Towards a Formalization of a Framework to Express and Reason about Software Engineering Methods

Software Engineering is considered a knowledge-intensive discipline, in which knowledge creation, collection and sharing is an uninterrupted process. However, a large part of this knowledge exists in a tacit form and depends on practitioners. Therefore defining a mechanism to transform tacit knowledge into explicit one is of upmost importance. This paper presents a formalization approach to represent Software Engineering practitioners' tacit knowledge, which is related to their ways of working, as a set of explicit statements. The formalization is based on KUALI-BEH, which is a normative kernel extension of ESSENCE formal specification, and consists of three parts: an ontology to share a common representation of knowledge as a set of concepts; a Situational Method Engineering based algebra that represents well-defined method properties and operations; and a knowledge representation of the ontology and algebra using Description Logics. The main objectives of this initial formalization are to improve communication among humans and machines, computational inference and reuse of knowledge

Using an Educational Mobile Application for Learning the Essence 1.2 Kernel Alphas

Essence 1.2 is a standard that facilitates the study of Software Engineering by essentializing the broad empirical knowledge related to this area. The main component of the standard is the kernel, which contains alphas that make it possible to assess the state and progress of a software project through the use of a holistic thinking framework. This paper presents an educational mobile application, denominated as Alphalingo, with which to learn the alphas, and which promotes active and meaningful learning through the inclusion of various learning styles, gamification and spaced learning. The educational proposal was evaluated by means of a formal experiment and a replication, which were carried out with professionals working at two software enterprises in Mexico. The experimentation method consisted of randomly selecting the participants in order to form two groups: a control group, whose members attended classes in order to learn the Essence 1.2 kernel alphas, and an experimental group, which learned using Alphalingo. The statistical results obtained from the meta-analysis carried out indicate that the use of Alphalingo has a greater degree of learning effectiveness and a greater motivating effect than the face-to-face method.Essence 1.2 es un estándar que facilita el estudio de la Ingeniería del Software al esencializar el amplio conocimiento empírico relacionado con esta área. El componente principal del estándar es el núcleo, que contiene alfas que permiten evaluar el estado y el progreso de un proyecto de software mediante el uso de un marco de pensamiento holístico. Este artículo presenta una aplicación móvil educativa, denominada Alphalingo, con la que aprender los alfas, y que promueve el aprendizaje activo y significativo mediante la inclusión de varios estilos de aprendizaje, la gamificación y el aprendizaje espaciado. La propuesta educativa se evaluó mediante un experimento formal y una réplica, los cuales se realizaron con profesionales que laboran en dos empresas de software en México. El método de experimentación consistió en seleccionar aleatoriamente a los participantes para formar dos grupos: un grupo de control, cuyos integrantes asistieron a clases para aprender las alfas del kernel Essence 1.2, y un grupo experimental, que aprendió usando Alphalingo. Los resultados estadísticos obtenidos del metaanálisis realizado indican que el uso de Alphalingo tiene un mayor grado de efectividad en el aprendizaje y un mayor efecto motivador que el método presencial

Using web‐based gamified software to learn Boolean algebra simplification in a blended learning setting

One of the fundamental topics in the education of students enrolled in computer‐related degrees is that of Boolean algebra. This is because it allows the expression of several problems related to digital design, artificial intelligence, databases, compilers, and formal languages, among others, as a sequence of Boolean operations and variables, which can be dealt with by using Boolean algebra methods to optimize algorithms, minimize digital components, and so forth. This study presents a piece of web‐based software, denominated as MiniBool, which has been developed with the objective of supporting the learning of Boolean algebra in a blended learning setting. This educational proposal gives students the opportunity to reinforce learning at any time and in any place. It additionally increases the learners’ motivation by including gamification, through the use of a ranking that shows the students’ level of participation. MiniBool was evaluated by means of a formal experiment, which was carried out with Discrete Mathematics students at a higher education institution in Mexico, where two groups were formed randomly: A control group, whose members attended classes and reinforced their knowledge in a traditional manner with a pencil and paper, and an experimental group, which learned in a blended learning context, receiving the same classes as the control group, but reinforcing what they had learned using MiniBool. The statistical results obtained indicate that the use of MiniBool has a positive and motivating effect on learning and that a greater academic performance is achieved than when the traditional teaching‐learning method is applied

Software Process Modeled with Objects: Static View

Abstract. This paper presents an attempt to exploring the modeling • with objects as a w~ 01 structuring and systematize the fundamental concepts 01 the software process (SP) with the basic objective 01 understanding them better. The classes and relationships between them are used to model the static view 01the SP. The relationships 01 aggregation and association express the structure 01 dependences between the basic concepts olthe SP, which are: the phases, the activities, the products, the roles and the agents. The relationship 01inheritance is used to express the different specializations 01 the previous concepts. The general model applies to the detailed description 01 the phase 01 analysis with the purpose 01 understanding their basic activities, the involved roles, the generated products and the relationships between them

From MoProSoft Level 2 to ISO/IEC 29110 Basic Profile: Bridging the Gap

The spread of the interest and the need for process reference models, specifically for small and medium software development organizations, has been a catalyst for generating ISO/IEC 29110 Software Engineering — Lifecycle profiles for Very Small Entities. Based on the Mexican standard NMX-I-059-NYCE-2005, better known as MoProSoft, ISO/IEC 29110 is the first international standard specifically designed for very small entities. Thanks to the COMPETISOFT Project and MoProSoft, the background knowledge and models adoption experience have been introduced in Latin America. In Mexico more than 300 organizations have been evaluated in NMX-I-059-NYCE-2005, in 2009 MoProSoft became a national standard in Peru, while COMPETISOFT included the experience and viewpoints of 13 countries and 23 research groups of the region. As a whole, it gives small software development organizations in the region an advantage in adopting an international standard. This paper clarifies the gap between ISO/IEC 29110 and MoProSoft level 2. As a result of a theoretical and practical review both standards have been mapped defining the coverage level between processes, considering the defined tasks, work products and roles. Several recommendations have been suggested to bridge the gap between these standards. Finally, the effort needed to adopt the Basic Profile of the new international standard starting from the Mexican standard has been estimated. The results have been extended to also consider organizations that adopted COMPETISOFT as their process reference model

Bottom-up authoring of software engineering methods and practices

Software Engineering knowledge is obtained during software engineering efforts, such as projects, experiments and case studies that represent a valuable source of knowledge with which to enrich the discipline. This knowledge is manipulated by practitioners who are in charge of developing, maintaining or integrating software; any practitioner, experienced or beginner, possesses his/her tacit practices in order to carry out their work. However, these ways of working are frequently neither expressed nor collected in order to reason about their characteristics and properties. Moreover, the explicit ways of working, which are presented in process reference models and standards that follow a prescriptive approach, are not suitable for small software development organizations. Small organizations represent a major part of software development organizations, so it is important to know and support how they actually work. This paper describes KUALI-BEH, a bottom-up metamodel that offers software engineering practitioners an authoring framework with which to express, adapt and share their ways of working as a collection of methods and practices. Validating and applying the metamodel showed that a bottom-up approach benefits small organizations and serves as a first step to reduce the gap between software engineering theory and practice. KUALI-BEH permits small organizations to create an organizational working method and to gradually introduce them to the adoption of standards and reference models. Practitioners with different levels of competence, from inexperienced to senior, adopt and use KUALI-BEH successfully with minimal training and without any consulting services