GAMFLEW: serious game to teach white-box testing

• Type: Article in International Scientific Journal
• Date: 2025

Authors

Silva, M (Author) Other; Paiva, ACR (Author) FEUP; Mendes, A (Author) Other

Journal

Title: Software Quality Journal

Vol. 33

Final page: 5

ISSN: 0963-9314

Publisher: Springer Nature

Indexing

ISI Web of Knowledge - 0 Citations

Scopus - 0 Citations

Other information

Authenticus ID: P-017-QM5

DOI: 10.1007/s11219-024-09706-z

Abstract (EN): Software testing plays a fundamental role in software engineering, involving the systematic evaluation of software to identify defects, errors, and vulnerabilities from the early stages of the development process. Education in software testing is essential for students and professionals, as it promotes quality and favours the construction of reliable software solutions. However, motivating students to learn software testing may be a challenge. To overcome this, educators may incorporate some strategies into the teaching and learning process, such as real-world examples, interactive learning, and gamification. Gamification aims to make learning software testing more engaging for students by creating a more enjoyable experience. One approach that has proven effective is to use serious games. This paper presents a novel serious game to teach white-box testing test case design techniques, named GAMFLEW (GAMe For LEarning White-box testing). It describes the design, game mechanics, and its implementation. It also presents a preliminary evaluation experiment with students to assess the usability, learnability, and perceived problems, among other aspects. The results obtained are encouraging.

Language: English

Type (Professor's evaluation): Scientific

No. of pages: 33