Software Quality Standards and Lean Approach in Teaching and Learning Programming

Abstract

The aim of this research is to improve the process of teaching and learning programming. We have considered ISO/IEC 9126 software quality standard and the Lean software development method applied to the process of teaching and learning programming. Taking into account that each software system is characterized by the software syntax correctness, software semantic correctness, and software quality, we argue for incorporating a software-metrics driven practice in the process of teaching and learning programming. In this context, each software system should be in compliance with a software development process. The fundamental principle applied in Lean programming education process is the detection of waste (in terms of software quality violations, partially done work, motion, and defects) in the education process. In this way, it is possible to improve the process of teaching and learning programming through a continuous inspection and improvement. Wehave developed a software tool in order to improve the process of teaching and learning. To evaluate this approach, we conducted an experiment with a total of 30 undergraduate students in which we investigated the violations of software metrics in the students' software projects. Although the number of participants in the experiment was limited, our findings confirmed that software quality standards and the Lean software development method can be successfully applied to the process of teaching and learning programming.