Case-Guided Multi-Project Synchronized Implementation Strategy in Object-Oriented Analysis and Design Course Teaching

Abstract

To address the challenges in teaching object-oriented analysis and design, such as abstract course content, limited practical skills among students, difficulty stimulating interest, and difficulty in achieving high-quality and inclusive education, based on an in-depth analysis of the course’s knowledge system and teaching objectives, we proposed an innovative teaching strategy from the perspective of sustainable development. This strategy takes the analysis and design of software projects selected by students as the main focus and teacher case guidance as the entry point, connecting theoretical knowledge and teaching practice, and is called “case guidance multi-project synchronous implementation”. Simultaneously, we reshaped the teaching process and reformed the course assessment to adapt to this new teaching strategy. The results of its implementation show that this strategy not only helped students to better understand and apply object-oriented analysis and design but also enhanced their interest and sense of access to the course, successfully improving the achievement of the course objectives and significantly promoting students’ innovation and practical skills, providing an effective way to achieve high-quality and inclusive education and the promotion of lifelong learning. The successful implementation of this teaching strategy provides a strong reference for teaching reform in similar courses.

1. Introduction

Object-oriented analysis and design courses are required for a software engineering major with the core objective of developing students’ object-oriented thinking skills and techniques as well as their ability to analyze and design software systems. However, this course is challenging for students due to the complexity, uncertainty, and abstraction of software projects.

Traditionally, this course has been taught through lectures and assignments, with a focus on abstract concepts and theories. Consequently, many students struggle to understand the practical applications of these concepts and lack the hands-on skills and interests required to excel in the field.

To address these challenges and create a more inclusive and effective learning experience, we proposed a new teaching strategy called case-guided multi-project synchronized implementation. This approach involves guiding students to select software projects that they find interesting and concurrently implement them with the teacher’s case lecture content. By providing a personalized and engaging learning experience that aligns with students’ interests, our proposed teaching strategy aimed to improve participation and practical hands-on skills, thus realizing an equitable and inclusive education.

Furthermore, with the rapid development of information technology, the software development industry is constantly changing, necessitating higher requirements for the comprehensive abilities of software developers. Therefore, it is crucial to strengthen object-oriented analysis and design courses to develop students’ practical skills and problem-solving abilities in order to meet future job requirements.

Our proposed case-guided multi-project synchronized implementation strategy provides an innovative teaching method that combines teaching and practice; offers an effective way to achieve high-quality, equitable, and inclusive education; and promotes lifelong learning. This serves as a reference for other courses. This study has important theoretical and practical implications as it contributes to the development of more effective and inclusive pedagogical approaches in software engineering education.

2. Literature Review

Teaching reform of object-oriented analysis and design (OOAD) courses has always been a focus of education. Although only a few related studies have been conducted in recent years, valuable viewpoints and methods that are important for improving teaching and promoting student learning have been proposed. The research results can be summarized into the following three aspects.

First, in terms of teaching reform, researchers have proposed practical measures from various perspectives. For example, Shine [1] found that using conceptual diagrams to teach object-oriented analysis and design (OOAD) can promote the transition from requirement analysis to the logical and physical design stages of learning. Related research shows that teaching based on conceptual diagrams is more effective. Shing et al. [2] combined traditional methods of teaching OOAD with the MDA framework to describe, in chart form, the relationship between the stages of this transition, which can reduce the external cognitive load and improve the psychological efficiency of students. Iyengar [3] integrated industrial product development into two semesters of courses on object-oriented analysis and design and internet/web architecture and development, providing services through project analysis, design, and development and promoting experiential learning. Li et al. [4] proposed an object-oriented Sokoban solver game development solution that can be used by educators to determine courseware, accumulate game resources, and provide relevant teaching materials for OOAD and AI courses. Valente et al. [5] introduced a user-centered prototyping software tool for object-oriented analysis (OOA) knowledge acquisition, and the usability test verified its design and revealed a gap between modern object-oriented analysis practice and programmers’ values. Fernandez et al. [6] introduced a project-based learning method that is particularly suitable for courses on analysis, design, and implementation using object-oriented methods. Demon [7] proposed the concept of object-oriented software development, combining modeling and programming with teaching experience and a UML by Example method to obtain improved results. Kalinga [8] taught computer science and engineering students how to use the edge-as-you-learn method to teach object-oriented analysis and design, covering the requirement analysis and design stages of software development and applying this method to actual software development. Inayat et al. [9] proposed a 3D game for learning object-oriented analysis and designing courses to simulate real-world projects. Empirical investigations have shown that learning through practical experience can improve students’ learning outcomes, knowledge of software process concepts, and project completion rates. In summary, teaching reform promotes student understanding and improves the effectiveness of teaching.

Second, researchers have proposed various methods for teaching curricula, including heuristic teaching methods, comprehensive object-oriented analysis and design (OOAD) teaching methods, and UML-based OOA/OOD primitive pantomime training. Balasundaram et al. [10] studied the application of collaborative learning in the object-oriented analysis phase to help students become effective software professionals. Lin et al. [11] developed a heuristic teaching method for object-oriented analysis and design courses to address the learning of new ideas, ways of thinking, and symbolization issues of students and to improve the effectiveness of teaching. Ramnath [12] proposed a comprehensive method for teaching object-oriented analysis and design that emphasizes the interrelationships between all important aspects and their relevance to the design process. Feedback showed that this method improved the students’ understanding of OOAD concepts. Sien [13] developed a framework containing four teaching modules for object-oriented modeling. Evaluative research has proven the effectiveness of integrating concept-mapping techniques into introductory OOAD courses. Labiche [14] proposed a teaching method using experiments in software engineering courses to help practitioners overcome the limitations of viewing UML as a graphical tool and learning its semantics. Through empirical experiments, Shin [15] found that students encounter difficulties when transitioning from OOA to logical design and that the accuracy of semantic distance and transformation relationships are factors that affect learning, providing insight into the development of methods to guide learning while transitioning through stages. Pavlov et al.’s [16] UML-based OOA/OOD primitive pantomime training was successfully applied in universities and software companies, allowing students to understand how UML can solve typical problems. These methods have successfully improved students’ comprehension and ability to conduct object-oriented analysis and design through practice, emphasizing the combination of theoretical knowledge and practical applications.

Finally, in terms of teaching curriculum, researchers have proposed various strategies, including flipped classroom learning, course design, and implementation, based on the concept of OBE in engineering studies. For example, Kanakaraddi et al. [17] explored teaching strategies to improve the efficiency of graduate-level OOAD courses, including laboratory teaching and continuous internal evaluation. These strategies enhance the analysis, design, implementation, and learning skills of students, and strengthen their confidence, communication, and ability to express themselves. In addition, Pugse [18] studied the effect of applying a flipped classroom learning strategy to object-oriented analysis and design courses and evaluated student satisfaction, with the results indicating its suitability for the course. More importantly, Sun et al. [19] successfully improved the analysis, design, and learning abilities of university software engineering majors by integrating OBE concepts into course design and implementation, optimizing content, and reevaluating and adopting different teaching methods. Using empirical methods, Debuse et al. [20] investigated techniques and teaching strategies to improve the quality of object-oriented (OO) concepts in object-oriented analysis and design (OOAD) and programming courses (OOP), such as development environments, interactive whiteboards, and online delivery tools. The results show that these strategies can significantly improve students’ academic performance, comprehension, and learning efficiency, with integrated course concepts, assignments, and electronic discussion boards being key factors. In conclusion, the aforementioned curriculum had a positive impact on improving students’ academic achievement, comprehension, and learning efficiency, thereby providing new ideas for teaching curricula.

However, the existing research results still need to be improved to fundamentally address the enhancement of students’ interest in learning, as well as their initiative, innovation, and problem-solving skills, while improving teaching effectiveness and achieving equity and inclusiveness in education. Therefore, we propose a teaching strategy of case-guided simultaneous implementation of multiple projects to encourage students to learn and apply theoretical knowledge in practical projects. Exploring the same knowledge from multiple perspectives and levels can improve the learning effectiveness and practical skills of students. This strategy has research value and is innovative because it improves the effectiveness of students’ learning and practical skills, helps students better understand and apply their knowledge of object-oriented analysis and design, and achieves equity and inclusiveness in education.

Specifically, our teaching strategy has the following advantages:

• The impact of teaching can be improved by combining theoretical knowledge with practical applications to improve students’ practical skills.
• This can enhance students’ active learning consciousness, allowing them to participate in the simultaneous implementation of multiple projects.
• This can cultivate students’ innovation and problem-solving abilities, allowing them to solve various practical problems through project implementation.
• It enhances the attractiveness of the curriculum, transforms theoretical knowledge into vivid practical activities, and stimulates students’ interest in learning.
• It provides an effective way to achieve high-quality, equitable, and inclusive education, and promotes lifelong learning.

Therefore, this strategy provides educators with a new and effective teaching method to improve students’ learning and practical skills and promote high-quality, equitable, and inclusive education.

3. Course Introduction and Existing Problems

Huaihua University is an applied undergraduate institution, and one of the core practical courses in its software engineering program is “object-oriented analysis and design”. The total duration of this course is 48 h, and it is worth two credits in the talent training plan. It aims to enable students to master the basic methods and skills of object-oriented analysis and design based on basic computer software knowledge, JavaSE programming, databases, and operating-system-related courses and to apply them to system development in specific environments. After completing the course, the students achieve the following two teaching objectives:

• Master the basic methods and techniques of using Rational Rose for UML modeling and the ability to express the internal organizational structures of the software.
• Develop the ability to use modern tools and Rose’s basic UML model elements, including using case diagrams, class diagrams, sequence diagrams, activity diagrams, state diagrams, package diagrams, component diagrams, and deployment diagrams for analysis and design, as well as relevant document-writing capabilities.

These two teaching objectives account for 0.2 and 0.8 of the total requirements of the course, respectively, supporting the two graduation requirements of “problem analysis” and “use of modern tools” for professional certification in engineering education [21].

The course’s knowledge system and content can be divided into 3 major modules, consisting of 15 knowledge points, as shown in Figure 1.

In our course, the fundamentals and software development process modules focus mainly on theory, whereas the analysis and modeling module is dedicated to the integration of theory and practice. In the past, this course was taught over a total of 24 h of classes on theory and practice. Each knowledge module was first taught in a classroom with theoretical knowledge, after which the corresponding practical project segments were taught in a practical training room. Although we have previously employed case-based teaching, there are still several problems:

• There is a disconnect between theory and practice: The intention of this course is to closely integrate theory and practice, but in actual teaching, the combination of the two has not achieved the desired effect. This often leads to students’ inability to understand the relevant knowledge in depth and appreciate the core ideas of the course.
• Insufficient case support: The concepts and techniques of object-oriented analysis and design are complex, and the lack of concrete and widely used case support at the beginning of student education affects their comprehension and interest.
• Use of a single teaching method: Students find the traditional classroom lecture form boring and lacking in interactive and heuristic teaching methods, thus affecting their interest in learning.
• Lack of practical project experience: Teaching object-oriented analysis and design should be closely integrated with practical projects. However, due to the lack of teaching resources, students lack practical opportunities for actual projects, which affects their ability to improve their skills.
• Teaching lacks the philosophy of sustainable development: The current teaching methods do not provide students with an effective way to participate fairly in the classroom, students’ initiative is insufficient, and there is a lack of innovative ability to cultivate links. We need to adhere to the concept of continuous development in teaching; explore ways to achieve quality, equitable, and inclusive education; and promote the concept of lifelong learning while working to develop students’ innovative abilities.

4. Case-Guided Multi-Project Synchronous Implementation Teaching Strategy

The case teaching method [22] originated at Harvard Business School in the 1920s, and it mainly stimulates students to think independently through inspiring and typical cases and then develops their ability to solve practical problems. The project-driven teaching method [23] started with German vocational education in the 1980s and is a behavior-guided teaching method in which students choose projects independently in groups or individually under the guidance of teachers who design the teaching content by combining basic course knowledge and project processes. Students break down the selected projects into continuous subprojects according to the teaching content and take the project as a guide for students to practice what they have learned, as well as to find, analyze, and solve problems in the process of the project’s implementation to improve the application of their knowledge and teamwork skills.

In order to solve the problems associated with traditional object-oriented analysis and design courses, we combined the case teaching method and project-driven teaching method and proposed the teaching strategy of “case-guided multi-project synchronous implementation.” This strategy arranges the entire course in the training room, and the teacher takes the case analysis and design of a complete application software project as the teaching content so that the theoretical knowledge and practical skills from the course are combined. Students choose a software project for simultaneous analysis and design according to their own interests, and the teacher conducts a timely evaluation of their achievements in its implementation.

This teaching strategy not only effectively solves the problems of the disconnection between theory and practice, insufficient case support, use of a single teaching method, and lack of practical project experience in traditional forms of teaching, but also fully respects students’ individual differences, types of intelligence, and interests, and encourages them to participate in the course in an equal and active way, reflecting the fairness and inclusiveness of education. This strategy also emphasizes the evaluation of the student-learning process. To conduct high-quality analysis and design for each stage of a self-selected software project, students actively engage in inquiry learning, critical thinking, problem analysis and solving, and improving their software project documentation skills. They also deeply engage with the material and take the initiative to communicate, negotiate, and collaborate with their peers to develop innovative solutions to challenging problems, effectively enhancing their active inquiry and innovation skills.

In general, this teaching strategy reflects the following pedagogical principles:

• First, it promotes student-centered principles [24], respects students’ individual differences, and encourages independent exploration and learning. By making students responsible for the implementation of a project, they can develop independent thinking, learning, and problem-solving abilities.
• Second, this strategy focuses on the development of practical and problem-solving abilities, which reflects the principle of process-based assessment [25]. Students assess their abilities by completing projects independently, no longer relying on traditional knowledge memory tests, but instead focusing on improving their practical abilities.
• Third, this strategy emphasizes collaboration between students, as well as the co-construction of knowledge. During a project, students need to communicate, confer, and collaborate with other students to acquire and master course knowledge better. This reflects the principles of constructivism [26], which value knowledge generation during interactive and cooperative learning.
• Fourth, this teaching strategy encourages deep thinking and the pursuit of high-quality solutions. Through project practice, students face challenges and problems and learn to investigate deeply, reflecting the principles of deep learning [27].
• Fifth, this strategy reflects the principle of multiple intelligences [28]. Students develop individualized learning paths through personalized projects that allow them to excel in their areas of interest and strength based on their individual differences and intelligence types. This contributes to the students achieving their full potential and to their overall development.
• Finally, this strategy embodies the concept of sustainable development [29]. This strategy is implemented with full respect for students’ independent choices and incorporates projects of interest, which embody the concept of equitable and inclusive education that allows all students to have access to education.

5. Teaching Implementation Process Design

The total duration of the course is 48 h, integrating 15 knowledge areas with project analysis and design. In this strategy, the teacher adopts the case introduction method, which accounts for approximately one-quarter of the total course duration, covering the entire process of explaining the knowledge areas and ensuring that the theory is concretely understood and visualized. Next, the students use their selected project to practice the application of each knowledge point simultaneously and to strengthen the knowledge learned through hands-on practice to achieve the teaching goal of combining theory and practice. Such a teaching design not only increases the fun of learning and reduces perceived boredom but also improves the practical hands-on skills of students, enabling them to better master the knowledge they have learned. The implementation process is presented in

Table 1. Design of the teaching implementation process.

Module	Knowledge Points	Knowledge Attributes		Class Hours	Case-Based Explanation Content (Linking Relevant Knowledge Points)	Student Project Practice Content
		Strongly Theoretical	Strongly Practical
Basic Knowledge	Fundamental knowledge of OOAD	●		1	Requirement analysis for a management system	Writing project requirement analysis
	Object-oriented technology	●		1
	UML	●		1
Analysis and Modeling	Rational Rose fundamentals		●	1	Rose operation demonstration	Basic Rose operations
	Use-case modeling		●	6	Use-case analysis for a management system	Project use-case analysis and modeling
	Sequence diagram modeling		●	4	Sequence diagram analysis for a management system	Project sequence diagram modeling
	Class diagram modeling		●	4	Class diagram analysis for a management system	Project class diagram modeling
	Object diagram modeling		●	2	Object diagram analysis for a management system	Project object diagram modeling
	Package diagram modeling		●	2	Package diagram analysis for a management system	Project package diagram modeling
	State diagram modeling		●	4	State diagram analysis for a management system	Project state diagram modeling
	Activity diagram modeling		●	4	Activity diagram analysis for a management system	Project activity diagram modeling
	Component diagram modeling		●	2	Component diagram analysis for a management system	Project component diagram modeling
	Deployment diagram modeling		●	2	Deployment diagram analysis for a management system	Project deployment diagram modeling
Software Development Process	Rose bidirectional engineering		●	2	Bidirectional engineering demonstration	Class diagram forward engineering
	RUP	●		4	RUP modeling process analysis for a management system	Project modeling process analysis
	Student project demonstration and communication, and teacher evaluation		●	8	Teacher evaluation	Student demonstration of design works

.

The following points should be noted when implementing the teaching process:

• Under the principle of maintaining the integrity of the curriculum and serving the profession, teachers need to create learning cases and practical training projects with rich teaching value according to the needs of the software engineering profession, which not only reflects the characteristics of the profession but also enhances its effectiveness.
• The teaching content needs to balance theory, practice, and curriculum design; keep up with and introduce cutting-edge developments and the latest achievements in both the industry and curriculum at home and abroad; and maintain the novelty and richness of the teaching content to expand the knowledge of students and stimulate their innovative thinking.
• Advocating for the interaction between teaching and scientific research, adopting the principle that “teaching promotes scientific research, scientific research enhances teaching” promotes the integrated development of teaching and scientific research with the results of development and industrialization. Scientific research results should be transformed into teaching content over time to enrich teaching connotations and expand the vision of students’ knowledge.
• Encourage and guide students to participate in various extracurricular design competitions, such as the Challenge Cup, to enhance their innovation consciousness and ability as well as their overall quality and social competitiveness. This can cultivate students’ practical spirit and teamwork and guide them to understand and practice the philosophy of sustainable development.

6. Course Assessment and Evaluation Design

The course attaches importance to process assessment and aims to reflect students’ practical project analysis and design abilities. The assessment method included regular and final exam grades, and the overall grade was derived from the weighted sum of these two parts.

6.1. Regular Grade (40%)

Regular grades were obtained by combining classroom performance, pre-class independent studies, and extracurricular extension practical training results. The percentages of each component were as follows:

6.1.1. Classroom Performance (15%)

Classroom performance included two elements: answering questions and participating in discussions, based on records from online teaching platforms and teachers. The requirements included the following:

• Timely logging into the online teaching platform and active participation in online classroom interactions.
• Listening carefully to class discussions, actively answering questions raised by the teacher, and expressing personal opinions and thoughts.
• Participating seriously in discussions, actively communicating with other students, and demonstrating their thinking and language skills.

6.1.2. Independent Study before Class (15%)

Pre-class independent learning required students to read relevant textbooks, watch teaching videos independently on an online platform before each class, and submit pre-class assignments. The assignment questions varied in type and difficulty and were worth different points accordingly.

6.1.3. Extracurricular Practical Training (10%)

Practical training in extracurricular activities examined the results of students’ active learning and exploration outside of the course. The requirements included the following:

• According to the tasks assigned by the instructor, completing the practical activities as required and submitting the relevant documents and results.
• The teacher evaluates the score based on the submitted results and includes it in the regular grades.

6.2. Final Exam Grade (60%)

The final examination mainly assessed students’ UML analysis, design ability, documentation quality, and so on. In the assessment evaluation design of this course, 11 assessment points were set, and each assessment point was assigned different weights according to its importance in project analysis and design. The final grade was obtained by multiplying the score for each assessment point by the sum of the corresponding weights. The specific requirements were as follows:

• Students choose their own software projects for UML analysis and design and prepare the relevant documents.
• The UML analysis and design should meet the requirements of object-oriented analysis and design, the quality of the documents should be high, and the implementation of ideas should be clear.
• After the students’ defense and instructor’s evaluation, the students’ UML analysis, design ability, and quality of their submitted documents were comprehensively assessed, and these factors together determined the final examination grade. The assessment of UML analysis and design ability includes students’ comprehension and application of object-oriented analysis and design as well as their practical ability. The assessment of document quality focuses on students’ standardization, completeness, accuracy, and clarity as well as their understanding and mastery of course knowledge. This assessment not only assesses students’ understanding and application of knowledge but also develops their project management and teamwork skills.

For example,

Table 2. Course assessment score sheet.

Assessment Points	Weight	Assessment Point Score					Assessment Score
		Excellent (90–100)	Good (80–90)	Average (70–80)	Pass (60–70)	Fail (0–60)
1. Project Requirements Analysis	5%	90					4.5
2. Use Case Analysis and Design	10%	95					9.5
3. Sequence Diagram Design	10%		85				8.5
4. Class Diagram Design	10%	90					9
5. Object and Package Diagram Design	5%			70			3.5
6. State Diagram Design	5%			70			3.5
7. Activity Diagram Design	10%		88				8.8
8. Component Diagram Design	10%			72			7.2
9. Deployment Diagram Design	5%	90					4.5
10. Design Document	20%	90					18
11. Presentation and Communication Skills	10%				65		6.5
Total	100%						83.5

shows students’ course examination scores.

6.3. Analysis of the Assessment Method

• This assessment method attaches importance to students’ usual performance; assesses students’ learning attitude, participation, and critical thinking ability in a fair and objective way; and provides students with comprehensive learning guidance. Simultaneously, this approach also helps stimulate students’ enthusiasm for learning, improves classroom interactivity, and promotes active and cooperative learning.
• This assessment method integrates classroom performance, pre-course independent learning, and extracurricular extended practical training and examines students’ learning from multiple perspectives in a comprehensive manner, which helps teachers understand students’ learning status and ability in a more in-depth manner. Simultaneously, teachers can adjust their teaching strategies and content according to students’ performance to better meet students’ learning needs and promote their learning development.
• The assessment method emphasizes the practical application of UML analysis and design for software projects so that students can deeply understand and practice the analysis and design methods and processes to better master the knowledge of object-oriented analysis and design. Additionally, this approach can cultivate students’ practical skills and strengthen their understanding and application of their theoretical knowledge.
• This assessment method requires strict documentation, emphasizing standardization, completeness, and accuracy, which not only improves students’ documentation skills but also cultivates their professionalism. Through this approach, students can understand and master the course content more deeply.
• This assessment method requires students to deeply understand and master course knowledge in their daily studies, and at the same time, flexibly apply it in practice to better complete the UML analysis, design, and documentation tasks in software projects. This assessment method can improve students’ learning efficiency and outcomes and encourage them to actively participate in the course, thus improving their overall ability and literacy. In addition, it reflects the perspective of sustainable education. Through continuous learning and practice, students can make continuous progress and enhance their self-learning and innovation abilities, thereby laying a solid foundation for future learning and career development.

7. Teaching Effectiveness

7.1. Enhancing Students’ Interest and Practical Ability, Emphasizing Sustainable Development

Since 2019, we have adopted the teaching strategy of “case-guided multi-project synchronous implementation” for object-oriented analysis and design courses. This student-centered approach has achieved significant results in cultivating students’ interest in learning, independent learning, and practical skills. The following points illustrate how this teaching strategy can improve students’ overall quality, from the perspective of sustainable development.

First, this strategy increases students’ motivation, initiative, and learning satisfaction. In the case-led learning process, students gradually shift from passively receiving knowledge to actively exploring their own problems. This helps to stimulate students’ interest in learning, making them more engaged in the learning process and forming good habits of continuous learning.

Second, this strategy enhances students’ critical thinking, cooperation, and communication skills. Through case studies, students learned how to think deeply about and analyze issues to form their own opinions and perspectives. Simultaneously, they learn to cooperate with their classmates to solve problems, which helps them develop teamwork skills. Such skills are very important and essential for future careers.

Furthermore, they develop self-management, self-learning, and self-service literacy skills. In the process of the simultaneous implementation of multiple projects, students must arrange their own time, allocate tasks reasonably, and develop their own time management and self-discipline skills. Simultaneously, they must continuously improve their professional knowledge through self-directed learning to adapt to the ever-changing needs of the project. This is critical to the need for sustainability as it emphasizes lifelong learning and self-improvement in individuals’ lives and work.

Finally, this strategy nurtures software engineering talent by using innovative and practical skills. Under this teaching strategy, students’ sense of acquisition is significantly enhanced. This allows them to focus fully on their potential and improve their comprehensive ability to complete the analysis and design of software projects. Through the in-depth study and practice of actual projects, students’ knowledge systems in object-oriented analysis and design are comprehensively expanded and consolidated, laying a solid foundation for their future careers.

In summary, the teaching strategy of “case-guided multi-project synchronous implementation” not only enhances students’ interest and sense of achievement but also helps cultivate software engineering talent with an innovative spirit and practical skills. From the perspective of sustainable development, this teaching strategy can help cultivate professionals with lifelong learning and self-improvement abilities and contribute to the future development of society.

7.2. High Degree of Attainment of Course Objectives

Since China’s engineering education joined the “Washington Agreement” in 2016, the talent training program for software engineering majors in Huaihua College has been revised several times to meet the requirements for professional accreditation in engineering education. In the syllabus of the object-oriented analysis and design course, it is clear that the course supports the graduation requirements of “problem analysis” and “using modern tools”, and the weights of the two course objectives and their correspondence with the effective support of graduation requirements are determined (see

Table 3. Correspondence between assessment content structure and course objectives.

Course Objectives	Objective Weight	Assessment Content	Weight of Each Assessment Content	Objective Score
Course Objective 1	0.2	Classroom Performance	0.15	20
		Independent Study before Class	0.15
		Extracurricular Practical Training	0.10
		Final Exam Grade	0.60
Course Objective 2	0.8	Classroom Performance	0.15	80
		Independent Study before Class	0.15
		Extracurricular Practical Training	0.10
		Final Exam Grade	0.60

).

According to the syllabus, teachers classify students’ classroom performance, pre-course independent learning, extracurricular practice, and final assessment, and assign the corresponding scores to either Teaching Objective 1 or Teaching Objective 2. The degree of attainment of the two course objectives is then calculated according to Formula (1):

$$Ob{j}_i={\displaystyle \sum _{j=1}^4\left(\frac{Ave{r}_{i,j}}{Obj{s}_{i,j}}\times w_{i,j}\right)}$$

(1)

where Obj_i denotes the ith course objective; i takes the value of one or two; j takes a value of 1–4, indicating the jth assessment content in course objective i; Aver_i,j denotes the average score of the jth assessment content in course objective i; Objs_i,j denotes the target value of the jth assessment content in course objective i; and w_i,j denotes the weight of the jth assessment content in course objective i.

Formula (2) is then used to calculate course attainment [30]:

Obj = Obj₁ × 0.2 + Obj₂ × 0.8

(2)

After the formal revision and improvement of the course syllabus in 2017, the calculation of the course attainment scores began for each lecture, and the results are shown in

Table 4. Attainment of course objectives.

Year	Course Objective 1 (0.2)	Course Objective 2 (0.8)	Attainment of Course Objectives
2017	0.6676	0.6432	0.6481
2018	0.6561	0.6675	0.6652
2019	0.8794	0.8687	0.8708
2020	0.9061	0.8536	0.8641
2021	0.9176	0.8695	0.8791
2022	0.9125	0.8435	0.8573

.

Table 4 shows that since the adoption of the teaching strategy of “case-guided multi-project synchronous implementation” in 2019, the attainment of the course objectives has increased significantly, indicating that the teaching strategy has improved the teaching of the course and has comprehensively and effectively promoted an improvement in the overall quality of student learning.

However, it should be noted that by 2022, the attainment of course objectives had declined. This fluctuation in the achievement of course objectives was related to the specific teaching times. Owing to the serious impact of COVID-19 prevention and control measures, the course was forced to adopt online teaching and practice throughout the teaching period in 2022, resulting in a lack of guidance from offline teachers in project analysis and design activities for students. Some students were inevitably relaxed, which affected the teaching strategy to some extent. This suggests that we need to continuously pay attention to and analyze the factors in the teaching process and adjust teaching methods in a timely and targeted manner to improve the stability and consistency of course goal attainment.

7.3. The Number of Software Copyright Applications Has Been Increasing Year by Year

During the course’s teaching period, teachers actively encouraged students to implement the software projects they analyzed, designed, and submitted to the Copyright Protection Center of China for software copyright applications. This can organically combine the teaching content of the course with related courses, such as programming and databases, to realize the integration of multi-course knowledge and effectively reflect students’ innovative practical abilities.

Since 2017, the number of students’ successful software copyright applications, based on the analysis and design of course projects, has increased significantly, as shown in Figure 2.

This indicates that students have mastered certain practical skills and knowledge in the course learning process and have continuously improved their innovation ability through independent practice and research, which also proves the effectiveness and quality of the course teaching. However, in the second half of 2022, the number of students applying for software copyrights also decreased, which was also influenced by COVID-19 pandemic control measures.

7.4. Students’ Satisfaction with Teaching has been Significantly Improved

At the end of course teaching, students must evaluate the course on an academic affairs management platform. The relevant evaluation systems are listed in

Table 5. Evaluation index system for teaching a course at Huaihua University.

Indicators	Observation Points	Weight	Grade
			Excellent (90–100)	Good (80–90)	Average (60–79)	Poor (0–60)
Teacher’s Teaching	The teacher was serious and responsible in teaching.	10
	This explanation is clear, concise, and tailored to our needs.	10
	This explanation is clear, concise, and tailored to our actual needs.	10
	The teacher cares about us and our learning progress.	10
	These strict requirements encouraged us to conduct this study conscientiously.	10
	The course helped us to understand the subject’s characteristics and ways of thinking.	10
Student Learning	I understand this course’s goals and learning requirements, and have gained significant knowledge and learning abilities after studying it.	10
	The course was challenging and inspired me to learn independently after the class.	10
	The classroom atmosphere was good and had a strong positive influence. I have a positive impression of my teacher.	10
	The problems encountered during the course can be addressed through teacher feedback.	10

.

After evaluating the course teaching, the mean value of students’ ratings is calculated to obtain their evaluation of the course teaching. Since the implementation of the teaching strategy of “case-guided multi-project synchronous implementation”, students’ evaluation scores for the course have been high, and the relevant data are shown in Figure 3. This indicates that this teaching strategy was well received by the students and achieved the expected teaching effect.

8. Discussion and Conclusions

From the perspective of educational sustainability, the use of a case-guided multi-project simultaneous implementation strategy to teach a course on object-oriented analysis and design is effective. The implementation of this strategy helped students increase their interest in and access to the course and proved that the practical and contextual nature of the teaching activities could effectively stimulate their interest and motivation to learn [31]. Simultaneously, this strategy provided a realistic and challenging learning environment that enabled students to gain a deeper understanding of the theory and practice of object-oriented analysis and design during project implementation.

Practical and contextual activities stimulate students’ interest and motivation and provide a realistic and challenging learning environment. Meanwhile, the simultaneous implementation strategy of multiple projects simulating a real software development environment can help students understand and master the theory and practice of object-oriented analysis and design more deeply, thus improving the achievement of the course objectives.

In addition, the year-on-year increase in the number of software copyright applications provides direct evidence of improvement in students’ innovation and practical skills. This indicates that students gain theoretical knowledge and excel in practical operations and innovative design. This reflects the success of the teaching strategy and confirms that practical teaching can promote the innovation and practical skills of students and lay the foundation for cultivating software engineering talent with an innovative spirit, practical skills, and capacity for lifelong learning.

The significant increase in student satisfaction with teaching and learning further proves the effectiveness of these strategies. In the context of sustainability education, we not only focus on the quality of teaching but also on students’ feelings and participation as an important reference for improving our teaching methods.

In summary, the case-guided multi-project implementation strategy was effective in teaching object-oriented analysis and design. It not only improves students’ interest in learning and the sense of acquisition but also enhances the achievement of course objectives and promotes the innovation and practical skills of students. These results demonstrate the effectiveness of such teaching strategies and contribute to the cultivation of engineering education talent from a sustainable development perspective.

For future research, we should continue to explore and optimize this teaching strategy within the framework of sustainable development education, such as investigating how to better design and select cases to improve students’ learning, and how to use new technologies, such as virtual reality and artificial intelligence, to further improve the effectiveness of case teaching. Simultaneously, this strategy can be applied to other computer science courses to explore its applicability and to test its effectiveness in various fields. We need to consider how teaching strategies can adapt to the evolving technological environment and meet society’s future need for professional and critical-thinking skills. Simultaneously, we must consider how teaching strategies and educational environments can be adapted to diverse student populations. We need to be as inclusive as possible for students of all backgrounds, abilities, and interests and provide them with equitable and consistent high-quality educational opportunities to achieve the goal of educational equity.