Learning Communication Skills in Software Development Management Courses: an Active Learning Experience

Communication skills is one of the most challenging topics faced when teaching Software Engineering. In this paper, we would like to share our experiences in the field of Software Development Management in two Argentinian universities, and to propose some ideas towards new generations’ education.Our experiences are related mainly to the way we approach practical and project work. The most significant practices that we apply are the following: including communication training in courses dedicated to software development management; practicing peer communication within teams; learning by doing; providing constant feedback from peers and teachers; encouraging active participation; the requirement to give many oral presentations to teachers and peers; exchanging ideas, experiences and lessons learned; stimulating role rotation; and favoring remote synchronous meetings and presentations.We have also conducted a survey to validate the results of our approaches.