Testing and Deployment of Software Systems (in practice)

The CDIO concept is now well integrated into many curricula at universities around the world and it has meant an increase in the quality of engineering education. However, the main focus has been on design-build projects and less on the ‘C’ and ‘O’ part.

In particular, the ‘O’ part of CDIO has received very little focus, since this is probably the most difficult part to implement in a university environment.

Because of this observation, in 2011 we decided to launch a new elective course, ‘Testing and deployment of software systems (in practice)’, focusing entirely on the ‘O’ part in CDIO.

The aim of this paper is to describe:
• the unified software development process and compare this with CDIO.
• the activities covering the ‘O’ part in software engineering.
• the course structure and schedule.
• the evaluations and comments received from students.

The paper concludes that:
It is possible to give students a realistic experience of the ‘O’ phase of CDIO. The prerequisite for this is that the course’s entry level is a working prototype.
It is very important to identify an actor outside the university, which can act as a client (customer). This gives the students a more realistic environment.
The course also prepares the students for meetings with industry, taking place in the 6th semester, during the students’ internship and later in the exam project in the 7th semester.