Experiences with group projects in software engineering

Computer Science graduates are often accused of having no experience of the real world problems of large software systems. In general, the practical work is said to be too small scale, and too individually oriented. This paper describes the introduction of a major group project into the degree syllabus at Heriot-Watt University. The project is designed to give the students experience of the problems involved in writing multi-author software and meeting strict deadlines. The choice of topics, supervision and management aspects are all covered. The problems of assessment are described.