Lessons Learned from Designing and Implementing Team Project Work in a Software Engineering Course

Abstract

Team project work is an essential and integral component of software engineering courses for learning practical skills. Agile process models are widely used in the industry for software development. However, setting up project work based on agile process models can be challenging, primarily due to the sequencing of topic coverage in lecture sessions that does not prepare the teams to complete the first sprint early in the semester. This paper presents the design of the project work structure used in a course offering and its implementation. The paper includes the findings from the student feedback and recommendations, which assist faculty members in setting up project work in their course offerings, enable students to gain practical experience in software engineering, and to develop essential skills that will prepare them for the industry.