Continuous Curriculum Restructuring in a Graduate Software Engineering Program

Abstract

The development, maintenance and delivery of a software engineering curriculum present special challenges not found in other engineering disciplines. The continuous advances of the field of software engineering impose a high frequency of changes reflected in the curriculum and course content. This chapter describes the challenges of delivering a program meeting the needs of industry and students. It presents the lessons learned during 21 years of offering such a program, and dealing with issues pertaining to continuous curriculum and course content restructuring, the influence of the student body on the curriculum and course content. The chapter concludes with our recommendations for those who are seeking to create a graduate program in software engineering, with a special note on the situations where an undergraduate and graduate program will need to coexist in the same department.