A Systematic Literature Review of Student Assessment Framework in Software Engineering Courses

Abstract

Background: Software engineering are courses comprising various project types, including simple assignments completed in supervised settings and more complex tasks undertaken independently by students, without the oversight of a constant teacher or lab assistant. The imperative need arises for a comprehensive assessment framework to validate the fulfillment of learning objectives and facilitate the measurement of student outcomes, particularly in computer science and software engineering. This leads to the delineation of an appropriate assessment structure and pattern. Objective: This study aimed to acquire the expertise required for assessing student performance in computer science and software engineering courses. Methods: A comprehensive literature review spanning from 2012 to October 2021 was conducted, resulting in the identification of 20 papers addressing the assessment framework in software engineering and computer science courses. Specific inclusion and exclusion criteria were meticulously applied in two rounds of assessment to identify the most pertinent studies for this investigation. Results: The results showed multiple methods for assessing software engineering and computer science courses, including the Assessment Matrix, Automatic Assessment, CDIO, Cooperative Thinking, formative and summative assessment, Game, Generative Learning Robot, NIMSAD, SECAT, Self-assessment and Peer-assessment, SonarQube Tools, WRENCH, and SEP-CyLE. Conclusion: The evaluation framework for software engineering and computer science courses required further refinement, ultimately leading to the selection of the most suitable technique, known as learning framework. Keywords: Computer science course, Software engineering course, Student assessment, Systematic literature review