Integrating Software Process in Computer Science Curriculum

Software process planning, evaluation and modification of development activities based on metrics and measurement must be integrated into the computer science curriculum if it is to stay apace with the needs of modern software organizations. We developed software process activities and implemented them in a laboratory in conjunction with the third course of the computer science major. Students used practices such as postmortem analysis and measurementbased planning to gain control over their program development activities. Students kept electronic design notebooks that included pre/post surveys and postmortems on activities. Students used the data from their programming projects, collected during reviews and postmortems, in planning the next project. We used cognitive apprenticeship techniques so that students could not only understand the concepts but be able to apply them. At the end of the course surveys of the students indicated that they had a) understood the software process concepts, b) changed their own practices, c) appreciated the value of such practices and d) increased their commitment to a software engineering career. The laboratory developed in this project is not tied to a particular content but is generally applicable to any course with programming projects.