Improving software project management skills using a softwareproject simulator

摘要

Software project management skills are becoming an importantcomponent of software engineering education. Software engineers workingin teams need to carefully plan and coordinate their efforts in order tobe successful. Unfortunately, most universities provide inadequateeducation in software project management. Most use lecture-basedapproaches which provide the necessary steps in software projectmanagement, but are deficient in providing the students with hands-onexperience. Software project simulation provides a bridge betweencourse-based and hands-on experience. It provides an interactiveenvironment of repeatable exercises. It also provides a medium formeasurable evaluation of student performance which can be used tocustomize the education process to fit the needs of individual students.Our work focuses on using system dynamics modeling for simulatingsoftware development activities because of its ability to dynamicallyrepresent relevant project attributes in the software developmentprocess. A system dynamics model of the incremental software developmentprocess has been developed and validated. This paper describes a processfor utilizing this system dynamics model to create simulationenvironments suitable for addressing specific education objectives.Benefits and guidelines for use of a tool of this kind are provided. Ourexperience with using this tool in a large class is also described