The Software Engineering Program at ISU is now officially accredited by the Engineering Accreditation Commission of ABET.
ABET accreditation is a voluntary, 18 month process undertaken to ensure continual improvement of the educational experience for students, the adoption of best practices and innovation in education, and is guided by industry, government and academic stakeholders that provide formal feedback to the program. Faculty, staff, students, and potential employers and industry leaders all take part in ensuring that program assessment and quality improvement is a continuous goal. ABET accreditation shows that learning outcomes are of critical importance to a program.
Student outcomes describe what students are expected to know and be able to do by the time of graduation. These relate to the skills, knowledge, and behaviors that students acquire as they progress through the program. The student outcomes adopted by the curriculum committee for the software engineering program are:
1. an ability to apply knowledge of mathematics, science, and engineering;
2. an ability to design and conduct experiments, as well as to analyze and interpret data;
3. an ability to design a system, component, or process to meet desired needs within realistic constraints such as economic, environmental, social, political, ethical, health and safety, manufacturability, and sustainability;
4. an ability to function on multidisciplinary teams;
5. an ability to identify, formulate, and solve engineering problems;
6. an understanding of professional and ethical responsibility;
7. an ability to communicate effectively;
8. the broad education necessary to understand the impact of engineering solutions in a global, economic, environmental, and societal context;
9. a recognition of the need for, and an ability to engage in lifelong learning;
10. a knowledge of contemporary issues;
11. an ability to use the techniques, skills, and modern engineering tools necessary for engineering practice.
The Software Engineering (SE) program was created in 2007 and complements the existing computer engineering and computer science programs. Software has become a critical part of infrastructure for medical, energy, transportation, and financial applications. Industry is experiencing an acute shortage of qualified software engineers and the need for such engineers continues to grow. The program focuses the education on engineering aspects of developing and evolving complex software. Students learn multi-person development of multi-version systems.