Teaching Software Quality in an Interdisciplinary Course of Engineering

Abstract

The undergraduate course in Software Engineering that was created in the University of Brasilia is the first undergraduate level course of this nature in Brazil. The focus of this program is on the development and on the quality of software and it is based on models for improvement of the software development process such as the Capability Maturity Model Integrated (CMMI) and the Reference Model of the Program for the Improvement of Brazilian Software Process (MR-MPS) and on the recommendations provided by specialized documents such as Software Engineering Education Knowledge (SEEK). It contains disciplines covering the main processes, methods and techniques of software development. The Software Engineering (SE) curriculum is composed of: (a) a common core of disciplines (shared with the other three engineering programs), (b) a set of disciplines for overall training in SE, (c) a set of optional disciplines that allow the student to pursue a specific area within the field of SE, (d) a set of complementary disciplines, and (e) other activities that generate credit. The pedagogical objective of this combination is to allow flexibility, enabling multi and interdisciplinary compositions that empower students to be co-responsible for their overall course and particular area of interest. In this context, the graduates will be able to use their newly-acquired knowledge in SE to define and apply a systematic, disciplined and quantifiable approach in the development, operation and maintenance of software, i.e., to apply engineering principles to software construction.