Fostering Industry-Academia Collaboration in Software Engineering using Action Research: A Case Study

• Aline F. Barbosa UPE https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3273-2890
• Geraldo Torres Galindo UPE
• Maria Lencastre UPE https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8032-8801
• Roberta A. A. Fagundes UPE
• Wylliams B. Santos UPE https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2578-1248

Resumo

Background: Studies involving industry-academia collaboration (IAC) have been growing in recent years. On the one hand, scientific research is encouraged to solve real problems and, on the other, the sector in search of promoting innovation in its field. However, IAC support is still a challenging activity for Software Engineering (SE). In recent studies, the Action Research (AR) method has shown promising results in IAC projects. However, more research still needs to be done to verify the effects of applying this method. Goal: In this article, we investigate the perceptions of postgraduate students from an academic master's and doctoral program in Computer Engineering at a Brazilian University, about the benefits and challenges faced with the application of the AR method as a strategy to promote IAC. Method: The case study was carried out with three teams of students conducting an AR in three software development companies (two private and one public). Results: As for the degree of satisfaction with the course, results revealed that 86% of the students were satisfied with the course. As for the Perception of learning with the use of AR, 100% of the students agreed that the AR method contributed positively to your learning. Conclusion: Finally, we conclude that conducting IAC projects using the AR method was a satisfactory, even though this task has been extremely challenging for all students. We observed that the reasons for this were, first, the fact that students have little experience with research methods directed to Empirical Software Engineering; second, due to the resistance faced in the industry to apply the AR method.

Palavras-chave: Industry-Academia-Collaboration, Action Research.