Teaching Software Testing for Fun

Prof. Gordon Fraser


Abstract: Teaching software testing can be hard: Students are not always enthusiastic about writing tests for their software, and even seasoned developers may struggle to find the motivation to write tests. In this talk I will report on my experiences and struggles in creating enthusiasm for testing, covering multiple different ways of course and content organisation explored over the years. Some of the key ingredients that emerged over time are a focus on practical experiences and gamification. We have implemented these using different approaches, in particular the Code Defenders game that turns mutation testing into a competitive and engaging game. While great for enthusiasm, playing games leads to followup challenges such as assessment, classroom management, or the burden of maintaining educational testing frameworks. Student feedback and course data, however, suggest that this is worthwhile.


Short Bio: Gordon Fraser is a full professor in Computer Science at the University of Passau, Germany. He received a PhD in computer science from Graz University of Technology, Austria, in 2007, worked as a post-doc at Saarland University, and was a Senior Lecturer at the University of Sheffield, UK. The central theme of his research is improving software quality, and his recent research concerns the prevention, detection, and removal of defects in software.


Important Dates


Submission deadline for workshop: March 10th, 2023 - Extended to March 24th, 2023

Notification of authors about acceptance/rejection of workshop papers: April 14th, 2023

Workshop author CR deadline: April 28th, 2023

Workshop author early registration deadline: April 28th, 2023

Early bird registration closes: 15 May (Finnish time)

Workshop day: June 16th, 2023



LEARNER-2023
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