This research presents a catalog of pedagogical practices, theories/methods, and teaching procedures for the elderly. Aging is a natural part of life and is a process of progressive and differential degradation. The COVID-19 pandemic highlighted the urgency of care for the elderly public. During the lockdown period, this audience’s use of digital technologies grew, especially mobile devices. Despite the increase in the use of these devices, we see that the apps have not been developed considering the particular characteristics of the elderly, since aging can bring challenges and changes related to physical, sensory, perceptual, or cognitive issues. In the context of m-learning apps, it becomes even more urgent to consider pedagogical and accessibility aspects for this audience through specific guidelines for this domain. However, to propose such a guideline, it is necessary to know to define the scope and understand the user’s context. Focusing on this context, we could mention AGE Guidelines - a set of m-learning pedagogical and accessibility guidelines for the elderly. This paper aims to discuss some aspects of the experimental and description phases to develop such guidelines: the establishment of a catalog of pedagogical practices, theories/methods, and teaching procedures. To create this catalog, six interviews with teachers specialized in the education of the elderly were carried out. Based on Bardin’s method, the interviews were recorded and transcribed for later analysis. As a contribution, we expect that the presented catalog will help construct new educational artifacts, including pedagogical practices, theories/methods, and teaching procedures that effectively enable the teaching and learning process of the elderly in practice.

The selection of variables in a given experiment is crucial, since it is the theoretical foundation that guides how data should be collected and analyzed. However, selecting variables is an intricate activity, especially considering areas such as Software Engineering and Education, whose studies should also consider human-related variables in the design. In this scenario, we aim to investigate how a support mechanism helps in the variables selection activity of the experiment process. To do so, we conducted a preliminary study on the use of an experimental framework composed of a catalog of variables. We explored the domain of the integration of software testing into programming education. Participants were divided into two groups (ad hoc and framework support) and asked to select variables for a given experiment goal. We analyzed the results by identifying threats to validity in their experimental design drafts. Results show a significant number of threats of type inadequate explication of constructs for both groups. Nonetheless, the framework helped to increase the clarity of concepts selected as variables. The cause of most raised threats, even with the framework support, was an inaccuracy in selecting the values of such variables (i.e. treatments and fixed values).

Accessibility is a quality sub-characteristic intended to make software products accessible to a broad range of users, regardless of their physical, motor, intellectual or cognitive skills. Mobile accessibility has been on the spotlight recently due to the increasing shift towards mobile platforms. Thus, many advances have been made in this field when it comes to the development of assistive technologies, conception of well-documented accessibility guidelines and supporting tools. However, a general lack of accessibility in mobile applications has been observed in several studies. Researchers have conducted investigations to understand the same phenomenon in web development from the perspective of those involved in the development process, but studies concerning accessibility in the context of mobile applications are still scarce. This paper presents a survey conducted with 872 people involved in mobile application development in the Brazilian industry to gather information on their awareness, adoption, motivations and barriers to ensure digital accessibility. Results show that most participants have moderate accessibility awareness, but low levels of knowledge or adoption in practice. In addition, accessibility is usually not considered in their projects due to lack of requirements, time, training and focus on users with disabilities.

Context: The teaching and learning process has become essential for the evolution of the society as a whole. However, there are still major challenges for achieving the global goals of education, especially if we consider the portion of the population with some type of physical disability. In this context, according to World Federation of the Deaf (WFD), deaf children face many difficulties in education due to inappropriate learning environments. Also, this problem is compounded by the lack of consistency worldwide in the provision of sign language interpreting and translation. Motivation: However, the advent of technology is having a significant impact on the way that sign language interpreters and translators work. In this sense, the union between Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) and modern pedagogical practices can be the genesis for the creation of a global learning environment based on sign languages. Objective: In this scenario, this work aims to: (i) obtain an overview of the areas of Software Engineering and their technological solutions in the fields of teaching and learning sign languages; (ii) identify the main educational topics; and (iii) the most investigated sign languages. Method: Therefore, we conduct a Systematic Mapping (SM) with a focus on technologies applied in the teaching and learning of sign languages. Results: We selected 139 primary studies, using a search approach that includes both manual and automated searches, in addition to providing quality criteria for evaluating results. Thereby, we obtained pertinent information about the implemented solutions, in addition to the educational topics and sign languages covered. Conclusions: We conclude that technologies have already contributed to the teaching and learning of sign languages. In this context, different approaches were found, from solutions on traditional platforms (Web, Mobile and Desktop) to the use of Augmented Reality (AR) in smart glasses. However, no solution aims to enable communication between different sign languages, which shows a limitation that can motivate even more innovative research.

This Research Full Paper presents an overview of the practices that have been used to integrate software testing into programming education. Introductory programming courses compose the core of several undergraduate programs, since programming is a crucial technical skill for professionals in many areas. Given the subject importance, researchers have been conducting several studies to investigate teaching approaches that can help overcoming students' learning difficulties. In particular, studies on introducing software testing into this context present evidence that testing practices can improve students' programming performance and habits. There are many teaching approaches in programming education, which involve different choices of programming paradigm and language, support tools and development practices, such as version control. Likewise, the integration of software testing into such diverse context can also happen in many different ways. Therefore, investigating the ways to teach programming and testing at the same time can help instructors with informed choices. In this sense, we identified teaching practices that have been adopted to integrate software testing into programming education. To do so, we further analyzed a subgroup of 195 papers that returned in our systematic mapping on this research domain. We selected papers describing empirical studies (e.g. survey, qualitative studies, experiments, case studies and experience reports), since this kind of study involves applying a given teaching practice in order to collect evidence or report the observed experience. Overall, our results shed light on how the integration of software testing has been done in different classroom contexts of programming education. We discuss the practices in terms of their application context (i.e. the course), how testing was introduced in theory and practice, and the adopted support tools. We also discuss an important gap regarding the lack of instruction in testing concepts, even when students are responsible to write their own tests.

This Research Full Paper reinforces that Software Testing can be a helpful practice to students while working on programming assignments. Considering Software Testing as a process, the testing activity is composed by a sequence of steps. When students write and submit their own test cases, they are responsible for the test design, automation, execution, and evaluation. Otherwise, instructors can provide ready-made test suites, needing only to execute it and evaluate it. In this scenario, we conducted an experimental study to investigate how the programming performance of students from the Computer Science area is affected when Software Testing is integrated with programming. We proposed three different approaches: (i) ad hoc programming; (ii) programming and testing by writing the test suite; and (iii) programming and testing with a readymade test suite. We assessed students' programs in terms of correctness, measured by the pass rate of the reference test suite. Results indicate that students had a lower performance with ad hoc programming in comparison with both approaches involving Software Testing. On the other hand, using ready-made test cases raised better results than when students had to write their own test cases. We also assessed students' attitudes towards testing by means of a survey.

Traditionally, students learn about software testing during intermediate or advanced computing courses. However, it is widely advocated that testing should be addressed beginning in introductory programming courses. In this context, testing practices can help students think more critically while working on programming assignments. At the same time, students can develop testing skills throughout the computing curriculum. Considering this scenario, we conducted a systematic mapping of the literature about software testing in introductory programming courses, resulting in 293 selected papers. We mapped the papers to categories with respect to their investigated topic (curriculum, teaching methods, programming assignments, programming process, tools, program/test quality, concept understanding, and students' perceptions and behaviors) and evaluation method (literature review, exploratory study, descriptive/persuasive study, survey, qualitative study, experimental and experience report). We also identified the benefits and drawbacks of this teaching approach, as pointed out in the selected papers. The goal is to provide an overview of research performed in the area, highlighting gaps that should be further investigated.

This Research to Practice Full Paper presents an empirical investigation of a pedagogical pattern language for mobile learning apps. Mobile learning (m-learning) applications can provide several benefits to learners. However, there are still several problems to be further investigated, such as the challenge to keep the learner motivated while using the application during educational activities. The application design can help to solve this kind of problems. There is a need to understand such problems in the pedagogical level and then properly eliciting requirements that would address those problems. Pedagogical patterns try to capture expert knowledge regarding the practice of teaching and learning in a way that it is possible for others to reuse this experience. Therefore, pedagogical patterns can be a tool to assist in the design of new m-learning applications as well as to the improvement of the existing ones. Aiming to bridge this gap, a pedagogical pattern language entitled MLearning-PL has been proposed to guide the requirements elicitation of m-learning applications projects. We conducted an empirical investigation in order to evaluate the proposed pattern language by means of a experimental study, whose main purpose was to evaluate the solutions provided using MLearning-PL in comparison to an ad hoc approach. A feedback questionnaire was also applied to understand the participants' perceptions about MLearning-PL on its clearness and completeness. The obtained results provided preliminary evidences of the applicability, effectiveness and efficiency of MLearning-PL.

This research full paper presents a study on graduates' knowledge gaps in software testing according to industry needs. Several studies indicate that students graduate from computing programs with a knowledge gap in software testing. In this sense, we aimed to investigate in details this broader testing gap, by considering gaps in the level of testing topics. We conducted a survey with Brazilian practitioners in order to collect data (N=90). For each testing topic, knowledge gaps were calculated as the difference between what respondents' learned/practiced in undergraduate courses and what they actually applied in industry after graduating. Results provide evidence on points that could be improved in software testing education. Firstly, for all testing topics there was a negative gap on practice activities. This means that students could benefit from more testing assignments throughout the curriculum. Regarding gaps in concepts, some testing topics presented negative gaps (such as test in web applications) and others positive (such as test in aspect oriented software and mutation analysis). Therefore, results suggest that it is possible to counterbalance them in order to reduce the existing gaps. We also present respondents' opinions about their experience in software testing education and industry practices.

Software testing can be very helpful to students if adopted in programming assignments throughout the Computer Science curriculum. Many testing practices involve students writing their own test cases. This approach implies that students are responsible for the test design task while performing the test activity. On the other hand, some testing practices follow the opposite approach of providing ready-made test cases, so students only need to execute and evaluate test results for their solution code. In this paper, we investigated the effect of test design in student programming performance. We conducted an experiment comparing two different testing approaches during programming assignments: student-written and instructor-provided test cases. We also assessed students' perceptions of this subject by means of a survey. Results suggest that when students are responsible for test design, i.e. when they write their own test cases, they perform better in programming assignments.

Several studies suggest that the teaching of software testing should begin as early as possible, since introductory programming courses. In this way, the teaching of both subjects, programming and testing, becomes an integrated teaching approach. Testing practices in this context can provide a timely feedback to students while they are still working on programming assignments and, as a result, increase the quality of their code. Besides, developing students' testing skills earlier is useful to improve their programming skills as well, since both kinds of skills are complementary. However, this integration is not straightforward, because lecture hours and the coverage of programming topics must remain the same, while testing concepts and practices are introduced. For this reason, when designing an educational approach to introduce testing practices to novice programmers, there is also the need to address potential difficulties faced by both students and instructors. Considering this scenario, this paper aims at identifying the challenges raised due to the integration of software testing into introductory programming courses. The goal is to provide support for instructors who intend to adopt the integrated approach. The challenges have been identified from the results of a systematic mapping we conducted of the literature in this domain. The main contribution of this paper refers to the establishment of a catalog of challenges faced to integrate software testing into introductory programming courses. We also discuss possible solutions to design courses using the integrated approach and point out challenges that have been scarcely addressed in the literature. Finally, we indicate directions that can be explored in future educational empirical studies in this context.

Multiple views of data sets from the same domain can support to discover unforeseen associations among data elements, but requires users to interact with them. The coordination mechanism must relate elements across multiple views. The mapping among data elements are constrained by using data attributes, and such mapping influences on how multiple views are coordinated. We propose the application of ontology to link data elements based on semantic for specific context. Representing the underlying data into ontology, semantic representation to create the mappings can benefit exploratory visualization. In this paper we show how to use ontology on coordinating multiple views, the initial results using document collections are presented and discussed, in comparison with traditional techniques.