Adoption of Open Source Software Projects in Software Engineering Higher Education: An Approach Based on the Instructor Profile

Fernanda Gomes Silva

Adoption of Open Source Software Projects in Software Engineering Higher Education: An Approach Based on the Instructor Profile

Context. Software Engineering (SE) courses should provide the required basic knowledge and skills for professional practice in the software industry. Software Engineering Education (SEE) must cover appropriate theories, models, practices and tools to support students in specifying, designing, implementing, maintaining, and evaluating large-scale and complex software systems. However, teaching SE principles, concepts and practices and relating them to real-world scenarios are still challenging. Adopting Open-Source Software (OSS) projects as learning resources in SEE -- OSS-based Learning, may address the need for more realistic settings that reduce the gap between SE courses and industry needs. On the other hand, OSS-based learning may introduce additional challenges to instructors unfamiliar with the OSS ecosystem.
Objectives. This work investigates the adoption of OSS projects in the formal SE teaching-learning process and aims to propose a generic approach based on instructors' profiles to support the adoption of OSS-based learning.
Methods. We employ research methods that seek to provide, in addition to our own results (case studies), the synthesis of proposals and results obtained by studies conducted by other researchers (updating of a systematic mapping). We surveyed 90 higher education instructors in Brazil to collect data regarding their familiarity with the SE knowledge areas, pedagogical methods and resources used, and familiarity with and use of OSS projects in the classroom. Then, we resorted to data mining techniques, for instance, K-modes and Decision Tree algorithms, to identify instructors’ characteristics according to their classroom practices and use of OSS projects in the course activities.
Expected Contributions. At the end of this research work, we will be contributing directly to: (i) a comprehensive view of how OSS projects have been applied in SE teaching-learning processes; (ii) quantitative and qualitative views on the use of OSS projects for SE learning; (iii) demographic information about instructors who teach SE in Brazil and classroom practices; (iv) a mapping of the use and interest in using OSS projects in SE learning; (v) a mapping of the characteristics of the instructors who teach SE in Brazil and (vi) an instrument to support the identification of the profile of the instructors regarding their knowledge and pedagogical use of OSS projects in their classes. Such results can guide future research, including that of other researchers also interested in the subject, and provide evidence for educators to make their decisions regarding the adoption or not of the approach.
Keywords. Software Engineering Education; Open Source Software; Open Source Software practices; OSS-based learning; Instructor profiles; Survey Studies; Data Mining Techniques; Experience Reports.

Christina von Flach Garcia Chavez

Igor Steinmacher

http://lattes.cnpq.br/5529725593221391

Debora Maria Coelho Nascimento

http://lattes.cnpq.br/1322145791000702

Paulo Roberto Miranda Meirelles

http://lattes.cnpq.br/2193972715230641

Roberto Almeida Bittencourt

http://lattes.cnpq.br/6148546666142551

13 Dec, 2024

1:00 PM