Context: A previous study has shown that software developers who are experienced with using design patterns hold some conflicting opinions about three of the more popular design patterns: Facade, Singleton and Visitor. Aim: To identify the characteristics of these three patterns that have caused them to generate such differing views.

Context: In teaching about software engineering we currently make little use of any empirical knowledge. Aim: To examine the outcomes available from the use of Evidence-Based Software Engineering (EBSE) practices, so as to identify where these can provide support for, and inform, teaching activities. Method: We have examined all known secondary studies published up to the end of 2009, together with those published in major journals to mid-2011, and identified where these provide practical results that are relevant to student needs. Results: Starting with 145 candidate systematic literature reviews (SLRs), we were able to identify and classify potentially useful teaching material from 43 of them. Conclusions: EBSE can potentially lend authority to our teaching, although the coverage of key topics is uneven. Additionally, mapping studies can provide support for research-led teaching.

Distributed group working amongst teams of software engineers is increasingly evident in the 'real world'. Tools to support such working are at present limited to general-purpose groupware involving video, audio, chat, shared whiteboards and shared workspaces. Within software engineering education, group tasks have an established role in the curriculum. However in general, groups are local to a particular university or institution and are composed of students who have a significant shared history (in terms of technical background and social interaction) and who are able to meet face-to-face on a regular basis. This paper reports on work undertaken by three UK Universities to provide computer science students with the opportunity to experience group working across universities using low-cost tools to support distributed cooperative working.

Software engineering tasks, during both development and maintenance, typically involve teamwork using computers. Team members rarely work on isolated computers. An underlying assumption of our research is that software engineering teams will work more effectively if adequately supported by network-based groupware technology and project management tools. This research is investigating the provision of such network-based support for software engineering teams. The immediate objective is to provide network-based support, specifically for students working on software engineering group (SEG) projects in the Department of Computer Science at Durham. The long term objectives are to develop more flexible support for group working among computer science students and their staff supervisors for project work and tutorials in general. This paper reports on our recent results and assesses how far we have been successful in achieving our immediate objective.

No abstract available.