Applying Competitive Bidding Games in Software Process Education

1. Applying Competitive Bidding Games in Software Process Education Guoping Rong, He Zhang, Dong Shao Nanjing University, China ronggp@software.nju.edu.cn

2. Content • Challenges in software process-specific project practicing • The bidding game: course design • Lecture phase • Practice phase • Preliminary results of the course • Conclusion • Seeking for collaborations

3. Challenges in software process-specific project practicing • difficult to find suitable projects for practicing software processes, technical details VS. process awareness. • a developer’s perspective may limit students’ capability to meet expectations of senior management and customers. • time limits for implementing these projects is highly constrained.

4. Course Design -Lecture phase • two phases, i.e., the lecture phase and practice phase • Lecture phase • 6-8 hours • Topics including estimation, planning, quality management, risk management and team dynamics.

5. Course Design -Practice phase • Practice phase • Role-play bidding game • Scenario “……, every team should develop a project plan, and present the plan in public, and the best team will win the project (determined by the senior management).The marketing department has finished the draft version of the requirements specification of the online exam supporting system. Meanwhile one person in the marketing department mentioned that four weeks later, there would be a certification exam in local region. If we could seize this opportunity, the influence of the online exam supporting system can expand rapidly. So the management really expected that the project could be finished in four weeks. Your team (four people include you) has three days to make a project plan and then present the project plan on the 4th day. You should put all the useful materials into the project plan and support your team to win the project.”

6. Course Design -Practice phase • Project kick-off meeting • Teacher could brief the tasks and requirements • Students could inquire necessary information, e.g., requirements, expectations, etc. • Project planning • Students develop a solution(plan) to meet expectations from stakeholders, in this case, the teacher. • Plan presentation • Students present their plans • Teachers and TAs could ask questions about the plan

7. Suggested materials included in the project plan

8. Questions for the team • Typical work products • Size and time estimation • Tasks and schedules • Efforts and resource • Alternative solutions • Quality issues • Risks • Reuse

9. Evaluation Criteria -1

10. Evaluation Criteria -2

11. Three classes

12. Course results -1

13. Course results -2

14. Conclusion • could force students to focus on management aspects rather than technical details. • Could help students think from a more comprehensive perspective. • the duration of the course is usually within one week, which provides flexibility to find suitable slots in regular semesters. • to fosters communication among different roles

15. Future work • To make comprehensive analysis on the difference of the performance between experienced students from the industry and inexperienced students from school. • To replicate the course in different context, e.g., industrial, different culture, etc.

16. Q&A