Curious software engineering experience

Abstract

It is paramount for software engineers to develop the skills and background necessary to effectively work, communicate and innovate on an international scale. Our growing global world needs an increasingly diverse workforce. The effects of the globalization have been felt in the software engineering arena through software engineering projects realized by diverse professionals located in different continents with different industrial background, culture, time zone, and even language. During 2014 and 2015, Kennesaw State University (KSU) faculty from Marietta, GA, USA traveled to La Salle University in Arequipa, Peru to deliver special Software Engineering (SWE) winter programs. The programs provided opportunities to study the student's understanding of software engineering terms, knowledge, and practices in two different international arenas, KSU and La Salle. This paper discusses details and results of the winter programs executed by KSU bi-lingual faculty to La Salle participants with limited English understanding. A cycle of knowledge building emerged from the two cultures in the preparation and execution of the courses. The student participants aligned their knowledge and understanding of their Latin American software engineering practices to the new perspective given in the program. The experience educated faculty and participants of the agreements, differences, and challenges to the software architecture and game development curriculum, terminology, and development trends. The process of the collaborative knowledge distribution and assimilation that was built and experienced in the courses was surveyed with the student's views about pre-understandings, personal comprehension, opinions and final assimilation of the course content.