arXiv subjects

Tanja E. J. Vos

Publications and source records attributed to Tanja E. J. Vos.

6 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2026

Learning Critical Testing Literacy Through Puzzles: an Experience Report

In this paper, we report our experiences and takeaways from workshops using puzzles to learn CTL. Background: Software testing is important yet difficult to teach. We introduced a BoK of puzzle-based learning activities to teach CTL, based on a model of critical tester's cognition, leading to the pedagogical framework P4TEST. We conducted thirteen workshops with students, testers, teachers, and primary school pupils to assess puzzle-based teaching of critical testing literacy. Experience: Across eleven workshops, we used a semi-structured approach, varying puzzles, materials, and timing. In two additional workshops, we introduced workbooks and think-aloud sessions to gather more data on the learning experience. Observations: Participants consistently perceived themselves as experimenting while solving puzzles. Students tended to converge on solutions, while professionals continued exploring. Emotions were visible in behaviour but hard to surface through written reflection alone. Think-aloud sessions revealed immediate reasoning; written reflections elicited more meta-cognitive reflection. The theme Sensemaking / reflection-in-action captured how participants framed problems, navigated dead ends, and shifted strategies. Reflections: Puzzles are not the intervention: the entire sequence of solving, debriefing, and reflecting is. Designing that sequence more deliberately is the work ahead. We also developed an open-source web application with built-in analytics to customise workshops.

cs.SE↗

arXiv2026

Teaching testing seriously in academia

As systems grow more complex and incorporate AI, testing becomes more critical. Yet testing education in academia remains misaligned with both professional practice and the empirical nature of testing. Current curricula predominantly adopt a rationalist paradigm, emphasizing prescriptive methods and confirmation of expected outcomes. This limits students' ability to reason critically under uncertainty. In this position paper, we argue that testing should instead be taught as an empirical, inquiry-driven professional skill. We propose an instructional design based on the Four-Component Instructional Design (4C/ID) model to support whole-task learning. We introduce P4TEST, a pedagogical framework that makes explicit the core competencies, epistemic moves, and habits of mind involved in testing, while avoiding prescriptive processes. The paper outlines how P4TEST can guide curriculum design, scaffolding, and assessment in software testing education.

cs.SE↗

arXiv2026

Reclaiming Software Engineering as the Enabling Technology for the Digital Age

Software engineering is the invisible infrastructure of the digital age. Every breakthrough in artificial intelligence, quantum computing, photonics, and cybersecurity relies on advances in software engineering, yet the field is too often treated as a supportive digital component rather than as a strategic, enabling discipline. In policy frameworks, including major European programmes, software appears primarily as a building block within other technologies, while the scientific discipline of software engineering remains largely absent. This position paper argues that the long-term sustainability, dependability, and sovereignty of digital technologies depend on investment in software engineering research. It is a call to reclaim the identity of software engineering.

cs.SE↗

arXiv2025

Behavior Driven Development for 3D Games

Computer 3D games are complex software environments that require novel testing processes to ensure high-quality standards. The Intelligent Verification/Validation for Extended Reality Based Systems (iv4XR) framework addresses this need by enabling the implementation of autonomous agents to automate game testing scenarios. This framework facilitates the automation of regression test cases for complex 3D games like Space Engineers. Nevertheless, the technical expertise required to define test scripts using iv4XR can constrain seamless collaboration between developers and testers. This paper reports how integrating a Behavior-driven Development (BDD) approach with the iv4XR framework allows the industrial company behind Space Engineers to automate regression testing. The success of this industrial collaboration has inspired the iv4XR team to integrate the BDD approach to improve the automation of play-testing for the experimental 3D game LabRecruits. Furthermore, the iv4XR framework has been extended with tactical programming to enable the automation of long-play test scenarios in Space Engineers. These results underscore the versatility of the iv4XR framework in supporting diverse testing approaches while showcasing how BDD empowers users to create, manage, and execute automated game tests using comprehensive and human-readable statements.

cs.SE↗

arXiv2022

An Agent-based Approach to Automated Game Testing: an Experience Report

Computer games are very challenging to handle for traditional automated testing algorithms. In this paper we will look at intelligent agents as a solution. Agents are suitable for testing games, since they are reactive and able to reason about their environment to decide the action they want to take. This paper presents the experience of using an agent-based automated testing framework called \ivxr\ to test computer games. Three games will be discussed, including a sophisticated 3D game called Space Engineers. We will show how the framework can be used in different ways, either directly to drive a test agent, or as an intelligent functionality that can be driven by a traditional automated testing algorithm such as a random algorithm or a model based testing algorithm.

cs.SE↗

arXiv2019

IMPRESS: Improving Engagement in Software Engineering Courses through Gamification

Software Engineering courses play an important role for preparing students with the right knowledge and attitude for software development in practice. The implication is far reaching, as the quality of the software that we use ultimately depends on the quality of the people that make them. Educating Software Engineering, however, is quite challenging, as the subject is not considered as most exciting by students, while teachers often have to deal with exploding number of students. The EU project IMPRESS seeks to explore the use of gamification in educating software engineering at the university level to improve students' engagement and hence their appreciation for the taught subjects. This paper presents the project, its objectives, and its current progress.

cs.SE↗