Course-embedded research in software development courses

Abstract

In this paper we describe our initiative to incorporate research, professional practice and methodologies into two undergraduate software engineering courses. As part of the Undergraduate Research Experience (URE) initiative on our campus, we modified two of our core software engineering courses. In our Software Development II (junior level) and Software Development Project (senior level) courses we integrated research projects, corporate visits and research talks to develop a deeper understanding of software engineering research and practice amongst our students.

Secondary studies in the academic context: A systematic mapping and survey

“…We can notice that studies involving undergraduate students (12 (42.8%) -S1 [16]; S2 [17]; S3 [18]; S5 [20]; S6 [21]; S12 [26]; S13 [27]; S14 [28]; S20 [33]; S21 [8]; S22 [34]; S25 [37]) have the largest representativeness. The other two categories related to students were: • Master students (11 (39.2%) -S4 [19]; S7 [22]; S8 [23]; S16 [29]; S17 [30]; S18 [31]; S23 [35]; S25 [37]; S26 [9]; S27 [38]; S28 [39]); and • Ph.D. students (8 (28.5%) -S9 [24]; S10 [7]; S12 [26]; S15 [12]; S16 [29]; S24 [36]; S27 [38]; S28 [39]).…”

“…A positive aspect of this introduction into the curricula is the possibility to run empirical studies in student settings. A challenge is to balance educational and research objectives; and S21 - [33] described how to incorporate research, professional practice and methodologies into two undergraduate SE courses. The courses enabled introduction to undergraduate students on basic research skills.…”

“…Total of studies -Studies ID (B1) Developing research skills 5 -S1 [16]; S2 [17]; S8 [23]; S20 [33]; S22 [34] (B2) Encouraging students to reflect 5 -S2 [17]; S8 [23]; S14 [28]; S24 [36]; S25 [37] (B3) Helping find out research opportunities inclusion/exclusion criteria (S6, S10, S12, S13, S14, S16, S19, S21, S27), that are only faced by students due to their limited experience with secondary studies in particular and with research in general.…”

“…-S9[24]; S15[12]; S24[36] (B4) Providing an overview of the literature 5 -S12[26]; S15[12]; S20[33]; S22[34]; S24[36] (B5) Perceiving the importance of searching for evidence 6 -S4[19]; S5[20]; S7[22]; S8[23]; S9[24]; S22[34] (B6) Acquiring experience of reading/understanding scientific studies 5 -S1[16]; S2[17]; S8[23]; S15[12]; S25[37] (B7) Learning from studies and getting knowledge 4 -S9[24]; S15[12]; S20[33]; S25[37] (B8) Publishing a paper 1 -S9[24] (B9) Providing baselines to assist new research efforts 3 -S15[12]; S15[12]; S24[36] (B10) Collaborating with other researchers (teamwork) 2 -S17[30]; S26[9] …”

Teaching master's degree students to read research literature

“…The research on teaching research paper reading seems to concentrate on undergraduate capstone courses. Dekhane and Price [6], for example, present a capstone software development course that requires students to read a research paper, to find supporting research literature, and to write up a summary. Erkan and Barr [8] discuss their capstone course aiming to integrate the teachings of all previous courses by discussing research papers and making explicit how those papers used what the students have already learned.…”