Enhancing Software Development Project Courses Via Industry Participation

Many computer science departments offer a course that features a software development project where students work as part of a team. An objective of this type of course is to simulate an industrial development environment thereby allowing students to experience some of the dynamics that they will encounter after completion of their study. The accuracy of the simulation can be improved, and hence the educational experienced enhanced, by the incorporation of industry participation directly into the course. Difficulties in organising and administering the project in the context of industry participation can occur in practice, which serve to deter the incorporation.This paper motivates industry participation in a team project course by identifying the potential benefits for the students, some of which are implicit, and also those for the industry sponsor, lecturer and host academic institution. A methodology for incorporating industry participation, which can be employed to overcome the difficulties in achieving these benefits, is presented. A model for administering a team project course in the context of industrial participation, which includes the use of an intranet as an enabling technology, is also described. The methodology and model, which have been employed successfully, can be utilized to improve the quality of the educational experience resulting from team project software development courses.