Using a Model Framework In Developing and Delivering a Family of Software Engineering Project Courses

• Authors: Daniel Port;Barry Boehm
• Venue: CSEET '01 Proceedings of the 14th Conference on Software Engineering Education and Training
• Year: 2001

USC teaches a 2-semester real-client project course as a core course in USC's MSCS-SE degree program. The course has evolved rapidly, each year introducing many changes in order to satisfy the course stakeholder's win conditions. The course has also been our primary experimental testbed for evolving our MBASE model Integration framework. In turn this framework along with the CRESST cognitive demands analysis has served as an effective means of managing the course's rapid evolution. A further test of the framework has been its application to undergraduate software engineering project courses at other institutions. This paper provides a description .and examples of USC's experience in constructing and evolving a family of software engineering project courses based on the MBASE software engineering model integration framework. A discussion of course needs, use of software engineering models, a description of MBASE, use of the CRESST model of learning objectives, course development and experiences are presented. The approach has been used successfully at Columbia University and to a lesser degree at other institutions. Much of the current and historical materials and resources described herein are freely available for educational use.