Experiential Learning Approach for Software Engineering Courses

Background: Software project management courses are becoming popular for teaching software engineering process models and methods. In order to be effective, this approach should be properly aligned with the learning outcomes. Common misalignments are caused by using an incorrect degree of realism or inappropriate support. Objective: Design, implement and evaluate a learning approach that helps students acquire knowledge (theoretical and practical) and enables them to solve similar challenges to the ones they will face in real-world software projects. Methods: Our proposed approach combines i) a serious game and ii) a design-implement task where the students face the development of a controlled-scale software development project. Students were required to plan and manage a software project according to its specification provided by the teachers. To evaluate the approach, we collected the student's perceptions through an online survey, analyzed the adherence of their project plans to a set of rubrics that drive the serious game, and analyzed the teams' reports submitted at the end of the course. Results: The students' perception suggests that the integrated approach promotes knowledge acquisition through practical learning, and reinforces the theoretical knowledge of the course, and that is aligned with the main learning outcomes of the course. Students were also able to reflect and make meaningful inferences about the application of theory in a real-life context. Conclusion: The experiential learning approach matches the intended objectives and reinforces a software project management course's theoretical knowledge. Our experience also points out insightful lessons for educators willing to apply such an integrated approach in software engineering curricula.