Empowering Undergraduates in Empirical Research Methods: an Experience Report
Resumo
Context: Undergraduate students often struggle with research methods and methodologies crucial for their development. Effective training is essential to bridge the gap between theory and practice. Objective: This course aimed to empower students with a solid understanding of scientific research, enhance their research planning skills and proficiency in empirical methods, and improve their scientific writing and presentation skills. Method: An in-person Empirical Software Engineering course was conducted for 17 undergraduates over 60 hours in a semester. It included theoretical classes, practical activities, seminars, evaluations of empirical articles, and peer evaluations of research projects. Results: Students reported high satisfaction with the course, particularly in topic approach, content references, and achieving objectives. Areas for improvement included clarity of course objectives and developing critical thinking skills. Most activities were found useful, though some were challenging. Conclusions: The course successfully developed research skills among students. Improving clarity of objectives and support for complex activities can further enhance the learning experience. This report provides insights into empirical research education in software engineering, highlighting successes and areas for improvement.
Palavras-chave:
Scientific Research Methods, Empirical Software Engineering, Empirical Methods, Teaching, Experience report
Referências
Cassandra Cupryk. 2022. An exploratory study regarding the ease-of-use, comprehensibility, and usefulness of the Empirical Standards Checklists.
Edgar Dale. 1969. Audiovisual methods in teaching. (1969).
Simone C Dos Santos, Jéssyka Vilela, and Alexandre Vasconcelos. 2023. Promoting Professional Competencies Through Interdisciplinary PBL: An Experience Report in Computing Higher Education. In 2023 IEEE Frontiers in Education Conference (FIE). IEEE, 1–9.
Anima Educação. 2022. ANEXO II - CRITÉRIOS DE AVALIAÇÃO Programa Ânima de Iniciação Científica – PROCIÊNCIA. [link]
Rita Erlinda, Merry Prima Dewi, et al. 2022. Undergraduate Students’ Difficulties in Mastering Research Methodology Course in Islamic Higher Education. Journal of Education Research and Evaluation 6, 4 (2022), 739–747.
Michael Felderer and Marco Kuhrmann. 2019. Using Mini-Projects to Teach Empirical Software Engineering.. In SEUH. 75–86.
Michael Felderer and Guilherme Horta Travassos. 2020. The evolution of empirical methods in software engineering. In Contemporary Empirical Methods in Software Engineering. Springer, 1–24.
Alessio Ferrari, Paola Spoletini, Muneera Bano, and Didar Zowghi. 2019. Learning requirements elicitation interviews with role-playing, self-assessment and peerreview. In 2019 IEEE 27th international requirements engineering conference (RE). IEEE, 28–39.
Alessio Ferrari, Paola Spoletini, Muneera Bano, and Didar Zowghi. 2020. SaPeer and ReverseSaPeer: teaching requirements elicitation interviews with roleplaying and role reversal. Requirements Engineering (2020), 1–22.
Anderson Y Iwazaki, Vinicius dos Santos, Katia R Felizardo, Érica F de Souza, Natasha MC Valentim, and Elisa Y Nakagawa. 2022. Benefits and Challenges of a Graduate Course: An Experience Teaching Systematic Literature Review. In 2022 IEEE Frontiers in Education Conference (FIE). IEEE, 1–9.
Marco Kuhrmann. 2017. Teaching empirical software engineering using expert teams. In 15th Worshop on Software Engineering im Unterricht der Hochschulen. CEUR Workshop Proceedings, 20–31.
Marco Kuhrmann and Jürgen Münch. 2018. Enhancing software engineering education through experimentation: an experience report. In 2018 IEEE International Conference on Engineering, Technology and Innovation (ICE/ITMC). IEEE, 1–9.
Carlos Danilo Luz, Edson OliveiraJr, and Igor F Steinmacher. 2022. How Experimentation in Software Engineering has been taught? Survey and Research Agenda. In Proceedings of the 26th International Conference on Evaluation and Assessment in Software Engineering. 299–304.
Maria Alcimar Costa Meireles, Sabrina Rocha, Jose Carlos Maldonado, and Tayana Conte. 2024. An experience report on the use of Active Learning in Empirical Software Engineering Education: Understanding the pros and cons from the student’s perspective. In Proceedings of the 46th International Conference on Software Engineering: Software Engineering Education and Training. 380–390.
Jefferson Seide Molléri, Nauman bin Ali, Kai Petersen, Nasir Mehmood Minhas, and Panagiota Chatzipetrou. 2018. Teaching students critical appraisal of scientific literature using checklists. In Proceedings of the 3rd European Conference of Software Engineering Education. 8–17.
Kai Petersen and Jefferson Seide Molléri. 2021. Preliminary Evaluation of a Survey Checklist in the Context of Evidence-based Software Engineering Education.. In ENASE. 437–444.
Tania Pinheiro and Carla Bezerra. 2014. Uma metodologia didática para elaboraçao de trabalhos de conclusao de curso aplicada a cursos de computaçao. In Anais do XXII Workshop sobre Educação em Computação. SBC, 317–326.
Paul Ralph, Nauman bin Ali, Sebastian Baltes, Domenico Bianculli, Jessica Diaz, Yvonne Dittrich, Neil Ernst, Michael Felderer, Robert Feldt, Antonio Filieri, et al. 2020. Empirical standards for software engineering research. arXiv preprint arXiv:2010.03525 (2020).
Jéssyka Vilela and Alessio Ferrari. 2021. Sapeer approach for training requirements analysts: An application tailored to a low-resource context. In Requirements Engineering: Foundation for Software Quality: 27th International Working Conference, REFSQ 2021, Essen, Germany, April 12–15, 2021, Proceedings 27. Springer, 191–207.
Jéssyka Vilela and Jonas Lopes. 2020. Evaluating the Students’ Experience with a requirements elicitation and communication game.. In CIbSE. 526–539.
Jéssyka Vilela and Carla Silva. 2023. An Experience Report on the use of Problembased learning and Design Thinking in a Requirements Engineering Postgraduate Course. In Proceedings of the XXXVII Brazilian Symposium on Software Engineering. 432–441.
Claes Wohlin, Per Runeson, Martin Höst, Magnus C Ohlsson, Björn Regnell, and Anders Wesslén. 2012. Experimentation in software engineering. Springer Science & Business Media.
Edgar Dale. 1969. Audiovisual methods in teaching. (1969).
Simone C Dos Santos, Jéssyka Vilela, and Alexandre Vasconcelos. 2023. Promoting Professional Competencies Through Interdisciplinary PBL: An Experience Report in Computing Higher Education. In 2023 IEEE Frontiers in Education Conference (FIE). IEEE, 1–9.
Anima Educação. 2022. ANEXO II - CRITÉRIOS DE AVALIAÇÃO Programa Ânima de Iniciação Científica – PROCIÊNCIA. [link]
Rita Erlinda, Merry Prima Dewi, et al. 2022. Undergraduate Students’ Difficulties in Mastering Research Methodology Course in Islamic Higher Education. Journal of Education Research and Evaluation 6, 4 (2022), 739–747.
Michael Felderer and Marco Kuhrmann. 2019. Using Mini-Projects to Teach Empirical Software Engineering.. In SEUH. 75–86.
Michael Felderer and Guilherme Horta Travassos. 2020. The evolution of empirical methods in software engineering. In Contemporary Empirical Methods in Software Engineering. Springer, 1–24.
Alessio Ferrari, Paola Spoletini, Muneera Bano, and Didar Zowghi. 2019. Learning requirements elicitation interviews with role-playing, self-assessment and peerreview. In 2019 IEEE 27th international requirements engineering conference (RE). IEEE, 28–39.
Alessio Ferrari, Paola Spoletini, Muneera Bano, and Didar Zowghi. 2020. SaPeer and ReverseSaPeer: teaching requirements elicitation interviews with roleplaying and role reversal. Requirements Engineering (2020), 1–22.
Anderson Y Iwazaki, Vinicius dos Santos, Katia R Felizardo, Érica F de Souza, Natasha MC Valentim, and Elisa Y Nakagawa. 2022. Benefits and Challenges of a Graduate Course: An Experience Teaching Systematic Literature Review. In 2022 IEEE Frontiers in Education Conference (FIE). IEEE, 1–9.
Marco Kuhrmann. 2017. Teaching empirical software engineering using expert teams. In 15th Worshop on Software Engineering im Unterricht der Hochschulen. CEUR Workshop Proceedings, 20–31.
Marco Kuhrmann and Jürgen Münch. 2018. Enhancing software engineering education through experimentation: an experience report. In 2018 IEEE International Conference on Engineering, Technology and Innovation (ICE/ITMC). IEEE, 1–9.
Carlos Danilo Luz, Edson OliveiraJr, and Igor F Steinmacher. 2022. How Experimentation in Software Engineering has been taught? Survey and Research Agenda. In Proceedings of the 26th International Conference on Evaluation and Assessment in Software Engineering. 299–304.
Maria Alcimar Costa Meireles, Sabrina Rocha, Jose Carlos Maldonado, and Tayana Conte. 2024. An experience report on the use of Active Learning in Empirical Software Engineering Education: Understanding the pros and cons from the student’s perspective. In Proceedings of the 46th International Conference on Software Engineering: Software Engineering Education and Training. 380–390.
Jefferson Seide Molléri, Nauman bin Ali, Kai Petersen, Nasir Mehmood Minhas, and Panagiota Chatzipetrou. 2018. Teaching students critical appraisal of scientific literature using checklists. In Proceedings of the 3rd European Conference of Software Engineering Education. 8–17.
Kai Petersen and Jefferson Seide Molléri. 2021. Preliminary Evaluation of a Survey Checklist in the Context of Evidence-based Software Engineering Education.. In ENASE. 437–444.
Tania Pinheiro and Carla Bezerra. 2014. Uma metodologia didática para elaboraçao de trabalhos de conclusao de curso aplicada a cursos de computaçao. In Anais do XXII Workshop sobre Educação em Computação. SBC, 317–326.
Paul Ralph, Nauman bin Ali, Sebastian Baltes, Domenico Bianculli, Jessica Diaz, Yvonne Dittrich, Neil Ernst, Michael Felderer, Robert Feldt, Antonio Filieri, et al. 2020. Empirical standards for software engineering research. arXiv preprint arXiv:2010.03525 (2020).
Jéssyka Vilela and Alessio Ferrari. 2021. Sapeer approach for training requirements analysts: An application tailored to a low-resource context. In Requirements Engineering: Foundation for Software Quality: 27th International Working Conference, REFSQ 2021, Essen, Germany, April 12–15, 2021, Proceedings 27. Springer, 191–207.
Jéssyka Vilela and Jonas Lopes. 2020. Evaluating the Students’ Experience with a requirements elicitation and communication game.. In CIbSE. 526–539.
Jéssyka Vilela and Carla Silva. 2023. An Experience Report on the use of Problembased learning and Design Thinking in a Requirements Engineering Postgraduate Course. In Proceedings of the XXXVII Brazilian Symposium on Software Engineering. 432–441.
Claes Wohlin, Per Runeson, Martin Höst, Magnus C Ohlsson, Björn Regnell, and Anders Wesslén. 2012. Experimentation in software engineering. Springer Science & Business Media.
Publicado
30/09/2024
Como Citar
VILELA, Jéssyka; SILVA, Carla.
Empowering Undergraduates in Empirical Research Methods: an Experience Report. In: SIMPÓSIO BRASILEIRO DE ENGENHARIA DE SOFTWARE (SBES), 38. , 2024, Curitiba/PR.
Anais [...].
Porto Alegre: Sociedade Brasileira de Computação,
2024
.
p. 543-553.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.5753/sbes.2024.3549.
