Motivating by Examples: An Empirical Study of Teaching an Introductory Software Engineering Course in Brazil

Educators in emerging and developing countries face the challenge of conveying international software engineering concepts within their local contexts, cultures and environments. In Brazil, where the local software industry is domestically focused, this becomes a factor in the development and expansion of the local software industries. This paper investigates the issue of localization of software engineering education in the context of using localized examples in the teaching of an introductory software engineering course in Brazil. Results from student questionnaires illustrate that the use of examples familiar to the students' environment increased student motivation, participation and general positive perception and attitudes towards the teaching material and the learning experience. This paper contributes empirical evidence to justify further research into contextualization and localization of software engineering education.