Bachelor of Software Engineering: A Case Study for an Effective Degree Programme

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Date
2016-11
Authors
Ratnayake, H U W
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Commonwealth of Learning (COL) and Open University Malaysia (OUM)
Abstract

How can the application of open, online and flexible education provide employability at the highest professional level? This is made possible with the Bachelor of Software Engineering (BSE) Degree programme offered at The Open University of Sri Lanka applying appropriate technology and innovative approaches meeting the demand in software industry. In this paper, we discuss the effectiveness of the programme according to the graduate employability and employer satisfaction. The degree programme was initiated due to enormous demand from the industry for IT specialists. Accordingly, the main objective of the programme was set as producing quality graduates to meet the software industry requirements. The curriculum was designed considering IEEE/ACM guidelines matching any benchmark. As the industry partnership and collaboration are important in curriculum/syllabi design and providing industry placements, an MOU was signed with Sri Lanka Association of Software and Services Companies. The effectiveness of the degree programme has been qualitatively analysed from the responses of the graduates of the BSE programme. Seven batches of students have been enrolled to date, 53 have graduated and 130 are currently following the programme. Our survey indicates higher employability of the graduates in the software industry while others work in IT related occupations or are entrepreneurs. Employers are highly satisfied with the graduates. We believe that, the commencement of this degree programme has been a timely venture when open and flexible learning is becoming very popular in the world today. These graduates will contribute actively and constructively towards future challenging endeavours that would have a significant impact in the development of Sri Lanka. // Paper ID 384

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Open and Distance Learning (ODL),Employable Skills,Flexible Learning
Country
Sri Lanka
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