Software engineering education: following a moving target

This paper presents the main lessons learned over 16 years in offering a graduate degree in software engineering at Monmouth University. It covers the challenges in delivering a program that meets the needs of industry and students in a highly dynamic field. The evolution of the curriculum induced by the continuous advances in the field and industry practice is presented. This evolution is an example of a transition from a "computer science curriculum with an engineering flavor", towards a software engineering curriculum. The special meaning of continuous course content development in software engineering is argued through issues pertaining to dated textbooks, ever-changing programming languages, operating systems, and software tools. The paper also presents our experience in dealing with the diversity of the student body, and its influence on the curriculum and course content. We conclude with the presentation of future directions for this program.