Practicum in software project management: an endeavor to effective and pragmatic software project management education

ABSTRACT

One of the key factors influencing project success or failure is project management. Unfortunately, effective management of software projects is not in practice; what is actually being practiced varies significantly from what is advised in the available literature. In order to improve performance in the field of software project management, there is a dire need to formally educate prospective project managers in both the theoretical and practical aspects of managing software projects. This paper focuses on the formulation and execution of Practicum in Software Project Management, a graduate course that aids students in learning practical aspects of software project management. This course has been a part of the Masters in Software Project Management curriculum at National University of Computer and Emerging Sciences (NUCES), Lahore, Pakistan since 2001. We discuss the course in light of the major software project management activities recommended in literature. A comparison of the course with the Portfolio, Program and Project Management Maturity Model (P3M3) has been done to allow us to 1) assess the maturity of this course in terms of software engineering project management processes, and 2) assist us in identifying and highlighting the areas needing further improvement in terms of teaching, practice and industry needs. The comparison is based on the key process areas applicable to our course and shows that Practicum in Software Project Management is 90% capable at the Repeatable and 81% capable at the Defined levels of the P3M3.

REFERENCES

• 1: Harry L. Reif , Michel Mitri, How university professors teach project management for information systems, Communications of the ACM, v.48 n.8, August 2005 [doi>10.1145/1076211.1076249]
• 2: June M. Verner , William M. Evanco, In-House Software Development: What Project Management Practices Lead to Success?, IEEE Software, v.22 n.1, p.86-93, January 2005 [doi>10.1109/MS.2005.12]
• 3: Dennis J. Hood , Cynthia S. Hood, Teaching software project management using simulations, Proceedings of the 11th annual SIGCSE conference on Innovation and technology in computer science education, June 26-28, 2006, Bologna, Italy
• 4: Joo Tan , John Phillips, Real-world project management in the academic environment, Journal of Computing Sciences in Colleges, v.20 n.5, p.200-213, May 2005
• 5: Dale Callahan , Bob Pedigo, Educating Experienced IT Professionals by Addressing Industry's Needs, IEEE Software, v.19 n.5, p.57-62, September 2002 [doi>10.1109/MS.2002.1032855]
• 6: Cusing, K., "Why projects fail", Computer Weekly, Nov 21, 2002.
• 7: IS 2002 Model Curriculum and Guidelines for Undergraduate Degree Programs in Information Systems, (www.acm.org/education/is2002.pdf).
• 8: IS '97 Model Curriculum and Guidelines for Undergraduate Degree Programs in Information Systems, (www.is-97.org/rev/Review1.asp)
• 9: Capers Jones, Patterns of Large Software Systems: Failure and Success, Computer, v.28 n.3, p.86-87, March 1995 [doi>10.1109/2.366170]
• 10: Robert B. Grady, Practical software metrics for project management and process improvement, Prentice-Hall, Inc., Upper Saddle River, NJ, 1992
• 11: Robert L. Glass, LOYAL OPPOSITION: Project Retrospectives, and Why They Never Happen, IEEE Software, v.19 n.5, p.112, September 2002 [doi>10.1109/MS.2002.1032872]
• 12: Project Management Institute, (www.pmi.org)
• 13: A Guide To The Project Management Body Of Knowledge (PMBOK Guides), Project Management Institute, 2004
• 14: PM Solutions, Project Management Maturity Model (PMMM), 2002.
• 15: Project Management Institute's Accredited Universities list, (http://www.pmi.org/prod/groups/public/documents/info/pdc_gac_accredited.asp)
• 16: MS in Software Management, Carnegie Mellon University West Coast Campus, (http://west.cmu.edu/prospective_students/software_management)
• 17: PM Solutions, Portfolio, Program and Project Management Maturity Model, Feb 2006. (http://www.pmsolutions.com/maturitymodel/opm3.htm)
• 18: Capability Maturity Model Integrated (CMMI), Ver 1.2, (http://www.sei.cmu.edu/cmmi/)
• 19: National University of Computer & Emerging Sciences, Lahore, Pakistan, "Masters in Software Project Management course outline" (http://www.nu.edu.pk/program-course.aspx?prg=msspm).
• 20: Software Engineering Management, SWEBOK: A Guide to the Software Engineering Body of Knowledge, 2004 IEEE Computer Society. (http://www.swebok.org/)
• 21: Ita Richardson , Allen E. Milewski , Neel Mullick , Patrick Keil, Distributed development: an education perspective on the global studio project, Proceedings of the 28th international conference on Software engineering, May 20-28, 2006, Shanghai, China [doi>10.1145/1134285.1134390]
• 22: Ita Richardson , Christiane Gresse von Wangenheim, Guest Editors' Introduction: Why are Small Software Organizations Different?, IEEE Software, v.24 n.1, p.18-22, January 2007 [doi>10.1109/MS.2007.12]
• 23: Richard E. Fairley , Mary Jane Willshire, Why the Vasa Sank: 10 Problems and Some Antidotes for Software Projects, IEEE Software, v.20 n.2, p.18-25, January 2003 [doi>10.1109/MS.2003.1184161]
• 24: Arthur B. Pyster , Richard H. Thayer, Guest Editors' Introduction: Software Engineering Project Management 20 Years Later, IEEE Software, v.22 n.5, p.18-21, September 2005 [doi>10.1109/MS.2005.137]
• 25: Mohammad A. Rob, Project Failures in Small Companies, IEEE Software, v.20 n.6, p.94-95, November 2003 [doi>10.1109/MS.2003.1241374]
• 26: Neville Holmes, The Data Doughnut and the Software Hole, Computer, v.39 n.6, p.100-99, June 2006 [doi>10.1109/MC.2006.211]
• 27: Robert L. Glass, Software Runaways: Lessons Learned from Massive Software Project Failures. 1998 Prentice Hall PTR.
• 28: Sana Gul, Kashif Shahzad, "Pilot Testing Software Engineering Management to University Academic Projects: Prototyping Processes Development and Implementation for Better Managing Academic Projects in Practicum", NUCES, Lahore, Dec 2006.

INDEX TERMS

Primary Classification:
  D. Software
  D.2 SOFTWARE ENGINEERING
      D.2.0 General

Additional Classification:
  K. Computing Milieux
  K.3 COMPUTERS AND EDUCATION
      K.3.2 Computer and Information Science Education
  K.6 MANAGEMENT OF COMPUTING AND INFORMATION SYSTEMS
      K.6.1 Project and People Management
          Subjects: Training

General Terms:
Management, Theory

Keywords:
assessment, education, maturity model, software engineering, software project management, training