Prácticas de ludificación en el desarrollo de software representadas en el núcleo de SEMAT

Las prácticas de ludificación son estrategias y elementos característicos de los juegos aplicados en contextos que no son recreativos, con el fin de motivar, incrementar la productividad, lograr objetivos o afianzar el aprendizaje. Los juegos serios son formas de interacción que se diseñan con una intención adicional a la de sólo entretener. La ingeniería del software no es ajena al uso de dichas prácticas y su uso refleja actividades repetitivas, sugiriendo la existencia de patrones en su implementación. SEMAT (Software Engineering Method and Theory) es un estándar en la ingeniería de software que provee un lenguaje para representar métodos y prácticas. Diferentes autores definen representaciones de las prácticas de ludificación con diversos propósitos: definir los roles y responsabilidades involucrados, identificar sus elementos y permitir la simulación de dichas prácticas en escenarios virtuales. Algunas de estas representaciones se limitan a una determinada etapa o método del proceso de desarrollo de software y no reflejan el comportamiento de algunos elementos característicos de las estrategias de ludificación. Para solucionar los problemas enunciados, en esta Tesis de Maestría se propone una representación en el núcleo de SEMAT de las prácticas de ludificación usadas en la ingeniería del software: valoración cuantitativa de tareas y entrega de recompensas basadas en objetivos. Esta representación refleja las características que tienen en común las prácticas de ludificación en la ingeniería de software, permitiendo clasificar y comparar dichas prácticas, así como aplicarlas en los distintos métodos de desarrollo de software.Abstract: Gamification practices are strategies and elements of games to be applied in non-gaming contexts. Such strategies are intended to motivate, raise productivity, achieve goals, and improve learning processes. Serious games are ways to interact designed for entertainment and other purposes. Such practices can be also used in software engineering. Such usage reflects repetitive activities and exhibits patterns inside practice implementations SEMAT (Software Engineering Method and Theory) is a software engineering standard which provides a language for representing methods and practices Some authors represent gamification practices in order to define roles, responsibilities, and other elements for simulating such practices on virtual environments. Some representations are limited to specific activities or methods within software development processes and avoid behaviors of some characteristic elements inside gamification strategies. As a way to solve these problems, in this Master Thesis—by using the SEMAT Kernel—we propose a representation for gamification practices used in software engineering: quantitative task assessment and goal-based reward allocation. This representation exhibits common features gamification practices have within software development. This representation allows for classifying an comparing such practices and applying them on different software development methodsMaestrí

Application of Constructive Modeling and Process Mining Approaches to the Study of Source Code Development in Software Engineering Courses

We present an approach of constructing a source code history for a modern code review. Practically, it is supposed to be used in programming training, especially within initial stages. The developed constructor uses constructive-synthesizing modeling tools to classify a source code history by fine-grained changes and to construct an event log file aimed to provide information on students’ coding process. Current research applies Process Mining techniques to the software engineering domain to identify software engineering skills. By better understanding of the way students design programs, we will help novices learn programming. This research provides an innovative method of using code and development process review in teaching programming skills and is aimed to encourage using code review and monitoring coding practice in educational purposes. The standard method of evaluation takes into consideration only a final result, which doesn’t meet modern requirements of teaching programming

Gamification for Software Development Processes – Relevant Affordances and Design Principles

A Gamified Information System (GIS) implements game concepts and elements, such as affordances and game design principles to motivate people. Based on the idea to develop a GIS to increase the motivation of software developers to perform software quality tasks, the research work at hand aims at investigating relevant requirements from that target group. Therefore, 14 interviews with software development experts are conducted and analyzed. According to the results, software developers prefer the affordances points, narrative storytelling in a multiplayer and a round-based setting. Furthermore, six design principles for the development of a GIS are derived

An interdisciplinary perspective on gamification: Mechanics, psychological mediators and outcomes

As gamification literature has matured, the gap between how different domains apply the theory has widened. This has positioned gamification as being more dependent on context, rather than being an independent theory per se. To address this notion, three concepts are identified as being central for how a gamificator, the one responsible for gamifying, gamifies a process. These are mechanics, mental mediators and desired outcomes. Following this logic, a review was conducted using 77 (n) articles across seven disciplines, namely health and wellness, crowdsourcing, sustainability, computer science, software development, business, and tourism. The findings highlighted potentially causal and correlational relationships between several concepts when gamifying a situation, context, service or/and process. This research presents an alternative and uniform perspective on the broad gamification research to better understand how gamification functions and can be employed to impact various outcomes. Furthermore, this research contributes to this rather eclectic domain, presenting a more categorized view in showing domain-specific mechanics and how these can be employed for empirical testing. Lastly, the conceptual model can be modified, employed and adjusted to investigate various effects of gamification on outcomes