Teaching Global Software Engineering and International Project Management - Experiences and Lessons Learned from Four Academic Projects

As part of the ongoing globalization process, software is no longer developed by a sole enterprise which is based at one single location only. In turn, distributed engineering teams are continuously modifying software by bringing in their local knowledge and country-specific expertise. Due to this cooperation on a globalscale, today’s software engineers require distinct skills and capabilities allowing them to face a paradigm called Global Software Engineering (GSE). However, regarding today’s universities curricula, the teaching of GSE can be seen as an emerging discipline which is increasingly gaining attention. This paper depicts the progression and lessons learned from four different globally distributed software engineering projects executed by late bachelor and master students from five different universities. In doing so, the article facilitates future GSE endeavors in academia and industry.