Observations on relationships between initial professional education for software engineering and systems engineering-a case study

This paper identifies some strong similarities between software engineering and systems engineering based on the experiences of creating a programme of initial professional education for systems engineers at the request of a major UK-based defence contractor. The paper uses the analysis of the requirements for initial professional education for software engineers put forward by Ford and Gibbs (1996) and describes some clear relationships between the teaching and learning requirements for the two subjects. Evidence is provided to show that the context, in terms of the indicators of professional maturity of the two disciplines is comparable. It is also shown that the skills needed are very similar and there are common knowledge areas (a fact already noted in the SWEBOK Stoneman draft). It is, therefore, suggested that aspects of the teaching approach used in the successful systems engineering course may be applicable for the initial professional education of software engineers. The paper explains the requirements and constraints for the systems engineering course and outlines the educational philosophy adopted, indicating how prior software engineering experience (practice and teaching) was used to guide the approach taken. Relevant experiences gained from running the course are summarised and some of the lessons that have been learned are evaluated for their potential application to software engineering