Software Engineering Management Education through Game Design Patterns

Software engineering (SE) is an area with a wide range of concepts and knowledge. Such diversity of topics, requires the application of different teaching and learning techniques for an effective education. Serious Games is one of such techniques, yet its design tends to be complex, currently lacking a map of game design standards that comply with SE education requirements. This paper presents a process to identify the game design patterns that can be effective for teaching software engineering, specifically the software project management topic. Firstly, it begins by identifying the relationship between game design patterns and teaching and learning functions based on literature review. Secondly, it filters which of those teaching and learning functions is most relevant to software project management education, according to SE education specialists. Finally, it validates the relationship between game design patterns and software project management education through an empirical study conducted with master students. The results can be used as a basis for designing and developing serious games for teaching software project management. (C) 2016 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.