Experts’ points of view are of paramount importance to achieve the goals of ENACTEST. Partnerships with experts got well underway throughout the year and NEXO QA was leading the experts’ view on software testing, having them participate directly from the software testing industry.
We first started with experiments that were designed to observe the mental and cognitive strategies applied by both students and industry experts when designing tests for an online retail website. Various scenarios were defined to qualitatively collect data from observation sessions, which were carried out in the first and second quarters of 2023. Observation sessions lasted up to 2 hours where participants thought out loud while being recorded and transcribed. Although data analysis still needs to be concluded, it showed how students and industry experts apply different and similar mental and cognitive strategies based on previous knowledge and experience. After analyzing all these results we will develop a cognitive model for learning software testing.
In addition to this, focus groups were assembled and carried out. A focus group comprised of 5 industry experts of various levels of experience, where experts were asked about and discussed particular topics. Focus group sessions typically lasted for an hour and participants discussed current needs for training within the industry and how knowledge is currently transferred within companies, as well as what they thought were the training aspects that software testing experts need for the next 5 years. Focus groups were carried out in the third and fourth quarters of 2023 and were also recorded and transcribed. In parallel, data from published industry reports was collected, which will be coupled with the data obtained from the analysis of the focus groups to determine the industry needs for testing education.
A lot of work was conducted throughout 2023 but a lot of data analysis still needs to be carried out and results to be obtained. So stay tuned!
We would like to give a special thanks to the industry experts who participated in these work packages with NEXO QA, namely, Dario Pérez, Carlos Cadena, Toni Vaca, Mario Losada, Pedro Marques, Alicia May, Ariadna Trueba, and above all PARSER DIGITAL, who have made a considerable contribution to the participation of industry experts in the project.
