Artificial Intelligence meets Software Engineering in Computing Education

In this paper we report on the experience of using artificial intelligence systems as the basis of educating IT students in software engineering practices. These systems have been evolving over nearly a dozen years and the process has been generating a steady stream of graduates, at the undergraduate and postgraduate level, whose dissertations and projects demonstrate the strong interplay of artificial intelligence and software engineering. The AI domains where we have applied a software engineering approach for instruction are focused on decision tree lifecycle management and board game learning mechanisms. Quite as importantly, both approaches have also delivered working research tools.