Addressing Communication Issues in Software Development: A Case Study Approach

Failure in communication between software developers and other stakeholders is a common cause of requirements deficiencies, cost overruns, and delays. It is difficult to present in a classroom setting the complexities that can cause such failures. To address this need, we have developed instructional case study material in software communication. We demonstrate how our cases expose students to situations they will confront outside the classroom, and how they provide opportunities for critiquing and devising communication strategies. We also describe our use of the cases, in a software engineering course and a technical communication course. We give initial results of an ongoing evaluation of the material´s effectiveness in the software engineering curriculum.