A software engineering curriculum model

The development of software engineering programs is a formidable undertaking. Undergraduate software engineering curricula are currently at an "early adopter" stage and few schools are willing to risk developing a whole new program (or completely overhauling an existing program). There are serious problems for the development of such programs: the software engineering profession is immature; there is confusion about the difference between computer science and software engineering; there is a lack of understanding and appreciation among computer science faculty about the need for software engineering education; there is little available material on curriculum guidance; and there are currently no accredited programs in software engineering. For a number of years the WGSEET (Working Group on Software Engineering Education and Training) has been working to advance the state of software engineering and training. A recent effort has been the development of a set of guidelines that would assist faculty in developing software engineering programs. In this paper we describe a "curriculum model" that is an outgrowth of the guidelines work of the WGSEET. The curriculum model supports the development of a variety of degree programs which emphasize and focus on software engineering (e.g., software engineering, computer science, information systems, and computer engineering). The model provide an overall architecture, a set of design guidelines, descriptions of software engineering curriculum content that can be used to design courses and curricula, and several sample curricula.