Using community-based projects in software engineering education

Abstract

Over the past six years, Seattle University's Master of Software Engineering program has adopted a common community-based software engineering project as the basis for class projects in a sequence of required and elective courses. These related projects offer a unifying experience for students in the program, allow in-depth treatment of course topics on a real software project, address needs of local non-profit organizations, and better prepare the students for their professional careers through civic engagement and leadership.