While hese skills a e impo an hey a e suscep ible o a high deg ee o
plagia ism. One possibili y we conside ed was o gi e no ma ks o he p oduc implemen a ion skills, bu
his would ha e been a demo i a ing ac o .
4.2 Teamwo k and leade ship skills
These skills e lec how each s uden ope a es in a eam en i onmen - how hey con ibu e o he
eam, how hey o ganise he eam and assign oles and esponsibili ies and how hey in eg a e any indus ial
expe ience wi h hei heo e ical knowledge. These skills we e moni o ed e e y wo weeks using wo
sepa a e anonymous eedback o ms: an indi idual sel assessmen o m and ano he o m o assess he
s eng hs and weaknesses o o he eam membe s. This p o ided an on-going pee e iew p ocess
h oughou he so wa e de elopmen p ojec . This on-going assessmen is co e o PBL and is e e ed o
as o ma i e assessmen [8]. Al hough no ma ks we e di ec ly awa ded o hese skills, hey o med an
impo an eedback mechanism o he lec u e s and we e used o gauge eam spi i and allow o imely
co ec i e in e en ion.
4.3 Analy ical hinking, p oblem sol ing and in e -pe sonal skills
These skills we e assessed using a numbe o componen s. The s uden s' jou nals we e assessed
by he lec u e s on h ee sepa a e occasions p o iding ano he means o o ma i e assessmen . The o e all
jou nal ma k was 30% which ep esen ed he s uden s' en i e indi idual assessmen ma k. On conclusion
o he p ojec each eam was eques ed o p epa e a wen y minu e p esen a ion o hei wo k which was
shown o acul y s a . A e each p esen a ion s uden s we e igo ously ques ioned on all aspec s o he
p ojec . These ques ions we e buil upon Blooms Taxonomy [16] o e alua e all six compe encies and
associa ed skills. Each p esen a ion was gi en a single eam ma k which ep esen ed 40% o he inal
cou se wo k.
Assessmen
Feedback o ms
Teamwo k and leade ship skills.
Pee
e iew
No ma ks
Jou nal
Analy ical hinking skills
Indi idual ma k
30% jou nal
Final
P esen a ion
In e -pe sonal skills.
Team ma k
40% - P esen a ion and in e iew
P oduc
Implemen a ion Skills
Team ma k
20% - he p oduc
10% - he documen a ion
5. Conclusions and Recommenda ions
This pape has ou lined he applica ion o P oblem-based lea ning o a new so wa e enginee ing
g oup p ojec uni e si y deg ee cou se. The impo ance o eam wo k wi hin so wa e enginee ing
cu icula was placed in con ex and he co e elemen s o PBL we e explained. The o ganisa ion and
assessmen p ocedu es o he PBL-based so wa e enginee ing p ojec cou se we e also ou lined.
The new module aims o p esen he s uden s wi h a ealis ic so wa e de elopmen p oblem wi hin a
con olled uni e si y en i onmen and is o be assimila ed in o he exis ing CSSE (Compu e Science and
So wa e Enginee ing) deg ee.
The expe ience he s uden s gain om his cou se can be di ec ly applied o hei la e ca ee s in
indus y o elsewhe e.
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