Instruction in software project communication through guided inquiry and reflection

Software professionals routinely use sophisticated problem solving and design skills in their communication with one another and other stakeholders in the software process. We wish to introduce our computer science and software engineering students to the communication challenges of real software development and help them to develop skills to meet these challenges. We describe our guided inquiry approach to addressing communication in a team software project course. This course constitutes a crucial juncture in the academic journey of our students, where they learn and practice the full responsibilities of a software engineer, including "soft skills" like communication. Early in the course, we expose the students to real communication challenges that others have faced. Later, during their project development, we ask them to reflect on the communication challenges they are facing. We describe the guided inquiry techniques that scaffold the students\´ understanding of communication issues, and we outline our pattern approach to communication design. We provide some initial results from the classroom, following teams as they explore the communication practices of others and reflect on their own.