Improving understandability in teaching of software engineering and connectivity with the industry

As a new field of study, software engineering teaching and subjects vary from one textbook to another. Despite the fact that most of the books cover similar subjects, however, students' view of the subject is mixed. Some students have problems understanding the entire picture. Other students have problems connecting concepts with each other. In this research, an overall view of software engineering knowledge is presented. The knowledge is presented from four perspectives: Process, Project, People and Product. Those four are usually referred to as the 4Ps in literature. The goal is to make a distinction between the progresses in each area and explore the opportunities in finding windows for more research in any of those four views. Researches in this field in many published articles appear to ignore the state of the studied field in the industry and focuses on its state in the academic arenas. Related work in research papers focus on those research papers published and do not look in company websites, web logs, discussion boards, etc. Teaching software engineering should combine interactive methods of teaching besides the traditional class room teaching. Without such methods, the majority of the sought benefits and expected skills to learn may not be practical. Academic curriculums and research papers should give more attention to the industry and its current technologies. This can help students in their future jobs. It also helps the industry utilizing such researches once they become more realistic or relevant.