Integrating risk management into an undergraduate software engineering course

Abstract

Risk management is one of the key practices of the Software Engineering Institute capability maturity model. The effective management of risk is crucial to the success of software projects. Much has recently been written concerning risk management in an industrial environment. One of the most useful documents is a risk management questionnaire developed by the Software Engineering Institute. The questionnaire consists of 194 questions that a software development team can use to identify risks in their project. Unfortunately very little has been written about the risks faced by undergraduate software development teams and how they might manage them. This paper describes the introduction of risk management in an undergraduate software engineering course. The course requires students to work in teams of 5-6 persons to develop a software application in a one-semester time frame following a systematic development process. An academic version of the Software Engineering Institute risk management questionnaire suitable for undergraduate teams is described. This questionnaire addresses the real risks that an undergraduate software development team is likely to face and is based on years of the authors' experience and that of others teaching these types of classes. The questionnaire and related risk forms and materials are described in detail as well as the authors' experience in using these materials with two classes.