Engineering education innovation with software engineering projects

This paper discusses the development of software engineering class projects that have produced tools which have been used to enrich the educational experience of engineering students, the end users of the software. The projects have involved the creation, maintenance and evolution of software that helps the students determine their major, understand their learning style, develop a semester-by-semester plan of study, and formulate a class schedule each semester. The evolution of the structure of the software engineering project process is first presented. Having “internal” clients (i.e. those who are employees of the university) for projects that directly benefit engineering students is then compared to having “external” clients. The benefits gained by all stakeholders through these projects and data supporting the satisfaction levels of those stakeholders is presented. Finally, there is a discussion of funded research projects that have been spun off from of these projects, and the plans for the further educational software development through these grants.