Trust Engineering: Software Requirements for Strengthening Connections among Students in Virtual Learning Environments

Marcelo Pereira Barbosa

Trust Engineering: Software Requirements for Strengthening Connections among Students in Virtual Learning Environments

Interpersonal trust among students is essential for the success of collaborative activities in Virtual Learning Environments (VLEs), but establishing it is challenging due to the absence of physical presence and the limitations of computer-mediated communication. Lack of trust can compromise knowledge sharing, motivation, engagement, and student retention in courses. In order to support the development of interpersonal trust among students in VLEs, this research aimed to identify software requirements for features that promote trust. To this end, a Systematic Mapping Study (SMS) was conducted to understand how trust has been conceptualized in the literature, as well as the intrinsic aspects of this phenomenon. Next, attributes and characteristics that influence trust among students were analyzed across four evolutionary phases: acquire, maintain, loose, and restore trust. As a result, 37 attributes were identified, most of which originated from other domains but can influence the dynamics of trust among students in VLEs. However, the evidence analyzed focused mainly on the trust acquire phase, while the loose phase was little explored. The SMS revealed significant gaps in the field of trust among students, highlighting, in particular, the absence of characteristics associated with maintain and restore trust. In this sense, it became clear that there was a need to explore new characteristics based on the students' own perceptions of the phases of acquire and lose trust, as well as to understand, from their perspective, the factors that influence the maintain and restore of trust. Based on the gaps identified, an exploratory study was conducted through an online survey with 170 students, which aimed primarily to understand which personal and behavioral characteristics can influence trust in the four evolutionary phases. A total of 248 characteristics were identified that can influence trust, with 96 in the acquire phase, 78 in the loose phase, and 37 characteristics in each of the maintain and restore phases. Based on these results, 26 software requirements were identified for the following features: student trust profile, collaborative work groups, trusted peer recommendation systems, peer evaluation, and friend network. In addition, a platform-independent conceptual model was developed that illustrates how the features can be integrated during the development process of VLEs that aim to promote trust. Finally, the software requirements were validated with stakeholders using a high-fidelity mockup that illustrated the software requirements in the intended features. The main artifacts generated from this research were: a conceptual map based on definitions from the literature, a conceptual model with attributes by evolutionary phase, cataloging of characteristics identified in the literature and by students, software requirements, and a conceptual model with features and requirements aimed at promoting trust.

Rita Suzana Pitangueira Maciel

Sean Ciqueira

http://lattes.cnpq.br/2562652838103607

Lais Nascimento Salvador

http://lattes.cnpq.br/1972531466861737

Patricia Vilain

http://lattes.cnpq.br/2212288622038633

Claudio Nogueira Sant'Anna

http://lattes.cnpq.br/3228159608138969

15 Sep, 2025

9:00 AM