Alan R. Santos

Combining Challenge-Based Learning and Scrum Framework for Mobile Application Development

The market for mobile applications has been growing dramatically, as has the complexity of the applications and the speed of the development process. These changes require a rethinking of the development process and of how developers are trained. In order to better prepare faculty and students for the emerging mobile application market, this study presents a new learning and software development framework that combines Agile methodologies with the Challenge-Based Learning (CBL) framework. CBL provides a student-centered learning framework that mirrors the modern workplace. Agile methodologies address the changing landscape of mobile development environments. A combination of the CBL learning framework and Agile methodologies can better prepare students for the development market. This paper presents an empirical study applying CBL and Scrum in a mobile application development course evaluated through a series of post surveys. The results indicate that a teaching and learning environment based on practical experience combining the CBL framework with the Scrum process is an eective model to promptly teach undergraduates how to be successful mobile application developers.

Follow-the-Sun Methodology in a Stochastic Modeling Perspective

Stochastic modeling of globally distributed projects has become a way to evaluate the performance of teams working in different time zones. The interest in extracting and analyzing quantitative data from geographically dispersed teams has grown throughout the years as major development companies were attracted by potential benefits. We direct our attention to Follow-The-Sun (FTS), a special case of globally distributed projects, where work is handed off every day from one development site to the next on a different time zone. The main benefit of FTS is to reduce project duration providing continuous software development. Our objective in this paper is to discuss a formal mapping of FTS characteristics to a stochastic model in order to predict performance indices of teams such as availability and risk assessment. The modeling effort aims to enhance understanding and feasibility evaluation for FTS projects.

Using SAN formalism to evaluate Follow-The-Sun project scenarios

HighlightsWe present how Stochastic Automata Networks formalism can be used as prediction tool.A FTS model using 3 and 4 sites to evaluate execution time and costs composition.It is possible to reduce project execution time through model results analysis.Different project allocation strategies can be simulated. Performance evaluation of projects can be used by companies and institutions as a tool to help the decision making process of Follow-The-Sun (FTS) projects. This paper main goal is to discuss a stochastic model definition to evaluate the performance of different aspects of FTS projects. Examples that can be addressed using the FTS model are provided with results comparing different model instances to evaluate aspects such as project execution time and project costs composition.

Setting Up a Stochastic Model for Teams Working in a Follow-the-Sun Environment

Project management is an important aspect of global software development. Companies and institutions can obtain benefits by the use of performance evaluation of teams working indifferent sites. The objective of this work is to discuss a stochastic model definition to performance evaluation of Follow-The-Sun (FTS) projects.

Investigating the Adoption of Agile Practices in Mobile Application Development

The mobile application development market has been dramatically growing in the last few years as the complexity of its applications and speed of software development process. These changes in the mobile development market require a rethinking on the way the software development should be performed by teams. In order to better understand how agile practices support mobile application development, we applied a questionnaire to 20 undergraduate students. These students have been training in an iOS development course combined with agile practices. Our study aims to identify challenges and to report the students experience on the adoption of agile practices to develop mobile applications. Our findings reveal that agile practices help mobile software development mainly in terms of project management and control and development speed. However, aspects of user interface and user experience, different development platforms, and users expectations still point challenges in developing mobile applications.

Stochastic Performance Analysis of Global Software Development Teams

Measuring productivity in globally distributed projects is crucial to improve team performance. These measures often display information on whether a given project is moving forward or starts to demonstrate undesired behaviors. In this paper we are interested in showing how analytical models could deliver insights for the behavior of specific distributed software collaboration projects. We present a model for distributed projects using stochastic automata networks (SAN) formalism to estimate, for instance, the required level of coordination for specific project configurations. We focus our attention on the level of interaction among project participants and its close relation with team’s productivity. The models are parameterized for different scenarios and solved using numerical methods to obtain exact solutions. We vary the team’s expertise and support levels to measure the impact on the overall project performance. As results, we present our derived productivity index for all scenarios and we state implications found in order to analyze popular preconceptions in GSD area, confirming some, and refusing others. Finally, we foresee ways to extend the models to represent more intricate behaviors and communication patterns that are usually present in globally distributed software projects.

Challenge-based learning: a brazilian case study

Mobile application development (MAD) has became, or is considering to be a part of the academic curricula in Computer Science courses. However, training students on mobile application development inherits the challenges of teaching software engineering where the target computer is a device that has a large number of features accessible by software. Furthermore, the most related experience in teaching students reveals difficulties in developing software engineering competencies. In this paper we present results from a case study conducted in four universities in Brazil. We have investigated the adoption of Challenge-Based Learning (CBL) framework and agile practices for training students in software engineering applied in mobile application development environments.