An Interactive Multimedia Software House Simulation for Postgraduate Software Engineers

Authors

  • Helen C. Sharp Computing Department, The Open University, Walton Hall, Milton Keynes, MK7 6AA
  • Pat Hall Computing Department, The Open University, Walton Hall, Milton Keynes, MK7 6AA

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.5334/2001-3

Keywords:

Educational multimedia, distance education, simulation,

Abstract

Abstract: The Open University's M880 Software Engineering is a postgraduate distance education course aimed at software professionals. About half of the course is taken up with standard teaching materials, and about half involves case studies which complement the standard materials. The case study element of the course (approximately 80 hours of study) explores various aspects of software engineering and is presented through an innovative interactive multimedia simulation of a software house Open Software Solutions (OSS). The student `joins' OSS as an employee and performs various tasks as a member of the company's project teams. In this paper, we present the background to the development, describe the multimedia and its use by students, and present the results of two evaluation efforts to date.

Editors: Patrick McAndrew (Open U., UK).

Reviewers: Yunwen Ye (U. Colorado, USA) and Demetrios Sampson (U. of Piraeus, Greece).

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Published

2001-06-04

Issue

Section

Articles