Teaching Undergraduate Software Engineering: Xamarin Mobile App Development During the Covid-19 Pandemic

The CS 4204 Software Engineering instructor was tasked with finding distance alternatives in teaching undergraduate face-to-face lab sessions in the fall 2020 semester. This was due to university policies established during the Covid-19 pandemic. This study describes teaching the course lab sessions utilizing Xamarin mobile app development on Mac and PC computers, with deployment to iOS and Android emulators and devices. Xamarin was chosen for flexibility as it could be used for both face-to-face and distance student learning. The teaching process is demonstrated in using stock and modified Xamarin tutorials which lead to a culminating mobile app development project. Student and instructor perceptions are discussed surrounding issues of facilitating software development instruction during the pandemic.