Education and Training in Software Engineering

Abstract

Abstract Although the term “software engineering” has been widely used since the late 1960s, the question of whether to treat it as a distinct academic discipline has only been widely addressed since the early 1990s. The fact that there is a steadily increasing number of software engineering degree programs in colleges and universities throughout the world indicates that a greater (although still far from unanimous) acceptance of software engineering as a separate discipline of study. These software engineering degree programs first emerged at the master's level, and then more recently at the bachelor's and doctoral levels, in a process paralleling the development of computer science programs in the 1960s and 1970s. In both cases, the process began with the introduction of specialized elective courses in an existing curriculum. With computer science, as the body of knowledge grew, more courses were introduced, relationships among topics were better understood, textbooks were written, and better teaching methods were developed. Eventually, the fundamentals of computer science were codified in an undergraduate curriculum that provided the necessary skills to meet the increasing demand for computing practitioners, while the growth of computer science research and the demand for new faculty in the discipline led to doctoral programs in the field. Software engineering is currently following this same pattern. In addition, the evolution of software engineering has meant that industry and government both have a need to retrain workers from other fields as software engineers, as well as provide additional software engineering skills to current computing practitioners. Therefore, a variety of software engineering training courses and techniques has also been developed over the years. This article contains the following: A history of software engineering in academia The role of accreditation in various countries Various curriculum models that have been proposed The gap between academic education and professional knowledge required A list of some current software engineering degrees An overview of software engineering training issues and certificate programs University–industry collaboration and joint ventures in software engineering education Distance learning and Web‐based education in software engineering The role of professional issues in software engineering education Information on software engineering education conferences and publications