Professionalism In The First Year Of A Software Engineering Curriculum

Professionalism is an important part of any subject of study where graduates subsequently move into a professional career following their degree course. Most professional bodies therefore require accredited degree programmes to include this topic in the curriculum. The British Computer Society gives guidelines to institutions in the UK. These guidelines have been followed in the construction of the current Software Engineering Curriculum in the Department Of computer Science at the University of Sheffield. However it is unclear how effective the current form of presentation is. This report seeks to investigate this and look to possible ways of improving the presentation, particularly in the first year. I conclude that the most important factor in teaching professionalism; is the professionalism of the teachers. Students seem to learn these skills best by example, and therefore the greatest improvements are likely to be found by implementing common standards for teaching practice across the syllabus.