Developing and using a web-based project process throughout the software engineering curriculum

In order to facilitate the study and use of software process, which is essential to the education of future software professionals, a standard and tailorable project process has been developed over the last five years at Texas Tech University for use in both undergraduate and graduate curricula, with a total of 12 courses involved. The process is entirely web-based, and includes a complete set of HTML document templates in order to facilitate the creation of project artifacts which are posted to the course web page. This method enhances communication between team members, including distance education students, and between the project team and client. The project process has received positive feedback from all stakeholders involved. This paper discusses the benefits of the web-based project process, its relation to curriculum models, and plans for a more formal assessment of the process. The portability of process to other institutions is also discussed, with an example provided involving the software engineering courses at the Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology.