Communications of the ACM
Researchers Hope to Transform Software Engineering Training
The high rate of failure of software projects indicate a glaring need to rethink how software engineers are trained and managed, says Dragutin Petkovic, professor and chair of San Francisco State University's Computer Science Department.
Credit: San Francisco State University
San Francisco State University researchers hope to improve the effectiveness of software engineering teams by learning what causes them to fail. "Failures in communication, organization, and teamwork are the primary cause of problems in software engineering," says SF State professor Dragutin Petkovic. He says the high rate of failure points to a need to rethink how software engineers are trained and managed, to ensure they develop the teamwork skills necessary to thrive in the working world.
Petkovic is leading a study to determine what affects whether software engineering teams succeed and use that information to develop new software models that can objectively predict whether a team is likely to fail. He says the project will be the first to objectively and quantitatively measure the future success of a team. "You could then use this 'early prediction' to adjust your teaching and help potentially failing teams," Petkovic says.
As part of the study, researchers will collect data, such as how often team members email each other or meet, how much time they spend coding, and how long it takes for problems to get resolved.
From SF State News
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