Diseño y desarrollo de prácticas coevaluables y autoevaluables para la etapa de prueba del desarrollo de software

Abstract

Software testing is a key phase in the development of programs. Despite its importance, and the fact that the cost associated with software defects increases as pro- grams become more complex, this phase often does not receive the necessary attention. In the context of software engineering studies, design and coding acti- vities have a predominant presence; as a result, stu- dents may tend to see software testing as a burden rather than a benefit for the final quality of the pro- duct. In this paper, we present the experience carried out to try to raise student awareness about the value of creating quality software tests, using specialized tech- niques and tools in comparison with manual and ungui- ded development. To this end, we designed a practice that confronts the student’s perception of the adequacy of their tests against an automatic assessment based on the technique known as mutation testing (which is in- dicative of the fault detection ability of the test suite). In general, the practice meets its goals. We observe a decrease in the subjective assessments regarding their own test suites (self-assessment) and regarding those of their peers (co-assessment) after knowing the more objective result of mutation analysis.