Collaborative Requirements Engineering Notation for Planning Globally Distributed Projects

Requirements engineering represents a critical phase of the software development lifecycle in which requirements describing the functional and non-functional behaviors of a system are elicited, modeled, analyzed, negotiated, agreed, and specified. In traditional software systems these tasks are typically performed in face-to-face meetings between requirements engineers and the project level stakeholders. However, in today’s global software development environment, it is becoming increasingly commonplace for stakeholders to be dispersed across multiple geographical locations and time zones. Under these circumstances, face-to-face meetings become expensive, and often impossible to facilitate, and as a result the success of the requirements process relies, at least partially, on tools and processes that support distributed communication and collaboration. To investigate the challenges and effective practices for performing requirements activities in distributed environments, we conducted a series of in-depth interviews with project managers and business analysts who have worked with non-co-located stakeholders. Since many project managers fail to plan and deploy the necessary infrastructures to support quality communication, and in practice requirements are often elicited and managed via email exchanges; we introduced a visual modeling notation to help project managers proactively plan the collaboration infrastructures needed to support requirements-related activities in globally distributed projects. An underlying meta-model defines the elements of the modeling language, including locations, stakeholder roles, communication flows, critical documents, and supporting tools and repositories. The interview findings were further analyzed to identify practices that led to success or created significant challenges for the projects; resulting in a set of patterns for globally distributed requirements engineering

Requirements analysis gamification in legacy system replacement projects

The replacement of legacy systems in the public sector is fraught with project delays, budgetary overruns, technological and business process complexities. Moreover, the software implemented to replace legacy systems is developed or configured to largely mimic their features and functionality in order to minimize the disruption to organizational operations that accompanies the introduction of new technology. When the requirements for legacy replacement primarily replicate existing applications and processes, opportunities for business process improvement are bypassed. However, it is difficult for practitioners to transcend the business and systems models prevalent in their organizations for many years. The challenge is to support them to overcome such a difficulty, and be creative and engaged during requirements discussions. Our research aims to evaluate the utility of gamifying the requirements activities during legacy replacement projects for scoping replacement systems efforts in a way that takes advantage of opportunities for innovation while minimizing unnecessary changes to the status quo. The supplementation of the requirements process with game elements is explored in our research through the development of a requirements discussion game (RE-PROVO) and its evaluation by practitioners in two government agencies. Our findings reveal that key elements of RE-PROVO, including competition, anonymity and roleplay, encourage a more critical evaluation of business requirements in legacy replacement projects, but that the success of requirements gamification is contingent on a proper incentivization model which takes organizational culture and values into account

Exploring Emerging Technologies for Requirements Elicitation Interview Training: Empirical Assessment of Robotic and Virtual Tutors

Requirements elicitation interviews are a widely adopted technique, where the interview success heavily depends on the interviewer's preparedness and communication skills. Students can enhance these skills through practice interviews. However, organizing practice interviews for many students presents scalability challenges, given the time and effort required to involve stakeholders in each session. To address this, we propose REIT, an extensible architecture for Requirements Elicitation Interview Training system based on emerging educational technologies. REIT has components to support both the interview phase, wherein students act as interviewers while the system assumes the role of an interviewee, and the feedback phase, during which the system assesses students' performance and offers contextual and behavioral feedback to enhance their interviewing skills. We demonstrate the applicability of REIT through two implementations: RoREIT with a physical robotic agent and VoREIT with a virtual voice-only agent. We empirically evaluated both instances with a group of graduate students. The participants appreciated both systems. They demonstrated higher learning gain when trained with RoREIT, but they found VoREIT more engaging and easier to use. These findings indicate that each system has distinct benefits and drawbacks, suggesting that REIT can be realized for various educational settings based on preferences and available resources.Comment: Author submitted manuscrip

Approach to attributed feature modeling for requirements elicitation in Scrum agile development

Requirements elicitation is a core activity of requirements engineering for the product to be developed. The knowledge that has been gained during requirements engineering about the product to be developed forms the basis for requirement elicitation. The agile approach is becoming known day by day as the most widely used innovative process in the domain of requirements engineering. Requirements elicitation in agile development faces several challenges. Requirements must be gathered sufficiently to reflect stakeholders' needs. Furthermore, because of the development process, requirements evolve, and they must be adequately treated to keep up with the changing demands of the market and the passage of time. Another challenge with agile implementation is handling non-functional requirements in software development. Addressing non- functional requirements is still a critical factor in the success of any product. Requirements prioritization is also one of the most challenging tasks, and it is uncommon for requirement engineers to be able to specify and document all the requirements at once. This paper presents an approach for requirements elicitation in scrum-based agile development. The approach operates with the feature modeling technique, which is originally used in the Software Product Line (SPL). One of the most important proposed extensions to Feature Models (FMs) is the introduction of feature attributes. Our method uses attributed FMs to consider both functional and non-functional requirements as well as requirement prioritization. For the evaluation purposes, we have demonstrated our approach through two case studies in different domains of software product development. The first case study is in the domain of education, and the second one is in the domain of health care. The results reveal that our approach fits the requirements elicitation process in scrum agile development.Bourns College of Engineering, University of California, Riverside(undefined

A Deconstruction of the Distance Learning Milieu: Affinity Spaces in Higher Education

This research investigated the learning environment and social setting of a distance graduate higher education program. An embedded mixed methods design with a focus on qualitative research involving both faculty and students was employed. The methodology consisted of a multiple case study and cross-sectional survey completed by 22 students and three faculty. The research explored the learning space, who the stake holders are, how the space is defined, and how the space is utilized. The creation of tangible visualizations allowed for an alternate perspective and enlightened insight into the distance learning space. An affinity space lens was applied in examination of the learning space to establish if affinity spaces can be aligned with higher education. Affinity spaces are effective learning environments that are physical or virtual places where individuals with a shared interest gather to facilitate learning, gain collective intelligence, and produce artifacts related to a joint enterprise (Gee, 2005). Data showed that learning is achieved through engagement in all facets of the learning space; including the formal learning management system created by the instructor and all ancillary spaces generated by students. A focus on participants and the creation of community within the space is essential and realized through collaboration, shared interest, interaction, and support. Future research involving both undergraduate and master higher education students; as well as students completing non-cohort online programs could elicit additional knowledge of the distance environment. Also, research on the course shells would garner additional information regarding the design of the course and how the learning management system is being utilized in the course. With increased awareness of the online learning space, educators can better understand how to create virtual classrooms that are most beneficial to online learners and advance the distance experience for this unique population

Digital Government Systems: Tackling The Legacy Problem Through A Game-Based Approach To Business Requirements Analysis

Government agency reliance on legacy systems is problematic: they are costly to maintain, difficult to integrate with and they hinder innovation. However, the replacement of legacy systems is not a straightforward endeavor, and it often results in technology substitution that is not accompanied by business process change. The focus of this dissertation is on the phenomenon of legacy system replication wherein the requirements for applications replacing outdated technologies mimic legacy features and reflect status quo operational processes that have been historically shaped by the legacy system itself. This problem is referred to throughout the dissertation as the “legacy problem.” The dissertation investigates its roots and proposes an approach to overcome it. Specifically, a mixed method research approach is taken, including a survey of public sector practitioners to explore the extent of the legacy problem, and a series of semi-structured interviews with government information technology and management professionals to delve into the dynamics of legacy system replacement projects. Findings indicate that the legacy problem often stems from a lack of critical analysis of business requirements and the desire to minimize the risks associated with organizational change, which often result in missed opportunities for digital government innovation. As a consequence, the dissertation proposes a candidate approach to deal with the legacy problem in the development of a requirements game (RE-PROVO) which supports requirements discussions structured around the themes of legacy (or heritage) preservation and innovation. The game is evaluated by local government practitioners through several iterations and their feedback is analysed to gauge the potential utility of the approach. The results indicate that with a streamlined user interface and accentuated game elements RE-PROVO can be a valuable and effective tool for requirements analysis in legacy system replacement projects

Digital game-based learning : developing a pedagogical model for primary mathematics education

Since they contribute to the learning environment and significantly influence all levels of education, digital games are used as educational tools in various learning activities. However, implementation barriers and other difficulties limit the effective use of such games in the classroom, affecting students’ motivation and learning enhancement. The present study was conducted to address this pedagogical gap through the development of a novel learning environment involving digital games, with the overarching purpose of facilitating primary mathematics education via digital game-based learning. The specific aim of the study was to develop a pedagogical model that would highlight appropriate ways in which digital game-based learning can be applied. To this end, theoretical and pedagogical approaches that explicate game-based learning were determined, and a theoretical and empirical pedagogical model for digital game-based learning in primary mathematics education was designed. The research focused on the following themes: (a) teacher scaffolding strategies and effects and (b) collaborative digital gameplay for engagement. Various theoretical and methodological perspectives were considered. Design-based research, a case study, and a systematic literature review were used to answer the research questions. Three datasets were utilized from studies reported in three previous articles. In the first two studies, the participating students used a digital game called Wuzzit Trouble to solve integer arithmetic problems. The first study investigated the various approaches to teacher scaffolding in digital game-based learning classrooms and their influence on students’ perceptions of mathematics learning through the digital game. The second examined the effects of collaborative digital gameplay on three dimensions of student engagement in mathematics. The data collection methods for these two studies included classroom observations, individual interviews, photo-elicitation interviews, and pre- and post-surveys. The third study involved a systematic literature review and analysis of relevant research papers on teacher scaffolding strategies for different stages of game-based learning and their correlative influence on students’ learning. The main result of the present study was a pedagogical model for digital gamebased learning in mathematics. This represents a culmination of educational theories, previous studies related to game-based learning, and the results of the three studies mentioned above. The model provides a pedagogical foundation for mathematics teachers and educational practitioners to design innovative digital game-based learning environment in the classroom. It captures the phases of orientation, gameplay, and expectation in the digital game-based learning process — that is, teachers adopt various approaches to scaffold students in the orientation and gameplay phases, in turn supporting students’ learning activities and outcomes in the expectation phase. The results of the study lay a theoretical foundation for learning and teaching with digital games in education. They also provide a design process for and meaningful perceptions of digital game-based learning in mathematics and can help identify areas for further empirical research and development in primary education. Future research directions and design principles are suggested in this paper.Digitaalisia pelejä käytetään oppimisvälineinä, koska ne tukevat oppimisympäristöä ja niillä on merkittävä vaikutus kaikilla koulutusasteilla. Toteutuksen esteet ja muut vaikeudet silti rajoittavat pelien tehokasta käyttöä opiskelussa ja vaikuttavat opiskelijoiden motivaatioon ja oppimisprosessin etenemiseen. Tässä tutkimuksessa pyrittiin vastaamaan kyseiseen pedagogiseen haasteeseen kehittämällä uusi oppimisympäristö digitaalisten pelien avulla. Perustarkoituksena oli edistää alemman perusasteen matematiikan koulutusta digitaalisiin peleihin perustuvan oppimisen avulla. Erityistavoitteena oli kehittää pedagoginen malli, joka tuo esille tarkoituksenmukaisia tapoja soveltaa digitaalisiin peleihin perustuvaa oppimista. Tavoitteen saavuttamiseksi määriteltiin teoreettisia ja pedagogisia lähestymistapoja, jotka havainnollistavat peleihin perustuvaa oppimista sekä kehitettiin teoreettinen ja empiirinen pedagoginen malli digitaalisiin peleihin perustuvalle oppimiselle alemman perusasteen matematiikan koulutuksessa. Tutkimuksen keskiössä olivat seuraavat teemat: a) opettajien tukistrategiat ja niiden vaikutukset sekä b) yhteisöllinen digitaalinen pelaaminen osallistamisen tukena. Tutkimuksessa käsiteltiin myös eri teoreettisia ja metodologisia näkökulmia. Tutkimuskysymyksiin vastattiin kehittämistutkimuksen, tapaustutkimuksen ja systemaattisen kirjallisuuskatsauksen avulla. Käytössä oli kolme tietoaineistoa tutkimuksista, joista on julkaistu kolme artikkelia. Kahdessa ensimmäisessä tutkimuksessa opiskelijaosallistujat käyttivät digitaalista peliä nimeltä Wuzzit Trouble, jolla tehtiin laskutoimituksia kokonaisluvuilla. Ensimmäinen tutkimus käsitteli lähestymistapoja opettajan antamaan tukeen digitaalisiin peleihin perustuvassa luokkahuoneessa sekä niiden vaikutusta opiskelijoiden käsityksiin matematiikan oppimisesta digitaalisen pelin avulla. Toisessa tutkimuksessa keskityttiin yhteisöllisen digitaalisen pelaamisen vaikutuksiin matematiikassa kolmella opiskelijan osallistamisen tasolla. Näihin kahteen tutkimukseen oli kerätty aineistoa käyttäen muun muassa luokassa tapahtuvaa havainnointia, yksilöhaastatteluja, valokuvamenetelmään perustuvia haastatteluja sekä esi- ja jälkikyselyjä. Kolmanteen tutkimukseen kuului systemaattinen kirjallisuuskatsaus ja analyysi relevanteista tutkimuksista, joissa on tarkasteltu opettajien tukistrategioita peleihin perustuvan oppimisen eri vaiheissa ja strategioiden vaikutusta opiskelijan oppimiseen. Tämän tutkimuksen päätuotoksena oli digitaaliseen peleihin perustuvan oppimisen pedagoginen malli matematiikassa. Se edustaa kasvatusteorioiden huippua, on jatkoa aikaisemmille peleihin perustuvan oppimisen tutkimuksille ja liittyy yllä mainittujen kolmen tutkimuksen tuloksiin. Malli luo pedagogisen pohjan matematiikan opettajille ja muille kasvatusalan ammattilaisille kehittää innovatiivisia digitaalisiin peleihin perustuvia oppimisympäristöjä. Se kattaa orientaatio-, peli- ja tavoitevaiheet digitaalisiin peleihin perustuvassa oppimisprosessissa. Toisin sanoen opettajat käyttävät eri lähestymistapoja tukeakseen opiskelijoita orientaatio- ja pelivaiheissa, ja vastaavasti avustavat opiskelijoita oppimisaktiviteeteissa ja osaamistavoitteiden saavuttamisessa tavoitevaiheen aikana. Tutkimustulokset luovat teoreettisen perustan oppimiselle ja opetukselle digitaalisten pelien avulla. Ne esittelevät myös digitaalisiin peleihin perustuvan matematiikan oppimisen suunnitteluprosessin ja mielekkään tavan hahmottaa aihetta. Samoin ne voivat auttaa tunnistamaan empiirisen jatkotutkimuksen ja -kehittämisen tarpeita alemman perusasteen koulutuksessa. Tutkimuksessa esitetään myös jatkotutkimuksen linjauksia ja suunnitteluperiaatteita

Exploring Impact of Requirements Engineering on Other IT Project Areas – Case Study

Requirements Engineering (RE) is recognized as one of the most important (yet difficult) areas of software engineering that has a significant impact on other areas of IT projects and their final outcomes. Empirical studies investigating this impact are hard to conduct, mainly due to the great effort required. It is thus difficult for both researchers and industry practitioners to make evidence-based evaluations about how decisions about RE practices translate into requirement quality and influence other project areas. We propose an idea of a lightweight approach utilizing widely-used tools to enable such an evaluation without extensive effort. This is illustrated with a pilot study where the data from six industrial projects from a single organization were analyzed and three metrics regarding the requirement quality, rework effort, and testing were used to demonstrate the impact of different RE techniques. We also discuss the factors that are important for enabling the broader adoption of the proposed approach

Mobile Educational Game Principles in Language Learning: Validity and reliability

Mobile Assisted Language Learning (MALL) has become a popular topic recently due to the rapid development of mobile devices. The objective of this study is to revalidate game principles via MALL and to obtain consensus and expert opinions on the principles. The study employs the Fuzzy Delphi technique to collect responses from nine English Language specialists. The triangular fuzzy numbering method was used to analyze the data, and the 'defuzzification' process was used to determine each variable's position (ranking). According to the findings, the response and expert consensus on the game principles scale is satisfactory.   Keywords: Mobile Educational Game Principles; Expert Consensus; Fuzzy Delphi Method; MALL eISSN: 2398-4287 © 2023. The Authors. Published for AMER ABRA cE-Bs by e-International Publishing House, Ltd., UK. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/). Peer–review under responsibility of AMER (Association of Malaysian Environment-Behaviour Researchers), ABRA (Association of Behavioural Researchers on Asians/Africans/Arabians) and cE-Bs (Centre for Environment-Behaviour Studies), Faculty of Architecture, Planning & Surveying, Universiti Teknologi MARA, Malaysia. DOI: https://doi.org/10.21834/ebpj.v8i23.450

Differentiator factors in the implementation of social network sites

Estágio realizado na Business Analyst da Documento Crítico - Desenvolvimento de Software, S. A. (Cardmobili) e orientado pelo Eng.ª Catarina MaiaTese de mestrado integrado. Engenharia Informática e Computação. Faculdade de Engenharia. Universidade do Porto. 200