SOFTWARE ENGINEERING MEETS PROBLEM-BASED LEARNING
James D. Delaney BEng, MEngSc, Cha e ed Enginee , Depa men o Compu e Science, NUI Maynoo h
Geo ge G. Mi chell BSc, MSc, Depa men o Compu e Science, NUI Maynoo h
Sean Delaney BEd, MEd, Coláis e Mhui e Ma ino
A PROBLEM-DRIVEN APPROACH FOR TEACHING SOFTWARE ENGINEERING TO
UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS IS ENTERING ITS THIRD YEAR AT THE DEPARTMENT OF
COMPUTER SCIENCE AT NUI, MAYNOOTH.
Real-wo ld Educa ion
The e is g owing ag eemen wi hin uni e si ies and indus y ha expe ien ial lea ning o
‘lea ning by doing’ should be emphasised mo e han he adi ional ‘chalk and alk’ app oach.
This is con i med by he on-going e iew o so wa e enginee ing unde g adua e p og ammes,
which is being conduc ed as pa o a join in e na ional enginee ing-compu ing bodies p ojec
[1]. In e na ional app oaches o p o iding his expe ien ial lea ning ha e been documen ed
and hey include he S udio-based app oach, he Lea ne -cen e ed app oach and he P ojec -
o ien ed app oach. These app oaches ocus on indi idual p ojec wo k unde simula ed
indus ial condi ions.
A New Teaching Pa adigm
The app oach adop ed in Maynoo h o gi e s uden s a ‘ eal-wo ld’ expe ience in so wa e
enginee ing is based on a lea ning echnique in oduced by McMas e Medical School in he
1960s. This app oach is called small g oup P oblem-based Lea ning (PBL).
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.
In con as , PBL p esen s he s uden wi h a eal-wo ld p oblem and he s uden s mus explo e
he solu ion domain in a sel -lea ning capaci y. The s uden s will lea n he cou se ma e ial
h ough guided p ac ical applica ion o knowledge o a sui able ask. PBL has been
success ully applied o ci il, mechanical and elec ical enginee ing as well as o medical,
den al and e e ina y educa ion.
The in oduc ion o PBL in o educa ional cou ses is ela ed o a cons uc i is heo y o
lea ning. This heo y is based on he p emise ha lea ne s come o know some hing new, no
by passi ely hea ing i , bu by ac i ely engaging wi h i and connec ing i o wha hey al eady
know. In o he wo ds, a lea ne ’s cu en knowledge is challenged and h ough in e ac ion
wi h o he people and wi h he b oade en i onmen he lea ne cons uc s new knowledge.
This is illus a ed g aphically in Figu e 1, which shows ha he gap exis ing be ween he
knowledge he lea ne cu en ly possesses and he knowledge he lea ne mus acqui e is
b idged by ha ing o comple e a challenging p ojec in a eam se ing. The lec u e s’ ole is o
sca old he s uden s’ lea ning.
The PBL Cou se S uc u e
The PBL cou se in oduced as pa o he hi d yea compu e science and so wa e
enginee ing deg ee p og am is called “Real Wo ld So wa e Enginee ing G oup P ojec ” [2].
The educa ional objec i e o he cou se is o de elop s uden s’ so wa e enginee ing p ocess
skills. These skills include equi emen s elici a ion and analysis, a chi ec u al design, es ing
and p ojec managemen . The cou se emphasises he How (p ocess) a he han he Wha
(p oduc ) o he so wa e de elopmen p ocess. No single so wa e de elopmen p ocess is
ad oca ed, bu s uden s a e guided in iden i ying key so wa e enginee ing ac i i ies, which
hey mus piece oge he hemsel es o success ully comple e he p ojec . To achie e his
equi es hei wo king as a eam o in es iga e and s udy ele an opics such as p ojec
managemen , so wa e enginee ing, da abases, ne wo k secu i y and clien -se e
p og amming. Each s uden documen s hei indi idual jou ney o disco e y in he o m o a
e lec i e jou nal in which hey no e ac s, opinions and de ailed conside a ions.
Teams o ou s uden s a e o med. Team membe s a e selec ed so ha academically
weake s uden s will gain he ad an age o wo king wi h hei academically s onge pee s. A
modula so wa e p ojec is assigned o each g oup. A ypical p ojec migh be he
de elopmen o a comple e E-comme ce web si e o he de elopmen o an email access
po al.
Cou se Du a ion 12 weeks
Con ac ime wi h men o s 4 hou s pe week
Independen lea ne s udy ime 4 hou s pe week
To al a ailable p ojec ime o each eam 384 hou s
Table 1: B eakdown o cou se imes
The cou se is p esen ed based on wha we call Pai wise Men o ing, whe e wo men o s
p esen he cou se in andem. Table 1 explains he b eakdown o g oup p ojec ime. The
weekly con ac ime wi h men o s is concen a ed in a single hal -day session o gi e he
s uden s a ela i ely long pe iod o unin e up ed ime o wo k oge he and o p o ide hem
wi h an oppo uni y o mee he clien s (men o s) unde con olled condi ions. A endance is
compulso y o he i s hou , a e which he s uden s a e ee o choose a loca ion ha bes
sui s hei cu en so wa e p ocess ac i i y. The men o s exploi he compulso y hou o
guide s uden s in co e issues, such as p ojec managemen , how o un mee ings and analysis
o p og ess made.
In summa y, he e o e, he co e p inciples o PBL a e [3]:
• Lea ning akes place wi hin he con ex 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;
• The PBL 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 and no s uc u ed sequence o assigned eadings;
• PBL 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 is aimed a inc easing mo i a ion o li e-long lea ning.
Assessmen
Assessmen o small g oup PBL p ojec s is a challenge, pa icula ly whe e he indi idual
con ibu ion o each s uden mus be g aded. The PBL pa adigm s esses he impo ance o
assessmen and ha pu e eam-based assessmen migh be a disad an age o he s onge
New Knowledge and Skills
Cu en S uden Knowledge
So wa e Enginee ing Ac i i ies
Team Wo k
Lec u e and pee suppo
Reading Resou ces
Figu e 1: S uden s build on hei exis ing knowledge by being
challenged by new so wa e enginee ing ac i i ies.
s uden s and equally be abused by weake s uden s. The au ho s he e o e implemen ed a
mix u e o eam and indi idual assessmen echniques, assigning 70% o he ma ks o g oup
wo k and 30% o indi idual wo k.
The assessmen p ocedu e aimed o assess h ee g oups o skills. To assess each skills
g oup, a ious assessmen echniques we e employed and s a membe s o he han he
men o s we e in ol ed. The skill g oups and assessmen echniques can be summa ised as
ollows:
1. Implemen a ion skills: abili y o implemen a so wa e design speci ica ion and o
p oduce so wa e documen a ion based on bes p ac ice. The assessmen was based on
he deli e ed p oduc and ele an documen a ion (30% o inal ma k).
2. Teamwo k and leade ship skills: abili y o ope a e 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. The
assessmen was based on a g oup p esen a ion and indi idual in e iew (40% o inal
ma k).
3. Analy ical hinking, p oblem sol ing and in e -pe sonal skills: abili y o hink h ough
a p oblem, analyse a si ua ion, deal wi h p essu e and communica e wi h he clien s.
The assessmen was based on an indi idual e lec i e jou nal and eedback o ms (pee
and sel e alua ion o ms) (30% o inal ma k).
Bene i s o he app oach
Bene i s o Small G oup P oblem-Based Lea ning
Fo S uden s Fo Indus y Fo Uni e si y
• Finding wo k placemen s
is easie
• Be e -p epa ed o inal
yea caps one p ojec
• Acqui e essen ial
managemen skills
• Sui s lea ne s who p e e
sol ing eal-wo ld
p oblems o e a pe iod o
ime a he han being
assessed in a single end-
o -yea exam
• Resou ce ul, sel -
mo i a ed s uden s
• Expe ience o eam
en i onmen
• Expe ience o wo king o
igh ime deadlines
• Easie assimila ion in o
he wo kplace
• Mo i a es s uden s o ake
mo e in e es in compu e
science and so wa e
enginee ing subjec s
• P o ides a mo e au hen ic
assessmen ool
• Allows s uden s o apply
heo y in a p ac ical way
• Issues a ise in he p ocess
ha migh no a ise in
con en ional classes
Concluding ema ks
The success o small g oup PBL in de eloping so wa e enginee ing skills is e lec ed in
he posi i e eedback ecei ed om bo h he s uden s and om indus ial pa ne s who
pa icipa e in he 3 d yea wo k-placemen p og am. S uden s exp ess hei enjoymen o he
cou se despi e he amoun o wo k in ol ed, and ound hemsel es be e p epa ed o hei
subsequen indus ial wo k placemen s. Examples o he wo k conduc ed by he s uden s
include de elopmen o he i s uni e si y eP in s a chi e in I eland, de elopmen o a web
po al o an I ish go e nmen p ojec (Muin i na Ti e) and de elopmen o he Dublin
Neighbou hood Wa ch websi e.
Con ac De ails
Declan Delaney, el: (01) 7083354 email: [email protected]
Bibliog aphy
[1] IEEE-CS/ ACM SWEEP (Compu e Socie y o he Ins i u e o Elec ical and Elec onic Enginee s /
Associa ion o Compu ing Machine y So wa e Enginee ing Educa ion P ojec ) - The So wa e
Enginee ing Educa ion P ojec (SWEEP) websi e: h p://www.acm.o g/se ing/se/SWEE.h m
[2] J. D. Delaney and G. G. Mi chell, ‘PBL applied o So wa e Enginee ing G oup P ojec s,’ In e na ional
Con e ence on In o ma ion and Communica ion in Educa ion, ISBN 84-95251-70-0, pp. 1093-1098, 13-16
No embe 2002, Badajoz, Spain.
[3] Wo king G oup on P oblem Based Lea ning, Ellis A.(chai ), “Resou ces, Tools, and Techniques o
P oblem Based Lea ning in Compu ing,” ITiCSE 1998, Dublin, I eland, pp41-56.