Software engineering days: using a video game platform to teach collaborative software development

This paper describes the implementation and assessment of a multi-day engineering design activity for Software Engineering students. This activity required students to work in teams of 16 to develop and implement four sub-systems of a digital spaceship. The Unity video game engine with a custom "spaceship sandbox" were used to drive student intrinsic motivation for the task, and to limit the complexity of the spaceship implementation. Student feedback of the activity was captured through a survey given immediately following the second day of the activity, and through a focus group conducted with four students later in the term. The feedback on the activity was largely positive, with teamwork, collaboration, and the software to accomplish it (Git) as major learning outcomes identified by students. Several improvements are planned for the fall 2019 version of the activity based on both instructor observation and student feedback.