Evaluating an Early Software Engineering Course with Projects and Tools from Open Source Software

摘要

We developed a software engineering course that emphasizes code maintenance and evolution by having students reverse engineer and modify open-source projects. To evaluate whether this course had the desired effects on student learning, we analyze pre- and post-course survey data using qualitative methods. This analysis, in combination with other data, suggests that the students gained an appreciation and understanding of software maintenance, documentation, and tool use.