Characteristics of our courses

The following characteristics distinguish our courses from others:

Teaching principles:

• We first teach the underlying principles and then give practical examples;


• We refer to the commercial techniques/products within a context. We teach both advantages and disadvantages of the state-of-the-art technology;


• We refer to the industrial projects where appropriate;


• We use computer animation techniques, where appropriate;


• We personalize the course material. To this aim, we create games that represent the course material. Participants learn the material by being part of the game;


• We support  lectures with computer-based laboratory where appropriate.

Extensive experience in giving courses for a wide range of audience from companies to academic institutions

We gave nearly 100 open courses, in-company courses and conference tutorials in various countries. The level of courses were from introductory to advanced object-oriented designers. We, therefore, have extensive experience in giving courses to a wide range of audience.

Extensive practical experience through consulting and pilot projects in different application areas

We have been working on object-oriented techniques since 1983. During the last 15 years we carried out more than 40 pilot projects and involved in many consulting activities. We were involved in various large projects. We, therefore, gained an extensive practical experience in the application of object and component-oriented software engineering techniques. We do not give courses based on hypes and buzzwords, but based on practical experiences.

Extensive knowledge on the applicability of the object, component and aspect-oriented paradigm and their shortcomings

We have identified a number of obstacles that software engineers may experience while applying object and component-oriented techniques. Unfortunately, blindly following popular methods and applying UML does not guarantee developing successful software systems. In our courses, not only the advantages but also shortcomings of the state-of-the-art techniques are described. Obviously, we teach the relevant solution techniques where applicable.

Unbiased and non-commercial scientific approach to object, component and aspect-oriented technology

The research principle of our project is based on the Industry-as-a-Laboratory approach. This means that the research activities of our project are initialized after experiencing problems in the pilot projects. Based on this principle, we have been carrying out extensive research activities on the object and component-oriented technology. We can, therefore, provide in-depth understanding the material instead of blindly following an existing method.

We develop new effective instruction methods

As a result of giving courses for many years, we have developed an instruction method based on interactive role game. In this game, a group of participants solve a common problem interactively. While solving the problem, participants take the necessary roles.  This instruction method has the following characteristics: (1) active personal involvement during the course; (2) interactive group-based problem solving; (3) simulation and visualization of the material; (4) scenario based practice. The participants are very positive about this game.