Assessing the testing skills transfer of model-based testing on testing skill acquisition

IF 2 3区 计算机科学 Q3 COMPUTER SCIENCE, SOFTWARE ENGINEERING
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Abstract

When creating a software model, it is necessary that it accurately captures the desired behaviour, while at the same time ensuring that any undesired behaviour is excluded. On the one hand, formal verification tools can be used to check the internal consistency of a software system, ensuring that the behaviour of one software component does not contradict another. On the other hand, software testing is essential to check the external validity of the model more comprehensively. Unfortunately, software testing is often overlooked in curricula, resulting in graduates with inadequate software testing skills for industry. Software testing tools such as TesCaV can be used to help teachers teach software testing topics in a non-intrusive and less time-consuming way. Previous research has shown that TesCaV is easy to use and that novice users produce better quality software tests when using TesCaV. However, it has remained unclear whether learners retain the skills they gain from using TesCaV even when the tool is not offered for help. In order to understand the positive effect of TesCaV on learners’ software testing skills, this study conducted an experiment with 45 participants. The experiment used a pretest-treatment-posttest design. The results show that participants feel equally confident about the completeness of their test coverage, even though they identify more test cases. It is concluded that for course design, a capsule such as TesCaV can help students to understand the full complexity of software testing and help them to be more systematic in their approach.

评估基于模型的测试对测试技能掌握的影响
摘要 在创建软件模型时,必须准确捕捉所需的行为,同时确保排除任何不需要的行为。一方面,形式验证工具可用于检查软件系统的内部一致性,确保一个软件组件的行为不会与另一个软件组件的行为相矛盾。另一方面,软件测试对于更全面地检查模型的外部有效性至关重要。遗憾的是,软件测试往往在课程中被忽视,导致毕业生不具备足够的软件测试技能,无法为行业所用。软件测试工具(如 TesCaV)可用于帮助教师以非侵入式、更省时的方式讲授软件测试主题。以往的研究表明,TesCaV 易于使用,而且新手用户在使用 TesCaV 时能做出更高质量的软件测试。然而,学习者在使用 TesCaV 过程中获得的技能,即使在不提供工具帮助的情况下是否还能保留下来,这一点仍不清楚。为了了解 TesCaV 对学习者软件测试技能的积极影响,本研究对 45 名参与者进行了实验。实验采用了前测-治疗-后测的设计。结果表明,尽管学员识别了更多的测试用例,但他们对测试覆盖范围的完整性同样有信心。结论是,在课程设计中,TesCaV 这样的胶囊可以帮助学生理解软件测试的全部复杂性,并帮助他们在方法上更加系统化。
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来源期刊
Software and Systems Modeling
Software and Systems Modeling 工程技术-计算机:软件工程
CiteScore
6.00
自引率
20.00%
发文量
104
审稿时长
>12 weeks
期刊介绍: We invite authors to submit papers that discuss and analyze research challenges and experiences pertaining to software and system modeling languages, techniques, tools, practices and other facets. The following are some of the topic areas that are of special interest, but the journal publishes on a wide range of software and systems modeling concerns: Domain-specific models and modeling standards; Model-based testing techniques; Model-based simulation techniques; Formal syntax and semantics of modeling languages such as the UML; Rigorous model-based analysis; Model composition, refinement and transformation; Software Language Engineering; Modeling Languages in Science and Engineering; Language Adaptation and Composition; Metamodeling techniques; Measuring quality of models and languages; Ontological approaches to model engineering; Generating test and code artifacts from models; Model synthesis; Methodology; Model development tool environments; Modeling Cyberphysical Systems; Data intensive modeling; Derivation of explicit models from data; Case studies and experience reports with significant modeling lessons learned; Comparative analyses of modeling languages and techniques; Scientific assessment of modeling practices
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