Measuring Broader Impact of NSF-funded Project on Software Engineering Education

摘要

The body of knowledge appropriate for undergraduate software engineering program encompasses both theoretical and practical aspects. The knowledge areas (KA) in the 2014 IEEE/ACM Software Engineering Curriculum Guidelines are imperative for undergraduate education and the subsequent professional career. However, due to the lack of active learning tools and the dearth of engaged student learning, software engineering education may not be effectively delivered, resulting in non-coverage by the instructors or non-retention by the students of the required software engineering knowledge area. A three years NSF TUES grant awarded to the authors institute in 2013 has specifically addressed these pedagogical issues. The project which involved partnerships in academia and industry developed 44 delivery contact hours of new Active Learning Tools, deployed to enhance knowledge delivery and retention in Software Verification and Validation (SV&V), specifically in these four focus areas: requirements management, software review, configuration management, and software testing. In this paper the authors address NSF broader impacts in relation to the project. The paper describes the Active Learning Tools and briefly discusses outcome assessments. It presents student testimonials on how the Active Learning Tools effectively helped them understand knowledge areas. The mobilization of industry and academic partners, the execution of project tasks, the iterative framework used for the development, and the flipped classroom delivery strategy used for engaged learning are also discussed. The paper presents the impact achieved through effective dissemination via workshops and project websites to 31 academic implementation partner institutions, as well as scholarly publications. In conclusion the paper discusses the broader impacts of the NSF funded project on software verification and validation curriculum in undergraduate software engineering education.