Bringing Light into the Dark - Improving Students’ Black-Box Testing Competencies using Game-Design Elements

As software becomes increasingly complex, there is a growing need to enhance quality assurance in software engineering. However, the lack of qualified human resources is a barrier to performing software testing activities in software companies. At the same time, software testing can be considered a tedious task and is often not done at the necessary level of detail, e.g., designing test cases. However, it is crucial for novice programmers and testers to acquire and improve their testing competencies, and to utilize testing techniques, e.g., black-box testing. Teaching software testing is often based on theoretical instructions, resulting in limited practical experience. As a result, students may not develop the necessary testing mindset, highlighting the need for more extensive software testing education. To address this issue, this paper utilizes a design science research approach to implement a gamified learning system that promotes black-box testing competencies with empirical insights from a field test

Improve Your Modeling Skills with the Help of Your Peers – Developing and Introducing a Digital Case Study and Peer Feedback App in an Information Systems Class

The overall goal of this research study is to improve students’ modeling skills in large-scale educational settings by providing video-based case studies and introducing a formative peer feedback process to enable asynchronous, anonymous collaboration among the students. To this aim, we designed a learning concept and implemented an app that supports the provision of video-based case studies and the conduction of a double-blind peer feedback process. Our results from introducing the digital learning concept in an introductory course targeting information systems students indicate that the students’ motivation and reflection on the learning content could be fostered, and their modeling skills could be improved. Overall, we contribute with insights into how to conduct video-based case studies combined with peer feedback processes in information systems education

Event-related alpha suppression in response to facial motion

This article has been made available through the Brunel Open Access Publishing Fund.While biological motion refers to both face and body movements, little is known about the visual perception of facial motion. We therefore examined alpha wave suppression as a reduction in power is thought to reflect visual activity, in addition to attentional reorienting and memory processes. Nineteen neurologically healthy adults were tested on their ability to discriminate between successive facial motion captures. These animations exhibited both rigid and non-rigid facial motion, as well as speech expressions. The structural and surface appearance of these facial animations did not differ, thus participants decisions were based solely on differences in facial movements. Upright, orientation-inverted and luminance-inverted facial stimuli were compared. At occipital and parieto-occipital regions, upright facial motion evoked a transient increase in alpha which was then followed by a significant reduction. This finding is discussed in terms of neural efficiency, gating mechanisms and neural synchronization. Moreover, there was no difference in the amount of alpha suppression evoked by each facial stimulus at occipital regions, suggesting early visual processing remains unaffected by manipulation paradigms. However, upright facial motion evoked greater suppression at parieto-occipital sites, and did so in the shortest latency. Increased activity within this region may reflect higher attentional reorienting to natural facial motion but also involvement of areas associated with the visual control of body effectors. © 2014 Girges et al

Bridging the Gap: An Interview Study on Challenges in Software Testing and Educational Needs

As information systems become increasingly complex, software testing is being recognized as a key element in this process. However, organizations continue to encounter challenges in effectively implementing and executing testing procedures, highlighting the persisting difficulty arising from a lack of knowledge and awareness. Thus, it is crucial to understand the challenges related to software testing to point out educational needs in software testing. To gain a comprehensive understanding of the current challenges related to software testing, this study conducted an empirical cross-sectional interview study with 23 experts. Additionally, a literature review was conducted to investigate if there are any discrepancies or similarities between the current challenges identified in academic research and industry, emphasizing relevant educational needs in software testing. The software testing life cycle was utilized as a framework to systematically present the results. Overall, this study provides insights into the challenges of software testing and current educational needs

The Use of Gamification to Enhance Internal Software Quality - Structured Literature Analysis

Internal software quality is a subarea of software quality assurance and refers to the static part of a software product, e.g., adherence to programming conventions, code complexity, or the extent of documentation. Investing in internal software quality is considered a long-term investment as it leads to increased maintainability and supportability of the software. However, the lack of immediate reward for the effort invested in internal software quality can demotivate software developers. This poses a significant risk to software projects, as poor internal software quality negatively impacts the maintainability of software. Gamification is an approach that aims to influence users\u27 behavior by satisfying their needs, resulting in increased motivation. However, for gamification to be successful, it must be comprehensively planned and understood. Gamification\u27s impact on internal software quality has yet to be determined. Therefore, this paper aims to analyze the use and impact of gamification in internal software quality