Facing the Challenges of Teaching Requirements Engineering

Roxana Portugal, Priscila Engiel, Joanna Pivatelli,

Julio Cesar Sampaio do Prado Leite

Departamento de Informática, Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Rio de Janeiro

Software Engineering Education and Training - ICSE 2016

Austin, May 19

Problems

Teaching with perfect problem descriptions

No interaction with real clients and problems

RE tasks not used in practical experiences

Approach Develop critical thinking

wherewhenwhatwhyhow

how much

- The Startup

my client needs?- The RE Builder

what I need? eliciting

V&V analysis

modelling

whenwho

how much managementteam work

Startups

Pedagogical Strategycontent-part role-playing assessment

livro vivo [1]

blog [2]

Becker book [3]

self-assessmentteam / student

final reportobservationsinterviewsproduct validation

8 weeks 6 weeks 2 weeks

undergraduate instructor

graduate

2014 - 12014 - 2 2015 - 1

Methods, Techniques, Languages

elicitationinterviewsobservationdocument readingquestionnairesmap-mindbrainstorming modelling

Language Extended Lexicon [4]

scenarios [5]

i* [6]

SADT [7]

E-R

V&VFagan inspection [ 7]

managementplanningsocial-media groupsmeeting minutestraceability

Process

Role-playing Dynamic

Undergraduatestudent

Req.Building

TeamBuildermemberis part of

AuditorTeam

Auditoris part of

StartupClientTeam

Clientmember

is part of

Req.Elicitor

Req.Analyst

Req.Modeler

Req.Manager

Model´sVerificator

Req.Creator

Req.Validator

covers covers covers covers covers covers covers

occupies occupies occupies

AssessmentUsing Elicitation Techniques

graduatestudents

instructor

email - questionnaireLikert scale

agreedisagree

3C

document readingproject report

questionnaireproduct validation

questionnairesweek 1 week 16

observationblog

reports

interviewsconcerns

Assessment Analysis

Qualitative

Quantitative

“1st Elicitation, 2nd Modelling, 3rd Inspection”

How your groupperformed the construction of requirements?

How did you understand the client role?“It helps to understand the elicitation process”

RE process2014.2 48%

Client experience2015.1 65%

Auditor perfomance2014.2 76%

How do you believe the inspection task helped in the understanding ofquality?

“We understand that the inspection helps in quality”

All data from lower values

“I expect the necessary theory to deal with the elicitationand modeling of requirements”

“I expected a more intensive teaching style, with moreemphasis on the concepts and more extensive and specific material”

Before class After class

Assessment Analysis

Acting as Startupfrom 3 to 4

Course contentfrom 3 to 4

Inspectionfrom 3 to 4

All data from highest values

Group performancefrom 3 to 4

Client Validationfrom 2 to 4

Using Likert points

knowledge ofmodelling languages

Final Reportfrom 3 to 4

from 1 to 5

from 2 to 5 Students perception

2015-1knowledge of

elicitation techniques

General Assessment

2014-12014-22015-1

New challenges

difficulty in creating modelsperception that requirements management was well performed

Some complains about the lack of a problem descriptionDeal with large groupsmore time for inspections

Conclusion

we tackle the elicitation challengestudents have to learn that requirements are not there in writtenform, they have to be elicited in the building process

awareness that, in real projectsthere are several stakeholders, so large groups are frequent.

References

[1] Leite, J.C.S.D.P., Livro Vivo: Engenharia de Requisitos, available http://livrodeengenhariaderequisitos.blogspot.com/, 2007.

[2] Leite, J.C.S.D.P., Notas de aula de Engenharia de Requisitos, available https://inf1377.wordpress.com/

[3] Becker, H.S., 2008. Tricks of the trade: How to think about your research while you're doing it. University of Chicago Press.

Leite, J.C.S.D.P. and Franco, A.P.M., 1993, January. A strategy for conceptual model acquisition. In Requirements Engineering, 1993., Proceedings of IEEE International Symposium on (pp. 243-246). IEEE.

[4] Leite, J.C.S.D.P. and Franco, A.P.M., 1993, January. A strategy for conceptual model acquisition. In Requirements Engineering,

1993., Proceedings of IEEE International Symposium on (pp. 243-246). IEEE.

[5] Leite, J.C.S.D.P., Rossi, G., Balaguer, F., Maiorana, V., Kaplan, G., Hadad, G. and Oliveros, A., 1997. Enhancing a requirements

baseline with scenarios. Requirements Engineering, 2(4), pp.184-198.

[6] Oliveira, A.D.P.A. and do Prado Leite, J.C.S., 2011. Building Intentional Models Using the ERi* c Method. Cadernos do IME-Série

Informática, 32, pp.46-53.

[7] Dickover, M.E., McGowan, C.L. and Ross, D.T., 1977, January. Software design using: SADT. In Proceedings of the 1977 annual

conference (pp. 125-133). ACM.

[8] Fagan, M.E., 2001. Advances in software inspections’:‘Pioneers and Their Contributions to Software Engineering’.(pp. 335-360). Springer Berlin Heidelberg

Facing the Challenges of Teaching Requirements Engineering

RE research group:

http://bit.ly/re-group-pucrio

Questions?