Deployment of Capstone Projects in Software Engineering Education at Duy Tan University as Part of a University-wide Project-based Learning Effort Duc Man Nguyen, Tien Vu Truong, Nguyen Bao Le Duy Tan University (DTU) Da Nang, Vietnam mannd@duytan.edu.vn , vudalat@yahoo.com baole@duytan.edu.vn Abstract- One of the biggest challenges for schools and institutions offering IT-training programs in Vietnam is how to minimize the amount of retraining by IT companies and corporations for new IT graduates due to the gap between college education and real-world practices in IT. In particular, how can our IT graduates acquire the right knowledge, skills and attitudes to fit in our IT labor market? There are many solutions to the above problem like restructuring the curricula, integrating the materials of higher- division courses, or adding in practical skill-set training, etc. However, the most effective solution from our experiences is to change our current methodology of teaching and learning IT in Vietnam; specially, enhancing our students' capability through more use of real-world IT projects. This is usually known as the Project-Based Learning (PjBL) approach in which students explore real-world problems or challenges, and simultaneously developing interdisciplinary skills while working in small collaborative groups or teams. Since project-based learning is involved with active and engaged learning, it inspires students to acquire a deeper knowledge of the subjects they are studying. In this paper, we will present some current alarming issues of the IT training and education situation in Vietnam and how the Faculty of Information Technology of Duy Tan University tackles those issues through its deployment of major IT Capstone projects as part of a university-wide Project- based Learning effort. Keywords: learning outcomes, IT labor force, Project- Based Learning (PjBL), simulation, case study, Capstone project, integrated active learning, experimental learning, learning assessment, Design-Implement I. INTRODUCTION Currently, there are over 260,000 people working in the IT sector in Vietnam (including in hardware, software, digital content, etc.) with the growth rate of 13%~18% a year [1][2]. The number of universities and colleges which have IT training programs also increased from 192 in 2002 to 277 in 2010 [1]. The enrollment quota for IT training programs also continues to increase: about 30,000 in 2006 to over 60,000 [1]. On average, the quota of the following year is 6%~8% higher than that of the current year. However, according to the annual report from IT schools, while the quotas for IT training always increase, the actual number of students registering for IT programs in Vietnam is declining 10%~15% per year [1][2]. The annual decline in the number of students registering for IT programs would lead to the decline in the number of workers in IT who help meet the increasing need of the IT labor market. Besides, the quality of workers in IT is another critical and crucial subject. According to recent forecasts, by the year of 2020, the IT labor market of Vietnam will need about 600,000 new workers while the training system can only provide approximately 400,000 [1][3]. In addition, the percentage of graduates who can meet the real-world requirements of the IT industry without any retraining is expected to be low. Based on reports from many IT businesses, the current IT labor force of Vietnam has many limitations, including: lack of expert knowledge on project deployment or systems implementation, lack of experience with large-scale and/or complex IT projects, lack of professional work practices, poor language ability, weak soft-skills, insufficient knowledgeable about customers and their cultural values, inadequate management and project-management capability. Meanwhile, the majority of new graduates in IT in Vietnam are not able to quickly adapt to the working environment because of the big gap between their training and the real world. Most Vietnamese college students also do not have adequate soft skills, project-management skills, teamwork skills, negotiation and communication skills, etc. As a result, many IT businesses in Vietnam complain that they can hardly recruit the right personnel, and most of the time, they have to spend a couple of months or more training new recruits [3]. 2013 Learning and Teaching in Computing and Engineering 978-0-7695-4960-6/13 $26.00 © 2013 IEEE DOI 10.1109/LaTiCE.2013.27 184 2013 Learning and Teaching in Computing and Engineering 978-0-7695-4960-6/13 $26.00 © 2013 IEEE DOI 10.1109/LaTiCE.2013.27 184