Jussi Kasurinen

A Motivation Guided Holistic Rehabilitation of the First Programming Course

It has been estimated that more than two million students started computing studies in 1999 and 650,000 of them either dropped or failed their first programming course. For the individual student, dropping such a course can distract from the completion of later courses in a computing curriculum and may even result in changing their course of study to a curriculum without programming. In this article, we report on how we set out to rehabilitate a troubled first programming course, one for which the dropout statistic and repercussion was evident. The five-year longitudinal case study described in this article began by systematically tracking the pass rate of a first programming course, its throughput, as proposed by the Theory of Constraints. The analyses of these data indicated three main problems in the course: programming discipline difficulty, course arrangement complexity, and limited student motivation. The motivation problem was approached from the Two-Factor Theory point of view. It investigated those factors that led to dissatisfaction among the students, the hygiene factors, and those factors that led to satisfaction, the intrinsic and extrinsic motivators. The course arrangement complexity was found to be a hygiene factor, while the lack of extrinsic and intrinsic motivators contributed to the high dropout rates. The course improvement efforts made no attempt to change the inherent characteristics of the programming discipline, but introduced holistic changes in the course arrangements over a five-year period, from 2005 to 2009, to eliminate the hygiene factors and to increase motivational aspects of the course. This systems approach to course improvement resulted in an increase in the pass rate, from 44% prior to the changes to 68% thereafter, and the overall course atmosphere turned positive. This paper reports on the detailed changes that were made and the improvements that were achieved over this five-year period.

Test case selection and prioritization: risk-based or design-based?

The objective of this qualitative study was to observe and empirically study how software organizations decide on which test cases to select for their software projects. As the software test processes are limited in resources such as time or money, a selection process usually exists for tested features. In this study we conducted a survey on 31 software-producing organizations, and interviewed 36 software professionals from 12 focus organizations to gain a better insight into testing practices. Our findings indicated that the basic approaches to test case selection are usually oriented towards two possible objectives. One is the risk-based selection, where the aim is to focus testing on those parts that are too expensive to fix after launch. The other is design-based selection, where the focus is on ensuring that the software is capable of completing the core operations it was designed to do. These results can then be used to develop testing organizations and to identify better practices for test case selection.

Trade-off between automated and manual software testing

The study explores the current state of test automation in software testing organizations by focusing on the views and observations of managers, testers and developers in each organization. The case study was conducted in selected organizational units that develop and test technical software for industrial automation or telecommunication domains. The data was collected with 41 theme-based interviews in each unit. The interview data was analyzed qualitatively by using the grounded theory research method. It was found that although test automation was viewed as beneficial, it was not utilized widely in the companies. The main benefits of test automation were quality improvement, the possibility to execute more tests in less time and fluent reuse of testware. The major disadvantages were the costs associated with developing test automation especially in dynamic customized environments. Such issues as properties of tested products, attitudes of employees, resource limitations, and customers influenced the level of test automation in the case organizations.

How applicable is ISO/IEC 29110 in Game Software Development?

Software development in a small development team is a challenge, as people have to fulfill several roles, which in larger groups would have separate, dedicated people for the work. To help small development teams to organize their activities, ISO/IEC standardization body has developed the standard ISO/IEC 29110, Lifecycle profiles for Very Small Entities. Our study focuses on the application of this model in the game industry, an industry that develops software. However, the game industry has its own set of unusual features in software development, such as the demand for artistic vision, need for novelty and demand for creative designs. In this study we analyze how the standard would work in seven different game industry companies and identify a set of additions that would help these organizations to apply the standard in practice. Based on our results, the ISO/IEC 29110 should incorporate more support for iterative development to allow easier adaptation to real-life organizations.

Estimating programming knowledge with Bayesian knowledge tracing

In this paper we present a concept for three-phase measuring method, which can be used to obtain data on student learning. The focus of this method lies on the technical aspects of learning programming, answering questions like which programming constructs students applied and how large portion of the students understood the concepts of programming language. The model is based on three consecutive measurements, which are used to observe the student errors, applied programming structures and an application of a Bayesian learning model to determine the programming knowledge. So far the model has produced results which confirm prior knowledge on student learning, indicating that the concept is feasible for further development. Despite of the early development phase of the method, it offers a straightforward way for teacher to assess the course contents and student performance.

What do game developers expect from development and design tools

Context: Development of software is a complex process with several stakeholders and their varying practices. The game industry has also additional requirements such as artistic presentation, an interesting story and high quality sound effects that further complicate the process. Objective: The objective of this paper is to understand what kind of requirements and expectations are attached to the technical infrastructure of game development in practice. Method: This study observed and qualitatively analyzed seven game-developing organizations, from recent startups to established organizations to allow comparison of their use of technical infrastructure. Results: Based on our study, the game organizations, regardless of their size, are generally pleased with the tools they apply. The selections of the applied tools are based on their ability to test concepts and build prototypes to help design. Conclusion: In general, the game development organizations expect their tools to allow adaptability to changes during the development process. The case companies did not seem to have many problems with their current technical infrastructure, and ability to test different solutions was considered very important feature.

What do game developers test in their products

Context: Software projects often have four objectives; to produce the required functionality, in budget and in schedule, with acceptable quality. That statement may be true for most of the ordinary software development projects, but are these objectives enough for game development, where creativity and artistic aspects have a major role? Goal: We analyze how game developing organizations test their products, what are their main test objectives and how they perceive themselves in the software business. Method: We interviewed seven game development teams from different companies and studied how they test their products with grounded theory approach. Results: Our results suggest that game developers focus on soft values such as game content or user experience, instead of more traditional objectives such as reliability or efficiency. Conclusions: Game developers have similar, but not fully comparable to software industry, set of priorities in their software testing and quality assurance approaches.

Computer science students making games: a study on skill gaps and requirement

Computer science (CS) is a field of practical and scientific approach on computation and applications. Consequently, the CS students should be able to adjust to develop different types of software applications. However, even though video games are one type of software, they also impose additional requirements for the developers. In this paper we present the results of our qualitative studies on how prepared CS students are to function as game developers. The paper assesses the knowledge gaps between students majoring in computer science and game developer needs in two ways; a longitudinal study on a game development course and a focused case study on developing a game. Based on our results there are differences in communication and planning approaches between the CS students and game developers, and skill needs for game development content on a traditional computer science course curricula.

Elaborating Software Test Processes and Strategies

This paper introduces the research topic of “Elaborating Software Test Processes and Strategies”, in which I with assistance from our research group conducted a qualitative study on software producing organization’s test processes. My goal is to develop a reference model for organizations to enhance and develop their test processes based on the upcoming ISO/IEC 29119 software testing standard by interviewing professional software developers from different phases of software process. The study focuses on the aspects that compose testing strategy; human resources, test tools, test case selection, testing methods and the role of the management in the test process to name few of the major components. Based on the preliminary results, there exists room for improvements in testability of the software products and focusing the available test resources, problems which could be addressed by means of systematic process improvement and defining test strategy for the organization.

The Role of Business Model and Its Elements in Computer Game Start-ups

In this multiple case study we interviewed six Finnish computer game start-ups to find out what elements are included in their business models. We identified the key elements and used the analytical hierarchy process to rank the elements. We found out that computer game start-ups see their business model as a synonym to a revenue model and/or a business plan. In an in-depth analysis we identified nine key elements (human capital, marketing, key partners, financing, customer relationship, key activities, innovation process, key resources and customer segment) that have operative importance for these companies. These elements are the building blocks of a business model in the computer game start-up domain. The findings provide improved knowledge on how the business models of game start-ups could be constructed.