Engaging students in software development course projects

Abstract

This work seeks to contribute to software development education by motivating the use of engaging in-class and laboratory assignments. Ideally, these assignments should involve considerable student buy-in and should also evolve throughout the course to mimic real-world software development. Prior research is discussed, as well as several specific examples from two introductory programming classes. The ultimate contribution is a convincing argument to spend the extra effort to design better student projects.