Development of a framework for the education of software measurement in software engineering undergraduate programs

Software measurement programs are hardly adopted in organizations and there is a lack of attention to software measurement in higher education. This research work aims at creating the basis for the enhancement of software measurement education in universities, specifically in software engineering programs at the undergraduate level. The ultimate goal of this work is to facilitate the adoption of software measurement programs in software related organizations. This research project tackles this issue by identifying the software measurement topics that should be prioritized for undergraduate students and developing an educational Framework on the basis of the constructivist approach and the Bloom`s taxonomy to provide guidelines to university teachers. By doing so, university teachers will be provided with tools and approaches to pursue the achievement of learning outcomes by students being introduced to software measurement tasks. This research project required a number of investigations: a comprehensive literature review and a web survey to identify current practices in the teaching of software measurement; a Delphi study to identify priorities in software measurement education for undergraduate students; and an evaluation of the proposed educational framework by university teachers to determine the extent to which it can be adopted. The key results are: • Experts in the field agreed in identifying five essential software measurement topics (priorities) that should be taught to undergraduate students: basic concepts of software measurement; the measurement process; software measurement techniques; software management measures; and measures for the requirement phase. For each of these topics, the participating experts also identified the levels of learning expected to be reached by students, according to the Bloom's taxonomy. Moreover, they suggested the need for instilling in students the development of four important skills during their university studies, including: critical thinking; oral and written communication; and team work. These skills are aimed at complementing the students’ knowledge and practice of software measurement. • The design of an educational framework for the teaching of software measurement. • University teachers evaluating the proposed framework gave favorable opinions regarding its usefulness for teaching software measurement and for facilitating the achievement of learning outcomes by undergraduate students. • A website designed to promote the education on software measurement http://software-measurement-education.espol.edu.ec

The Critical Success Factors of Quality Assurance and Measurement Practice in the Software Industry

In this thesis I analyse how QA and measurement programmes are implemented in the software industry. My thesis is that, contrary to popular belief, how companies implement QA and measurement is as important to the ultimate success of a programme as what QA and measurement tools and techniques are implemented. I have combined input from over 300 software developers and managers in 26 different companies, with the analysis of all the relevant publicly available information on companies’ experiences to produce a definitive study into implementing QA and measurement in the software industry. In this study I: • identify those QA and measurement practices considered to be state-of-the-art; • quantify the penetration of state-of-the-art practices; • report on the state-of-the-practice; • assess the effectiveness of the state-of-the-practice; • present guidelines for improved practice. I tested a variety of hypotheses about implementing QA and measurement programmes. My key findings about these hypotheses include: • Some companies have a large gap between what is officially said to be implemented and what is actually implemented. • Practitioners had a significant impact on the success of programmes. Furthermore, I confirmed my hypotheses about managers and developers having different attitudes to QA and measurement. However, I was unable to find convincing evidence to confirm that the demographics of practitioners affected their attitudes. • Many of my hypotheses about the implementation process were confirmed. In particular I found that doing background research was related to success, but that very few companies did research. However, I was unable to find convincing evidence to confirm the importance of feedback to practitioners. Overall my study reveals that the quality of the implementation process across the software industry is, in practice, very poor. Indeed, I show that the gap between state-of-the-art and state-of-the practice is large. I conclude that until the software industry puts as much effort into developing strategies for implementing QA and measurement as it does into developing tools and techniques, then effective and optimised programmes will remain rare

A multiple perspective approach to information system quality

The motivation for this research is a concern with the high rate of informationsystem failures reported in the academic literature and in practitioner publications. Itis proposed that the adoption of the customer-centred ideals and methods of qualitymanagement in information system development will increase the likelihood of thedelivery of successful information systems. The approach taken in the research is towork with the ideas of multiple perspectives - organizational effectiveness, work-lifequality, and technical artefact quality - and multiple stakeholders.The research approach is to use action research. The fieldwork comprisesthree phases. The first phase involved interviewing system developers and thesecond phase consisted of two case studies of implemented information systems.This preliminary analysis, together with a theoretical investigation of the foundationsof quality, was used to inform the development of a quality approach to informationsystem development. The information system development methodology (ISDM) isbased upon Multiview, a multiple perspective approach to information systemdevelopment, and the total quality management method used is quality functiondeployment. The resultant hybrid methodology is known as ISDM/Q.The ISDM/Q is tested using action research on a live system developmentproject concerned with the development of a wind tunnel control and data collectionsystem. Extensive organizational analysis was conducted to place this softwaredevelopment within a wider organizational context, involving quality requirementsworkshops and quality planning. The outcomes of the research are assessed in termsof the learning recorded with respect to the framework of ideas, the methodology(ISDM/Q) and the domain in which the action research took place. The field workshowed that there were benefits to using a quality metaphor in information systemdevelopment but that this would require a significant change in the culture and styleof information system development organizations. A practical contribution of theresearch is the development of quality function deployment for information systemdevelopment