Engineering the Cooking Recipe Modelling Method: a Teaching Experience Report

A recently introduced master program offering a Business Modelling track in the authors' university includes several courses that touch on conceptual modelling topics. They cover both modelling with well-known languages (UML, BPMN etc.), as well as the development of domain-specific modelling software driven by targeted requirements. Consequently, the study program aims to support two complementary modeller perspectives: (i) of the modellers who adopt "de jure" or "de facto" standards that are reusable across domains; (ii) of the modellers who prefer to have a modelling tool tailored for specific needs and their preferred domain-specific abstraction. While the first perspective is quite common and well served in Business Information Systems curricula, the second perspective requires a well-designed minimal case capable of fostering deep understanding of a modelling method's building blocks and of the methodology needed to tailor or evolve those building blocks towards satisfying explicit requirements. The paper reports on such a teaching experience and provides insights regarding its learning design rationale.