Bridging Theory to Practice in Software Testing Teaching through Team-based Learning (TBL) and Open Source Software (OSS) Contribution
Elaine Venson, Reem Alfayez
TL;DR
This paper tackles the challenge of bridging theoretical software testing concepts with real-world practice in undergraduate software engineering education. It presents a teaching approach that combines Team-Based Learning (TBL) with open source software (OSS) contributions, implemented across four semesters with over 300 students, online and in-person. The results show generally positive student perceptions of TBL and OSS integration, align with prior literature, and reveal challenges in the first OSS contributions that warrant targeted onboarding support. The approach offers a scalable framework for eliciting practical testing skills, collaboration, and real-world code familiarity, contributing to the broader goal of practice-informed software engineering pedagogy. The authors also provide actionable recommendations for OSS project selection, assessment, tooling, and classroom design to improve effectiveness and student experience.
Abstract
Curricula recommendation for undergraduate Software Engineering courses underscore the importance of transcending from traditional lecture format to actively involving students in time-limited, iterative development practices. This paper presents a teaching approach for a software testing course that integrates theory and practical experience through the utilization of both TBL and active contributions to OSS projects. The paper reports on our experience implementing the pedagogical approach over four consecutive semesters of a Software Testing course within an undergraduate Software Engineering program. The experience encompassed both online and in-person classes, involving a substantial cohort of over 300 students spanning four semesters. Students' perceptions regarding the course are analyzed and compared with previous, related studies. Our results are positively aligned with the existing literature of software engineering teaching, confirming the effectiveness of combining TBL with OSS contributions. Additionally, our survey has shed light on the challenges that students encounter during their first contribution to OSS projects, highlighting the need for targeted solutions. Overall, the experience demonstrates that the proposed pedagogical structure can effectively facilitate the transition from theoretical knowledge to real-world practice in the domain of Software Testing.