Software Engineering is far more than programming and requirements specifications. In the SWEBOK , software engineering is denfied through 15 diferent disciplines and topics also covering soft skills such as project management and inter cooperation between teams. Problem Based Learning, PBL, is a pedagogical learning approach used amongst others at AAU. This paper discusses how PBL can support software engineering and provide soft skills called for in industry and investigates how Ph.D. students with a traditional software engineering background understand and perceive PBL. The p aper is based on a case study prepared as a part of the European Erasmus Project Paths Ways to Ph.D. In this project skills in software engineering has been exchanged and developed for the target countries Russia and Jordan as a way to support their process of developing Ph.D. programs in software engineering.
• Social and professional topics~Software engineering education
Software engineering is a discipline with a broad definition and
includes numerous competence areas. Moreover software
engineering has an application oriented focus, which incorporates
theories and methodologies from many different disciplines
within engineering, science and economics. If looking at the
Guide to the Software Engineering Body of Knowledge [
The interdisciplinary and application oriented focus of software
engineering challenges the traditional teacher centred learning
methods, as hands-on experience is crucial for developing
competences within software engineering. The software
engineering industry demands that software engineers have skills
of creativity, problem solving, analytic, cooperative, and
interpersonal skills [
This paper discuss how these challenges can be met by the use of alternative methods of teaching with less focus on one-way teaching, which better can activate. The paper reports on the experiences with project-oriented problem-based learning (POPBL or PBL) as an inherent pedagogy within software engineering in the two-year ERASMUS+ project Joint Programs and Framework for Doctoral Education in Software Engineering, pws@phd. More precisely, the paper analyses how the Ph.D students participating in the project have found the PBL useful for their Ph.D. work. The PBL ideology has been used throughout the project and has initiated new discussions amongst the participating partners and has placed focus on the “soft skills” in discussions about new Software Engineering Ph.D. programmes in Russia and Jordan.
Problem Based Learning, PBL, has in many years been used as the
primary teaching and learning form of active learning at
universities such as Aalborg University. PBL is a pedagogical
approach in which students work with authentic problems,
selfgoverned group work and collaborate in problem solving and
learning [
The paper is organized as follows: Section 2 outlines the analytical framework for the paper. In section 3, the pws@phd project is described in more detail to understand the foundation of the reporting. Section 4 describes the SWEBOK and how the skills achieved from Problem Based Learning are linked. The teaching and learning perspectives of the PBL approach and how they have been used in the project are described in section 5. Additionally, section 5 includes an overview of a survey which has been given to students in the project after taking classes in PBL. Section 6 discusses the learnings from the project and the conclusion.
Various versions of the technology adoption model, TAM [
According to this framework, the main factors affecting
performance of a particular technology are technology
characteristics and task characteristics, how these fit together and
how the technology is utilized (see Figure 1).
The technology-task fit framework, as well as many other TAM
models are created with the purpose of preparing a quantitative
analysis of the statistical relationship among the various factors
based on input from questionnaires. This approach will not be
applied in this case. Even though quantitative data have been
collected, they are not suitable for this kind of analysis. We will
therefore in this paper focus on a qualitative analysis.
A qualitative analysis has been made of data collected through
open-ended questions delivered in a survey. The participants
(students) were present in a school room while providing the
input to the survey which secured that all of them delivered the
survey. The survey results have afterwards been analysed for
perspectives and themes which have been raised by the students
and interpreted. This process is referred in [
The project has created a network of universities that all have expertise in various areas of Software Engineering. Russia and Jordan are so-called target countries for the project. The target countries have a limited number of degree programs in Software Engineering especially at the Ph.D. level, where no specific programmes are available.
The purpose of the project is therefore twofold: To make guidelines for the target countries with respect to internationalisation and creation of Software Engineering Programmes for PhDs; and to exchange knowledge and information on key areas within software engineering which can motivate content for the proposed Ph.D. Programmes. The exchange of knowledge and information takes place through the 7 intensive schools held by partner universities. The 7 intensive schools each represent knowledge areas and disciplines related to key areas in Software Engineering and for a typical knowledge and skills that a Ph.D. student within Software Engineering would need to acquire. The schools are organized through 2 weeks of intense course for Ph.D. students from the partner universities. The students can select which of the schools they would like to attend and therefore do not need to attend them all.
The topics for the seven intensive schools were: Research methods; Problem Based Learning; Advanced Software Engineering Methods and Tools; Math and Computing Foundation’s; Software Engineering Models and Modelling; Human Computer Interaction and Business and Economic Viewpoints. Details can be found at fase.it.lut.fi. During the project period the researchers involved in the project have conducted a number workshops and seminars to produce guidelines for the target countries with respect to how they should set-up Ph.D. programmes in Software Engineering and what the content could be. However, the actual implementation of the guidelines is highly dependent on the political and organizational set-up in the target countries, which is outside the scope of the project.
The goal of the project is to motivate the target countries to create Ph.D. students in software engineering with an understanding of the international education programmes and with skills that can create international possibilities and interest in them, as well as local industry relevance and possibilities. Local industries in Russia and Jordan call for specialized Software Engineering experts with international skill and knowledge.
A total of approximately 180 students has attended the 7 schools from the partner countries. Some of these (around 10) have attended more than one school.
The skills that are achieved by Problem Based Learning is applicable as skills in Software Engineering.
The Software Engineering and Systems Engineering Vocabulary
hosted by IEEE offers two different definitions: (1) “systematic
application of scientific and technological knowledge, methods,
and experience to the design, implementation, testing, and
documentation of software” (2) “application of a systematic,
disciplined, quantifiable approach to the development, operation,
and maintenance of software; that is, the application of
engineering to software”. (http://www.computer.org/sevocab).
The latter is the definition referred to in the widely recognized
SWEBOK. The major difference between the two definitions is the
focus on a quantifiable approach. It should however be noted that
SWEBOK includes qualitative as well as quantitative methods.
The SWEBOK [
To promote a consistent view of software engineering worldwide To specify the scope of, and clarify the place of software engineering with respect to other disciplines such as computer science, project management, computer engineering, and mathematics To characterize the contents of the software engineering discipline 4. 5.
To provide a topical access to the Software Engineering Body of Knowledge To provide a foundation for curriculum development and for individual certification and licensing material. The 15 knowledge areas about software are (Bourquet and Fairley, 2014): 1. Requirements 2. Design 3. Construction 4. Testing 5. Maintenance 6. Configuration Management 7. Engineering Management 8. Engineering Process 9. Engineering Models and Methods 10. Quality 11. Engineering Professional Practice 12. Engineering Economics 13. Computing Foundations 14. Mathematical Foundations 15. Engineering Foundations.
The pws@phd project covers requirements (1), design (2),
construction (3), testing (4), models and methods (9), economics
and mathematical foundations (14) as well as engineering
management 7). For details about the content and definition of the
knowledge areas, see [
Generally, the SWEBOK covers multiple disciplines and
knowledge areas and many of these are related to: managing the
software process or parts of this process; involving and
understanding stakeholders of the software and the software
process; as well as cooperating between different disciplines. The
essence of these activities is creativity, cooperation, problem
solving and team work – all features of the PBL approach. More
formal, the SWEBOK includes the following non-technical skills
[
Problem based learning was first introduced at McMaster
University in Canada back in 1969 [
In this period two new universities were established in Denmark:
Roskilde University (RUC) in 1972 and Aalborg University (AAU)
in 1974. Here PBL was introduced as the main pedagogical model
for teaching right from the beginning. The model applied was a
further development of the case based PBL model introduced at
McMaster University, as the key learning activity was project
work carried out in groups. This variation of PBL can be denoted
Project Oriented Problem Based Learning. At Aalborg University
the basic principles of the PBLmodel are [
Project organization creates the framework of problembased learning Courses support the project work Cooperation is a driving force in problem-based project work The problem-based project work of the groups must be exemplary Students are responsible for their own learning achievements Each semester, the students must do a new project in collaboration with other students. They should spend half time working on project work and half time attending courses. A common theme for the projects is defined in the curriculum, but it is the task of the students to decide on their own topic, formulate a problem formulation for the project, and argue how this can be linked to the semester goals. Working with software engineering this often means a combination of many different skills is necessary to carry out the project. 5 PBL and SE Problem Based Learning is a key for working in interdisciplinary teams, finding new solutions and being creative. Essentially, these elements are sought when working with software engineering both in industry and at university level.
Within the project pws@phd, PBL has been taught at a school in
Copenhagen in 2016. At this school, Ph.D. students from partner
countries were taught about the principles of PBL and they tried
to work with PBL principles in order gain a better understanding
of their own research work in Software Engineering.
Furthermore, industrial representatives presented their views on
important skills for Ph.D. students going into industry. One of the
presenters from Microsoft, Denmark, pointed to team work and
the development of interpersonal, creative and problem-solving
skills as the most important skills of a software engineer. This is
backed up by [
In [
Sedelmaier and Landes (2014) developed a Software Engineering
Body of Skills (SWEBOS). Based on the hierarchy made in the
SWEBOK, [
At the intense school in Copenhagen in 2016, 25 Ph.D. students from the pws@phd project participated in an intense school with focus on problem-based learning and the link to software engineering. The school was organized by Aalborg University and took place during 2 weeks in August, 2016. A survey was distributed to the students during the intense school and after to understand which skills they achieved. The survey was formed as a collection of closed questions using a Likert scale and an option to write-in. Additionally, some questions were completely open for write in for the students. The students answered to the questionnaires during the school and on paper, which secured that all students participated. (however diefring answers for each question since some students did not answer to all questions) During the school, the students were experiencing a combination of diefrent teaching and learning forms: presentations about PBL from university staf; presentations from industrial representatives who came to talk about important skills to achieve as an engineer to work in industry; exercises and group work (exercising the PBL elements) on understanding software engineering and on producing abstracts and performing reviews as a process linked to be an academic and do disseminations. hTe PhD students particularly liked the presentations and the possibility to talk with industrial representatives. 17 out of 21 of the Ph.D. students were very satisfied or extremely satisfied with these visits and wanted to have more time and to get more insight into the companies. hTe PhD students liked the group work where they themselves should try out the principles of PBL in a small group work over a couple of days. Asked about how they liked the group work 16 out of 20 students were very satisfied or extremely satisfied with the group work and though it was a useful experience and that could add to insights on alternative perspectives on how the group participants thought about the topics. On top of this also some PhD students experienced that the dynamics of the group work was not so easy and that good group dynamics were extremely important for the performance and learning. hTe students were asked directly on which three elements from the first week, they found most interesting. eTh elements identified were: Group work (13 students wrote that); abstract exercise (11 students); company visits (9 students) – additionally, the students mentioned that they liked the networking, teamwork, the learning process, communication with other PhD students.
In the second week, the students were asked to work with the
concept of wicked problems [
When asking the students about the skills they thought they acquired during the school, they mentioned the following perspectives:
hTinking outside the box Time management Knowledge sharing Presentation training Working in groups Discussions Understanding of problem solving and problem formulation Beter understanding of PhD in other countries Understanding wicked problems Relevance for PhD students to enhancing skills regarding thesis work Reacting calm to criticism Communication
Solving problems through game strategy. hTese skills link very well to the topics which were covered and exercised during the intense school.
Analysing the data and the number of answers received in each category, there can be identiefid the following overall themes relating to the survey answers and to which skills the students think they have acquired during the Problem-Based Learning school:
Team and group working skills Language skills Understanding wicked problems Presentation skills Problem Solving
Creativity and critical thinking intense school only lasted 2 weeks, the students could not acquire skills in project planning or in understanding of practical, complex problems.
Generally, there is a call for soft skills within software
development. As already mentioned, Ahmed et al (2012) have
analysed more than 500 advertisements for IT positions and have
looked at which soft sk ills are demanded. Communication skills is
the absolute highest demand in all adds. After this follows
interpersonal skills, analytic and problem-solving skills and team
players.
[
hTis paper has focused on understanding how Ph.D. students who generally come from a traditional Software Engineering background can understand the need for also acquiring soft skills for use in future works. From the empirical study carried out, it is clear that the students during the intense course in Problem Based Learning have acquired skills within a number of relevant soft skills categories. hTe paper shows that Problem Based L earning train students’ skills in important soft skills relating to soft ware development. hTe soft skills are important for the students to become a full member of organisations where software development is being exercised.
Based on the experiences from the project pws@phd, it can be concluded that such a project has potential and significance to exchange knowledge and skills for the future software engineers. hTere is a high likelihood that the software engineering Ph.D.s who have participated in schools during the project period, has a higher chance to understand the requirements and needs for becoming internationally compliant software engineers by acquiring early understanding also on soft skills.
The authors of the paper appreciate students’ participation in the survey. The paper is made as part of an Erasmus+ K2 grant. • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • hTese themes were covered more or less as topics and experience working with the Problem-based Learning principles. Since the