The challenge of curriculum modeling for an emerging discipline: software engineering

There are several critical issues facing the area of software engineering as it moves towards being generally recognized as a distinct engineering discipline, including the formulation of a body of knowledge, the development of curriculum models, the accreditation of software engineering degree programs in higher education, the formulation of a code of ethics and professional practice for the discipline and the licensing of professional engineers in software engineering. All of these areas have major efforts currently going on, some of which affect only the United States, with others having global impact. One effort with possible worldwide ramifications is the Guidelines for Software Education currently being developed by the Working Group for Software Engineering Education and Training. The first task of the team the writing the Guidelines´ is to develop a detailed undergraduate software engineering curriculum model. This paper discusses how current efforts in other areas such as the body of knowledge, licensing and accreditation are impacting upon the formulation of the Guidelines. The second task of the Guidelines team is to show how software engineering fits within the larger concept of software education across computing disciplines. In this regard the Guidelines demonstrate how software engineering fits into computer science, computer engineering and software engineering curricula. This paper therefore also provides some background concerning developments in software education that have both inspired and impact the Guidelines.