Using a real world project in a software testing course

Although testing often accounts for 50% of the budget of a typical software project, the subject of software testing is often overlooked in computing curriculum. Students often view testing as a boring and unnecessary task, and education is usually focused on building software, not ensuring its quality. Previous works have focused on either making the subject of testing more exciting for students or on a more potent lecture-based learning process. At the Department of Software Engineering at the Rochester Institute of Technology, recent efforts have been focused on the project component of our Software Testing course as an area of innovation. Rather than previous methods such as a tightly controlled and repetitive testbed, our students are allowed to choose a real-world, open source project to test throughout the term. With the instructor as both counsel and client, students are expected to deliver a test plan, a final report, and several class-wide presentations. This project has achieved significant student praise; qualitative and quantitative feedback demonstrates both increased satisfaction and fulfilled curricular requirements. Students enjoy the real-world aspect of the project and the ability to work with relevant applications and technologies. This paper outlines the project details and educational goals.