BOARD #353A: DUE: Integrating Performance Engineering in Software Engineering Education: A Multi-Course Project Approach
- Conference
- Location
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Montreal, Quebec, Canada
- Publication Date
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June 22, 2025
- Start Date
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June 22, 2025
- End Date
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August 15, 2025
- Conference Session
- Tagged Topic
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NSF Grantees Poster Session
- Page Count
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6
- DOI
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10.18260/1-2--55993
- Permanent URL
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https://peer.asee.org/55993
- Download Count
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9
Paper Authors
Lu Xiao
Stevens Institute of Technology (School of Engineering and Science)
orcid.org/0000-0002-3202-3077
Dr. Lu Xiao is an Associate Professor in the Department of Systems and Enterprises at Stevens Institute of Technology. Her research focuses on software engineering, particularly software architecture, software economics, cost estimation, and software ecosystems. Dr. Xiao has received several National Science Foundation grants, such as the CAREER award for developing an AI-empowered architecture-centric framework for systematic software performance optimization. She actively contributes to the academic community through roles in organizing committees and program committees for conferences like ICSE and ASE. At Stevens, Dr. Xiao teaches courses in software engineering and plays a significant role in academic service, including serving on curriculum committees and initiatives to enhance student-faculty interaction.
Yu Tao Stevens Institute of Technology (School of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences)
Yu Tao, Ph.D., is an Associate Professor of Sociology at Stevens Institute of Technology. Her research analyzes issues related to human resources in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) as well as online privacy and fair privacy from the sociological perspective.
Andre Benjamin Bondi
Stevens Institute of Technology (School of Systems & Enterprises)
orcid.org/0000-0003-0709-2078
André Bondi has worked on performance modeling and engineering problems in many problem domains, including industrial monitoring, railway signaling, and telecommunications. He received the Computer Measurement Group’s A. A. Michelson Award in 2016. His book, Foundations of Software and System Performance Engineering, was published by Addison-Wesley in 2014. He is an independent consultant and has served as an adjunct professor of software engineering or senior research scientist at Stevens Institute of Technology since August 2019. Until October 2015, he was a Senior Staff Engineer working in software performance at Siemens Corp., Corporate Technologies in Princeton, New Jersey. He previously held senior performance positions at two startups and was a Principal Technical Staff Member at AT&T Labs and its predecessor AT&T Bell Labs. He was a visiting professor at the University of L’Aquila in 2016. Dr. Bondi holds a Ph.D. in computer science from Purdue University, and an M.Sc. in statistics from University College London.
Eman Abdullah AlOmar
Stevens Institute of Technology (School of Engineering and Science)
orcid.org/0000-0003-1800-9268
Eman Abdullah AlOmar is an Assistant Professor at Stevens Institute of Technology. She completed her Ph.D. in Computing and Information Sciences at Rochester Institute of Technology in 2021. Her research interests lie at the intersection of software engineering and artificial intelligence with a focus on different software engineering areas such as software maintenance, software evolution, software refactoring, technical debt, software quality assurance, code review, and documentation. She has received four Best Paper Awards and Best Presentation Awards at IWoR 2019, MSR 2022, MSR 2024, and SIGCSE 2024. She has also received the Distinguished Doctoral Research Award at MSR 2023, and Best Reviewer Award at JSS 2022 and JSS 2023. Her collaborations with national and international researchers and industry leaders have resulted in ACM and IEEE publications in leading software engineering platforms.
Abstract
This paper presents four complementary course projects designed to enhance undergraduate students’ understanding of software performance engineering (SPE). These projects, integrated into various courses in a software engineering curriculum, collectively address key aspects of performance-related issues and solutions, fulfilling the broader objectives of fostering performance awareness and competency.
The first project developed for SSW 345: Software Modeling and Simulation, uses a set of Unity-based games to illustrate eight fundamental performance concepts. Students learn through gameplay and LoadTester-based simulations, gaining insights into inefficiencies and system performance under load. In SSW 567: Software Testing, the second project introduces students to performance testing through a Machine Readable Travel Document (MRTD) system, highlighting both system and test case performance. The third project, conducted in SSW 533: Software Cost Estimation, focuses on real-world return-on-investment (ROI) analysis of performance issues, allowing students to analyze issue reports and assess the cost-benefit of resolving performance-related challenges. Lastly, in SSW 315: Object Oriented Design, students compare the performance of object-oriented and procedural programming paradigms and data structures, exploring the trade-off between performance and maintainability. Our evaluation plan extends over multiple course iterations, utilizing detailed quantitative and qualitative metrics to continually assess the project's impact on course outcomes.
Together, these projects form a cohesive learning experience that builds students’ SPE skills, connecting theoretical concepts with real-world applications and performance trade-offs, thus preparing them for the complexities of modern software systems.
Xiao, L., & Tao, Y., & Bondi, A. B., & AlOmar, E. A. (2025, June), BOARD #353A: DUE: Integrating Performance Engineering in Software Engineering Education: A Multi-Course Project Approach Paper presented at 2025 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition , Montreal, Quebec, Canada . 10.18260/1-2--55993
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