Gregory W. Hislop

The use of bibliometric and knowledge elicitation techniques to map a knowledge domain: Software Engineering in the 1990s

SummaryParallel mappings of the intellectual and cognitive structure of Software Engineering (SE) were conducted using Author Cocitation Analysis (ACA), PFNet Analysis, and card sorting, a Knowledge Elicitation (KE) method. Cocitation counts for 60 prominent SE authors over the period 1990 - 1997 were gathered from SCISEARCH. Forty-six software engineers provided similar data by sorting authors’ names into labeled piles. At the 8 cluster level, ACA and KE identified similar author clusters representing key areas of SE research and application, though the KE labels suggested some differences between the way that the authors’ works were used and how they were perceived by respondents. In both maps, the clusters were arranged along a horizontal axis moving from “micro” to “macro” level R&D activities (correlation of X axis coordinates = 0.73). The vertical axis of the two maps differed (correlation of Y axis coordinates = -0.08). The Y axis of the ACA map pointed to a continuum of high to low formal content in published work, whereas the Y axis of the KE map was anchored at the bottom by “generalist” authors and at the top by authors identified with a single, highly specific and consistent specialty. The PFNet of the raw ACA counts identified Boehm, Basili, and Booch as central figures in subregions of the network with Boehm being connected directly or through a single intervening author with just over 50% of the author set. The ACA and KE combination provides a richer picture of the knowledge domain and provide useful cross-validation.

Holistic Software Engineering Education Based on a Humanitarian Open Source Project

For the past year, Trinity College has utilized Sahana, a free and open source disaster management system, as a foundation to teach software engineering. The goals of the use of the Sahana project are threefold: to provide students with a real-world software engineering experience; to introduce students to the open-source development model; and to attract a wider variety of students into computing due to the real-world and humanitarian nature of the Sahana project. This paper discusses an approach for using open source software as a foundation to teach software engineering in a Liberal Arts environment by involving students in an ongoing, real-world project from the very beginning, allowing students with a wide range of backgrounds to participate. Results of a learning survey of a small group of students who have participated in the project are presented. The paper also provides guidance to others contemplating incorporating open source projects into their software engineering courses or curriculum.

Integrating Agile Practices into Software Engineering Courses

Agile software development methodologies are gaining popularity in industry although they comprise a mix of accepted and controversial software engineering practices. It is quite likely that the software industry will find that specific project characteristics will determine the prudence of using an agile or a plan-driven methodology – or a hybrid of the two. Educators must assess the value and applicability of these emerging agile practices and decide what role they have in software engineering curricula. This paper provides a brief overview of several agile methodologies, including a discussion of evaluative research of agile practices in academia. The paper also considers instructional issues related to agile methods and the impact of agile methodologies on existing curricular references such as SWEBOK.

Evaluating student experiences in developing software for humanity

Student involvement in Humanitarian Free and Open Source Software (HFOSS) projects holds the potential to provide a rich education experience to undergraduates. This paper discusses educational use of HFOSS including identification of the potential for HFOSS to impact curricula, an overview of an implementation of HFOSS in education and a description of an evaluation framework that includes measures of success of such a program. The paper also presents results from initial surveys of students involved in HFOSS development in several U.S. academic institutions. The paper concludes with a discussion of work in progress.

An approach for evaluating FOSS projects for student participation

Free and Open Source Software (FOSS) offers a transparent development environment and community in which to involve students. Students can learn much about software development and professionalism by contributing to an on-going project. However, the number of FOSS projects is very large and there is a wide range of size, complexity, domains, and communities, making selection of an ideal project for students difficult. This paper addresses the need for guidance when selecting a FOSS project for student involvement by presenting an approach for FOSS project selection based on clearly identified criteria. The approach is based on several years of experience involving students in FOSS projects.

Support for Educating Software Engineers Through Humanitarian Open Source Projects

The net generation of students have characteristics which make them well-suited for participating in open source projects including being comfortable with information technologies, using IT as a form of communication, desiring to work in groups, a desire to do social good, and being fascinated by new technologies. The nature of open source projects where communities of developers from around the world collaborate to create useful applications are a natural fit for this generation of students. Humanitarian open source projects can serve as a solid foundation for providing software engineering education to the net generation of students. This paper discusses the initial stages of SoftHum, a project for developing course materials to support undergraduate involvement in humanitarian open source projects.

Using open source software to engage students in computer science education

This panel will discuss issues and methods for incorporating free and open source software (FOSS) in computer science education. The panelists are investigating approaches to student participation in FOSS that produce results that are contributed to the FOSS community and actually used by others.

Anytime, Anyplace Learning in an Online Graduate Professional Degree Program

This paper describes experiences at Drexel University with use of an Asynchronous Learning Network to provide an online graduate degree for information systems professionals. Students in this program never gather for face-to-face classes but students and faculty engage in an active learning experience online. This paper provides an overview of the projects fundamental strategies, presents some evaluation data relevant to these strategies, and concludes with some observations based on the project experience.

Guidance for the development of software engineering education programs

Abstract In this paper, we discuss issues and ideas that can improve the undergraduate education of software engineers. We submit that a key impediment to the advancement of software engineering education is the lack of guidance and support for the development of new courses and curricula. We discuss the work and results of a project to create a set of Guidelines for Software Engineering Education . We outline the content of the Guidelines , describe how they relate to recent and current professional activities to improve the practice of software engineering, and discuss future plans for their development.

Does teaching online take more time

Many instructors feel that teaching online takes more time, but there is relatively little data available on this issue. This paper discusses a study that involves detailed recording of instructor time in online and traditional course sections to support a comparison between the two modes of delivery. The presentation describes the study approach and problems encountered in trying to get an accurate picture of instructor time. The presentation also includes results of an analysis of instructor time for a series of course section pairs. Each section pair includes one online and one face-to-face section of the same course taught by the same faculty member. The data provides some general support for the notion that teaching online may take more time than teaching face-to-face. However, the amount of difference tends to be small, and there are some indications that this relationship between teaching mode and time is more complicated than generally assumed.