An empirical study on the estimation of size and complexity of software applications with function points analysis

Empirical studies are important in software engineering to evaluate new tools, techniques, methods and technologies in a structured way before they are introduced in the industrial (real) software process. Perform empirical studies in a real context is very difficult due to various obstacles. An interesting alternative is perform empirical studies in an educational context using students as subjects and share the results with the academia and the industry. This paper describes a case study with two teams that developed a software system (Web application) for a real customer. In this study we used a model based on Function Points Analysis (FPA) to estimate the size and complexity of software system

Mobile Learning Technologies for Education: Benefits and Pending Issues

Today’s world demands more efficient learning models that allow students to play a more active role in their education. Technology is having an impact on how instruction is delivered and how information is found and share. Until very recently, the educational models encouraged memorization as an essential learning skill. These days, technologies have changed the educational model and access to information. Knowledge is available online, mostly free, and easily accessible. Reading, sharing, listening and, doing are currently necessary skills for education. Mobile devices have become a complete set of applications, support, and help for educational organizations. By conducting an analysis of the behavior and use of mobile devices on current students, efficient educational applications can be developed. Although there are several initiatives for the use of mobile learning in education, there are also issues linked to this technology that must be addressed. In this work, we present the results of a literature review of mobile learning; the findings described are the result of the analysis of several articles obtained in three scientific repositories. This work also lists certain issues that, if properly addressed, can avoid possible complications to the implementation of this technology in education.This work was supported by the EduTech project (609785-EPP-1-2019-1-ES-EPPKA2-CBHEJP) co-funded by the Erasmus+ Programme of the European Union

The Usability of E-learning Platforms in Higher Education: A Systematic Mapping Study

The use of e-learning in higher education has increased significantly in recent years, which has led to several studies being conducted to investigate the usability of the platforms that support it. A variety of different usability evaluation methods and attributes have been used, and it has therefore become important to start reviewing this work in a systematic way to determine how the field has developed in the last 15 years. This paper describes a systematic mapping study that performed searches on five electronic libraries to identify usability issues and methods that have been used to evaluate e-learning platforms. Sixty-one papers were selected and analysed, with the majority of studies using a simple research design reliant on questionnaires. The usability attributes measured were mostly related to effectiveness, satisfaction, efficiency, and perceived ease of use. Furthermore, several research gaps have been identified and recommendations have been made for further work in the area of the usability of online learning

Evaluating requirements modeling methods based on user perceptions: a family of experiments

Numerous methods and techniques have been proposed for requirements modeling, although very few have had widespread use in practice. One drawback of requirements modeling methods is that they lack proper empirical evaluations. This means that there is a need for evaluation methods that consider both the theoretical and practical aspects of this type of methods and techniques. In this paper, we present a method for evaluating the quality of requirements modeling methods based on user perceptions. The evaluation method consists of a theoretical model that explains the relevant dimensions of quality for requirements modeling methods, along with a practical instrument with which to measure these quality dimensions. Basically, it allows us to predict the acceptance of a particular requirements modeling method in practice, based on the effort of applying the method, the quality of the requirements artifacts produced, and the user perceptions with regard to the quality of the method. The paper also presents an empirical test of the proposed method for evaluating a Rational Unified Process (RUP) extension for requirements modeling. That test was carried out through a family of experiments conducted with students and practitioners and provides evidence of the usefulness of the evaluation method proposed. © 2011 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.This research has been funded by the following projects: MULTIPLE (MICINN TIN2009-13838), MEDUSAS (CDTI-MICINN and FEDER IDI-20090557), ORIGIN (CDTI-MICINN and FEDER IDI-2010043(1-5)), PEGASO/MAGO (MICINN and FEDER, TIN2009-13718-C02-01), EECCOO (MICINN TRA2009_0074), MECCA (JCMM PII2109-0075-8394) and IMPACTUM (JCCM PEII11-0330-4414).Abrahao Gonzales, SM.; Insfrán Pelozo, CE.; Carsí Cubel, JÁ.; Genero Bocco, M. (2011). Evaluating requirements modeling methods based on user perceptions: a family of experiments. Information Sciences. 181(16):3356-3378. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ins.2011.04.005S335633781811

Rapid prototyping technology adoption framework development: Operationalization and roadmap generation for SMEs

The research provides a comprehensive and practical roadmap, from strategic through to the operational level, for an effective adoption of Rapid Prototyping Technology (RPT). This has been achieved through the development of frameworks, a Decision Support System for process selection, identification of the drivers of external and internal environment, market evaluation and competitor analysis. The developed methodology incorporates Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP), value chain micro analysis of product development cycle and important performance (IP) Analysis

MAPPING IS CURRICULUM RESEARCH AREAS: A SYSTEMATIC LITERATURE REVIEW FROM 2010 TO 2019

Research on IS curriculum addresses many important aspects related to IS curriculum planning: sharing of good curriculum planning practices, reviewing and recommending contents for IS curriculum, and identifying graduates’ competency needs. A bit surprisingly, however, there is no systematic literature review on IS curriculum research, increasing the possibility that knowledge does not accumulate, or reach intended beneficiaries. In this paper, we present results of a systematic literature review of IS curriculum research from 2010 to 2019. In total, 204 articles are downloaded from Scopus, AIS eLibrary, and ACM digital library. In addition to providing an overview of research demographics, we classify the articles first into three broad categories (planning process, curriculum contents, competency requirements), and secondly to more specific classes within each category. For IS curriculum researchers, the results assist in identifying prior research in different areas, thus promoting accumulation of research knowledge. For IS faculty, the paper provides an overview of IS curriculum related studies and a possibility to identify papers based on their immediate curriculum design needs and interests