Facilitating Entrepreneurial Experiences through a Software Engineering Project Course

Abstract

Skills and competencies in entrepreneurship, such as the ability to generate innovative ideas and the courage to engage with stakeholders and society, have gained importance in engineering curricula. In this case study paper, we report on how we have integrated entrepreneurial experiences into a software engineering project course and made the creation of value and reflection on the application of a structured process the heart and soul of the course. Based on current research on entrepreneurship education as well as the definition of entrepreneurial competencies used by the European Union, we show how the learning objectives, the teaching moments, the integration of external stakeholders, and the assessment work together to create an entrepreneurial environment in which students are encouraged and rewarded to work in an entrepreneurial way. Based on data from reflection reports, course evaluations, and interviews we discuss the pros and cons of our approach and how the student perception and expectations often run counter to the motivations of the course design. We thus contribute guidance for other teachers based on our own experiences in relation to the findings of our peers.

Supporting Real Demands in Software Engineering with a Four Steps Project-Based Learning Approach

“…Burden et al [13] report a case study on how the integration of entrepreneurial experiences into a software engineering project course can benefit students to increase their teamwork skills and competencies. They discuss how to implement entrepreneurial experiences that focus on taking action and managing resources in agile software projects, making it possible to other SE educators to understand and even adopt specific course design aspects.…”

“…Working on real projects also support students to acquire entrepreneurial skills, such as communication, project management, and team-work. In this scenario, one of the challenges regarding the adoption of projects based on real-world problems is to find stakeholders with whom the students can cooperate and who are able and willing to invest necessary time and resources [12], [13]. Moreover, while entrepreneurship and PBL in SE education are burgeoning research topics, there seems to be very little work focusing on the pros and cons of involving external stakeholders in software engineering education.…”

“…Despite the benefits of PBL, there are some difficulties and lessons learned in the related literature regarding the application of PBL and verification of its results [9], [12], [13], [17]- [19]. Project-based learning does not have a fixed structure, making its implementation sometimes ad-hoc and opportunistic.…”

Cooperative Thinking: Analyzing a new framework for software engineering education

“…Indeed, there are also other reasons, like the necessity to tailor Individual Learning Plans, especially for students with special needs [39], although recent research showed that heterogeneous groups outperform homogeneous ones (also those composed by outstanding students) [19]. Surprisingly, educational approaches to convey computer science students with a broader set of skills (both of social and technical nature) are not rather uncommon in our community with few exceptions, such as [40,41]. Notably, Burden et al [41] provided insightful evidence, suggesting that Agile methods in project-based classes are an opportunity to experience entrepreneurial skills during software engineering classes.…”

“…Surprisingly, educational approaches to convey computer science students with a broader set of skills (both of social and technical nature) are not rather uncommon in our community with few exceptions, such as [40,41]. Notably, Burden et al [41] provided insightful evidence, suggesting that Agile methods in project-based classes are an opportunity to experience entrepreneurial skills during software engineering classes. The authors suggest that using Agile approaches in project-based courses stimulates opportunities for entrepreneurial experiences in software engineering courses, since they can be implemented in student projects to lead ideas into action.…”