A longitudinal case study on the effects of an evidence-based software engineering training

Pizard, Sebastián; Vallespir, Diego; Kitchenham, Barbara

Abstract

Context: Evidence-based software engineering (EBSE) can be an effective resource to bridge the gap between academia and industry by balancing research of practical relevance and academic rigor. To achieve this, it seems necessary to investigate EBSE training and its benefits for the practice. Objective: We sought both to develop an EBSE training course for university students and to investigate what effects it has on the attitudes and behaviors of the trainees. Method: We conducted a longitudinal case study to study our EBSE course and its effects. For this, we collect data at the end of each EBSE course (2017, 2018, and 2019), and in two follow-up surveys (one after 7 months of finishing the last course, and a second after 21 months). Results: Our EBSE courses seem to have taught stu-dents adequately and consistently. Half of the respondents to the surveys report making use of the new skills from the course. The most-reported effects in both surveys indicated that EBSE concepts increase awareness of the value of research and evidence and EBSE methods improve information gathering skills. Conclusions: As suggested by research in other areas, training appears to play a key role in the adoption of evidence-based practice. Our results indicate that our training method provides an introduction to EBSE suitable for undergraduates. However, we believe it is necessary to continue investigating EBSE training and its impact on software engineering practice.

Citation

Pizard, S., Vallespir, D., & Kitchenham, B. (2022). A longitudinal case study on the effects of an evidence-based software engineering training. . https://doi.org/10.1145/3510456.3514150

• Conference Name: ICSE-SEET 2022
• Conference Location: Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA
• Start Date: May 21, 2022
• End Date: May 29, 2022
• Acceptance Date: Jun 13, 2022
• Publication Date: Jun 13, 2022
• Pages: 1 - 13
• Series Title: 2022 IEEE/ACM 44th International Conference ON SOFTWARE ENGINEERING: SOFTWARE ENGINEERING EDUCATION AND TRAINING (ICSE-SEET 2022)
• ISBN: 978-1-4503-9225-9/22/05
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1145/3510456.3514150
• Public URL: https://keele-repository.worktribe.com/output/424747
• Publisher URL: https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/9794238