Personality types, learning styles, and an agile approach to software engineering education

This paper describes an initiative at North Carolina State University in which the undergraduate software engineering class was restructured in layout and in presentation. The change was made from a lecture-based coursed that followed the waterfall method to a lab-oriented course emphasizing practical tools and agile processes. We examine the new course layout from the perspective of Myers-Briggs personality types and FelderSilverman learning styles to discuss how the new software engineering class format appeals to a wide variety of students. The new course format resulted in some of the highest student evaluations in recent course history. It is now the standard for the undergraduate software engineering course at the university and has since been used in other North Carolina institutions. Categories and Subject Descriptors K.3.2. [Computing Milieux]: Computing and Information Sciences Education – computer science education General Terms Human Factors Keywords Software engineering...

• Type: Conference
• Year: 2006
• Where: SIGCSE
• Authors: Lucas Layman, Travis Cornwell, Laurie A. Williams
• Keywords: Education, SIGCSE 2006, Software Engineering, Software Engineering Class, Undergraduate Software Engineering