Teaching Software Project Management

Abstract

Software project management is an inherent part of software engineering. While technical expertise is an important factor to complete a software product, knowledge and experience in project management are equally important. Teaching software project management is always a challenge. Most software engineering courses teach technical skills and knowledge on software development but lack project management guidance. On the other hand, project management courses taught by management faculty do not connect to technical activities. Therefore, a blend of technical and managerial skills must be taught together to train software engineers. This chapter describes the author's experience in teaching a graduate level software project management course with emphasis on blending technical and non-technical skills. The chapter includes the different modes/styles in which the course was taught, the challenges faced, the benefits gained, and the current status of the course.