Comparison of frontal lecture and workshop learning arrangements in a software engineering education project

The increase in complexity of software and its creation over the last decades requires an increase in the quality of the education of software engineering professionals. The number of Universities which answer this call by replacing or extending lectures with simulated software projects is constantly rising. However, the question how to best transfer new technological knowledge needed to be successful within this projects to the students remains open. Therefore this paper will present a comparison between the classical frontal lecture and a modern workshop learning arrangement used within these projects. By the use of workshops not only the knowledge transfer but also the acquisition of personal and social competences will be facilitated. Furthermore positive experiences with workshops at university level will support life-long learning.