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Addressing Teaching Practices Regarding Software Quality: Testing and Debugging in the Classroom

Authors:

Tilman Michaeli,

Ralf RomeikeAuthors Info & Claims

WiPSCE '17: Proceedings of the 12th Workshop on Primary and Secondary Computing Education

Pages 105 - 106

https://doi.org/10.1145/3137065.3137087

Published: 08 November 2017 Publication History

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Abstract

Software quality is seen as an integral part of CS education. Two of the key concepts concerning software quality are testing and debugging. Testing is considered important to verify the students' underlying model or algorithm. Debugging is an approach related to computational thinking which is distinct from general programming skills and fosters abilities like logical reasoning and independent problem solving. However, approaches, teaching materials, and studies on how to teach and integrate those concepts effectively into K12 classrooms are lacking. Therefore, both debugging and testing are often neglected in teaching practice, despite them being represented in many (but not all) curricula. In the following, we present a research project with the intention of providing adequate and evaluated strategies for addressing software quality in the classroom and its rationale. For this purpose, the model of Beizer's testing levels has been utilized and didactically transposed, thereby making it applicable to CS education in K12. The resulting categories may provide a basis for teaching and research.

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Cited By

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Whalley JSettle ALuxton-Reilly A(2021)Analysis of a Process for Introductory DebuggingProceedings of the 23rd Australasian Computing Education Conference10.1145/3441636.3442300(11-20)Online publication date: 2-Feb-2021
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3441636.3442300
Bijlsma LDoom NPassier HPootjes HStuurman S(2021)How do students test software units?2021 IEEE/ACM 43rd International Conference on Software Engineering: Software Engineering Education and Training (ICSE-SEET)10.1109/ICSE-SEET52601.2021.00029(189-198)Online publication date: May-2021
https://doi.org/10.1109/ICSE-SEET52601.2021.00029
Monjelat NLantz-Andersson A(2019)Teachers’ narrative of learning to program in a professional development effort and the relation to the rhetoric of computational thinkingEducation and Information Technologies10.1007/s10639-019-10048-8Online publication date: 6-Dec-2019
https://doi.org/10.1007/s10639-019-10048-8

Index Terms

Addressing Teaching Practices Regarding Software Quality: Testing and Debugging in the Classroom
1. Social and professional topics
  1. Professional topics
    1. Computing education
      1. K-12 education

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Published In

WiPSCE '17: Proceedings of the 12th Workshop on Primary and Secondary Computing Education

November 2017

128 pages

ISBN:9781450354288

DOI:10.1145/3137065

Permission to make digital or hard copies of part or all of this work for personal or classroom use is granted without fee provided that copies are not made or distributed for profit or commercial advantage and that copies bear this notice and the full citation on the first page. Copyrights for third-party components of this work must be honored. For all other uses, contact the Owner/Author.

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Association for Computing Machinery

New York, NY, United States

Publication History

Published: 08 November 2017

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WiPSCE '17

WiPSCE '17: 12th Workshop in Primary and Secondary Computing Education

November 8 - 10, 2017

Nijmegen, Netherlands

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WiPSCE '17 Paper Acceptance Rate 16 of 37 submissions, 43%;

Overall Acceptance Rate 104 of 279 submissions, 37%

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Cited By

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Whalley JSettle ALuxton-Reilly A(2021)Analysis of a Process for Introductory DebuggingProceedings of the 23rd Australasian Computing Education Conference10.1145/3441636.3442300(11-20)Online publication date: 2-Feb-2021
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3441636.3442300
Bijlsma LDoom NPassier HPootjes HStuurman S(2021)How do students test software units?2021 IEEE/ACM 43rd International Conference on Software Engineering: Software Engineering Education and Training (ICSE-SEET)10.1109/ICSE-SEET52601.2021.00029(189-198)Online publication date: May-2021
https://doi.org/10.1109/ICSE-SEET52601.2021.00029
Monjelat NLantz-Andersson A(2019)Teachers’ narrative of learning to program in a professional development effort and the relation to the rhetoric of computational thinkingEducation and Information Technologies10.1007/s10639-019-10048-8Online publication date: 6-Dec-2019
https://doi.org/10.1007/s10639-019-10048-8

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Improving Debugging Skills in the Classroom: The Effects of Teaching a Systematic Debugging Process

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