Requirements Engineering Project-Based Learning Model Using the Electronic Learning Software Engineering System (ELINS)

Doctoral Thesis / Dissertation from the year 2014 in the subject Computer Science - Software, grade: Pass, University of Technology, Malaysia (Faculty of Computing), course: Software Engineering Education, language: English, abstract: The success of software project depends on how well it fits the needs of its user and its environment. This research strongly believes that future Requirement Engineering (RE) engineers should have the necessary generic skills in order to improve the quality of producing Software Requirement Specification. The software industry claims that the software engineering graduates are not able to meet their requirements for employability. Thus, confronting the problems right from the Higher Learning Education level that lead to this disparity will save the software industry the cost of sending new employees for additional training. The objectives of this research are to develop new learning environment model that can be implemented in RE education; construct a prototype namely Electronic Learning Software Engineering System (ELINS) that allows the industry, educators and Software Engineering (SE) undergraduate students to actively communicate and collaborate; and measure the effectiveness of the proposed learning model in teaching RE and enhancing the generic skills of SE undergraduates. This research comprises of pilot and main study to gather the requirement from experience of software industry personnel before evaluating the students after they involve in experimental test. The interview findings from the pilot study provided inputs which guide this research to develop the actual questionnaire for the main study. The study discusses the factors, causes, expected attributes, and importance of allowing undergraduates to improve their generic skills through actual hands-on participation. Rasch Measurement Model's software, WinStep, is used to analyze the raw data. In experimental test, students are provided with opportunities to practise how to deliver the SRS by doing several case studies from the software industry. The analysis and results have shown a positive improvement of the generic skills among the students who were involved in the Requirement Engineering Project Based-Learning (RE PjBL) model environment compared to those who were taught the course by traditional methods with minimal cost. The results conclude that the RE PjBL which are facilitated by ELINS can enhance student's knowledge, skills and attitude effectively.