A Qualitative Study of Teaching Requirements Engineering in Universities

Requirement Engineering education shows itself as relevant when considering its possible benefits to the training of students of Computer Science courses, such as Software Engineering, Computer Engineering, Information Systems and Computer Science. In the literature, many challenges that come from the process of Requirements Engineering in the industry are described. Regarding the academic environment, the initial training of Requirements Engineers still happens in the undergraduate programs and many challenges may happen in this context. Considering that context, this paper presents how the discipline of Requirements Engineering is taught in undergraduate courses on the Computer Science area in Brazil, from the perspective of the lecturers. The research shows the teaching methodologies, the evolution of the discipline over the years, the forums used and the challenges faced by lecturers when teaching requirements documentation. Based on that purpose, a survey with open questions was conducted with lecturers from different institutions. The results showed the similarity in the way the discipline is taught, challenges common to the lecturers, their desire for studies to diversify teaching methodologies, and the creation of exercises and more efficient context simulations. Besides that, it is listed different methodologies used by lecturers to mitigate the challenges and problems faced, as well as research sources for subjects related to Requirements Engineering that can support the planning and teaching-learning processes of the discipline, according to the experience of those lecturers.