Teaching user interface development to software engineering and computer science majors

ABSTRACT

There is a critical need for timely and usable curriculum development materials for teaching user interface development to software engineering and computer science students. An updated version of the Software Engineering Institute's curriculum module on User Interface Development has been released. This paper provides an overview of the module, its history, and how it has been used.At the Software Engineering Institute (SEI) at Carnegie-Mellon University there is a Curriculum Development Project as part of the Education Program (Gibbs, 1989). A major goal of the curriculum development project is to devise model curricula and support-materials for teaching all topics in software engineering. For topics such as unit testing, software design, requirements analysis, and so on, there are curriculum modules to help teachers prepare courses. I have written, and recently revised, a module on User Interface Development (Perlman, 1989b), described in detail below. It has proven to be useful to all people interested in the teaching of user interface development to software engineers. Some of my experiences with the module are summarized in Perlman (1988).The module is not a book nor a course, but contains information to help others prepare short- or full-term courses on user interface development.

REFERENCES

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INDEX TERMS

Primary Classification:
  K. Computing Milieux
  K.3 COMPUTERS AND EDUCATION
      K.3.2 Computer and Information Science Education
          Subjects: Computer science education

Additional Classification:
  D. Software
  D.2 SOFTWARE ENGINEERING
      D.2.2 Design Tools and Techniques
          Subjects: User interfaces

  H. Information Systems
  H.1 MODELS AND PRINCIPLES
      H.1.2 User/Machine Systems
          Subjects: Human factors

General Terms:
Design, Human Factors