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Requirements engineering, an integral part of the life of a software engineer, often receives little or no attention in the education of a computer science student. We report on our experiences in constructing an innovative curriculum that utilizes a three tier model of learning that provides students with hands-on experience on the various facets of requirements elicitation and management. This curriculum can be integrated into an existing course on software engineering, software requirements or the senior capstone experience. We believe our experience will be of use to other computer science and software engineering programs that are aiming at introducing requirements in the undergraduate curriculum. General TermsDesign

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The computer science capstone experience is designed to bridge the gap from university expectations to those of industry. Yet trying to solve this problem with a single course sequence, even one spanning the senior year, has some shortcomings, in terms of learning outcomes which can be achieved, and also instructional strategies that can be employed. We describe here an alternative plan which first provides a junior year of practice on a client-based project integrated with learning design and other related topics, followed by a senior year in which students can work more independently to hone these skills on a harder year-long project with another client. This two-year sequence, with scaffolding provided at first that is gradually removed, has proven to be especially effective in preparing undergraduates for a career in the software industry. The approach also integrates well with the need for these students to become proficient at working in engineering teams. General TermsDesign