Date: February 3, 2019

To: Professor Guenzel

From: Shivani Kumar

Subject: Research Proposal… Communication Skills in Software Engineering

Topic description:
Communication in computer science helps people communicate their ideas and explain
solutions and foundational concepts on which those solutions are built. Usually the strong the
foundation of the ideas, the more confident it is for a person to tackle difficult problems.
Communication is so important in computer science because it can help people learn from
others mistakes in developing software and make better software.

Documentation Style: MLA format

Tentative List of References:

 Chantale (contact) Computer Science major and mentor : chantale@yahoo.com
 Allen Recruitment, www.allenrec.com/importance-effective-communication-software-
developers/.
 “When JavaScript Isn't Enough: How Developers Can Better Their Communication
Skills.” Simple Programmer, 18 Apr. 2018, simpleprogrammer.com/developer-
communication-skills/
 Susan Ruff. Michael Carter. “http://web.mit.edu/ruff/www/1290.pdf.” Communication
Learning Outcomes from Software Engineering Professionals: A Basis for Teaching
Communication in the Engineering Curriculum
 Andrea Forte. Mark Guzdial. “http://coweb.cc.gatech.edu/mediaComp-
plan/uploads/37/CommNotCalc.pdf.” Computers for Communication, Not Calculation:
Media as a Motivation and Context for Learning. Jan. 5. 2004.

Purpose
My major is computer science and this topic will be beneficial for me since it’ll help me be able
to communicate with other people in my same major and share our ideas and foundational
concepts. We will be able to benefit from each other’s software and mistakes that we make while
developing different software. However, how will we be able to do that without someone
stealing someone’s ideas and taking credit for it? My goal is to be able to answer this question
and help others develop software that could help all of us.

Intended audience
The types of people in the audience that might benefit from my research would most likely be
individuals who are majoring in computer science, focusing on software, maybe those who are
afraid of others stealing ideas or taking credit for other people. Also just in general, individuals
in technology.
Preliminary Thesis/ Argument
Since many software ideas can be stolen or taken credit by others very easily, many individuals
are afraid of helping others make their software better and develop more efficiently. However,
with the help of communication skills, many people will be able to aid others and make software
more efficiently which I believe will be able to help technology expand more. Not only will it
benefit computer science majors, but also the world by increasing our knowledge in technology.

Type of research areas

I believe I will be able to get evidence from all three. Scholarly could be from many computer
science majors from my clubs at UCF and my mentors. Internet could be from many articles that
are explaining communications skills in the software development field. Field research can be
from the professional pdfs from MIT and Georgia Tech. Many information will be useful for my
major as evidence.

Graphs or charts
There can be many graphs and charts that can be included in my research so it will portray the
different software engineers and developers around the globe who share ideas and help others vs
those who tend to themselves and focus on only their software. There can also be a poll saying
showing who are afraid of someone else taking their credit vs who are not afraid.