Browsing by Author "Clarke, Paul M."

Now showing 1 - 13 of 13

Citation - WoS: 31
Citation - Scopus: 40
A 3D virtual environment for training soccer referees
(Elsevier Science Bv, 2019) Güleç, Ulaş; Gulec, Ulas; Yilmaz, Murat; Yılmaz, Murat; Isler, Veysi; O'Connor, Rory V.; Clarke, Paul M.; 47439; Bilgisayar Mühendisliği; Yazılım Mühendisliği
Emerging digital technologies are being used in many ways by and in particular virtual environments provide new opportunities to gain experience on real-world phenomena without having to live the actual real-world experiences. In this study, a quantitative research approach supported by expert validation interviews was conducted to determine the availability of virtual environments in the training of soccer referees. The aim is to design a virtual environment for training purposes, representing a real-life soccer stadium to allow the referees to manage matches in an atmosphere similar to the real stadium atmosphere. At this point, the referees have a chance to reduce the number of errors that they make in real life by experiencing difficult decisions that they encounter during the actual match via using the virtual stadium. In addition, the decisions and reactions of the referees during the virtual match were observed with the number of different fans in the virtual stadium to understand whether the virtual stadium created a real stadium atmosphere for the referees. For this evaluation, Presence Questionnaire (PQ) and Immersive Tendencies Questionnaire (ITQ) were applied to the referees to measure their involvement levels. In addition, a semi-structure interview technique was utilized in order to understand participants' opinions about the system. These interviews show that the referees have a positive attitude towards the system since they can experience the events occurred in the match as a first person instead of watching them from camera as a third person. The findings of current study suggest that virtual environments can be used as a training tool to increase the experience levels of the soccer referees since they have an opportunity to decide about the positions without facing the real-world risks.
Citation - WoS: 12
Citation - Scopus: 17
A Systematic Investigation into the Use of Game Elements in the Context of Software Business Landscapes: A Systematic Literature Review
(Springer-verlag Berlin, 2017) Olgun, Serhan; Yılmaz, Murat; Yilmaz, Murat; Clarke, Paul M.; O'Connor, Rory V.; Yazılım Mühendisliği
The software development process is a set of socio-technical activities to produce software artifacts in which humans play a crucial role. Since it is a people centric activity, factors such as user motivation, engagement, communication and collaboration might constrain these activities. Therefore, software business organizations stand to benefit from adopting different tools and methods in order to overcome these obstacles and to improve their software business processes. Research has been made to increase software quality and enhance the software development process. Alongside these studies, innovative techniques and concepts are beneficial. As a solution, the notion of gamification (i.e. employing game elements in non-gaming contexts) has been introduced to enhance the software development process and overcome the challenges mostly related to human factors. However, the applicability of game elements in the context of software business landscapes is still a controversial issue and not totally proven as of yet. Numerous studies have been conducted to examine the benefits of gamification and how game elements affect the software development process. Thus, in this paper, a systematic literature review was conducted in order to investigate the application of game elements both in research and industrial levels of software development and as well as in software business landscapes.
Citation - WoS: 8
Citation - Scopus: 15
Applying Blockchain to Improve the Integrity of the Software Development Process
(Springer international Publishing Ag, 2019) Yılmaz, Murat; Yilmaz, Murat; Tasel, Serdar; Güleç, Ulaş; Tuzun, Eray; Gulec, Ulas; O'Connor, Rory V.; Clarke, Paul M.; 55346; Yazılım Mühendisliği; Bilgisayar Mühendisliği
Software development is a complex endeavor that encompasses application and implementation layers with functional (refers to what is done) and non-functional (how is done) aspects. The efforts to scale agile software development practices are not wholly able to address issues such as integrity, which is a crucial non-functional aspect of the software development process. However, if we consider most software failures are Byzantine failures (i.e., where components may fail and there is imperfect information on which a component has failed.) that might impair the operation but do not completely disable the production line. In this paper, we assume software practitioners who cause defects as Byzantine participants and claim that most software failures can be mitigated by viewing software development as the Byzantine Generals Problem. Consequently, we propose a test-driven incentive mechanism based on a blockchain concept to orchestrate the software development process where production is controlled by a similar infrastructure based on the working principles of blockchain. We discuss the model that integrates blockchain with the software development process, and provide some recommendations for future work to address the issues while orchestrating software production.
Citation - WoS: 10
Citation - Scopus: 13
Cengo: A Web-Based Serious Game To Increase the Programming Knowledge Levels of Computer Engineering Students
(Springer international Publishing Ag, 2019) Güleç, Ulaş; Gulec, Ulas; Yilmaz, Murat; Yılmaz, Murat; Yalcin, Alihan Dogus; O'Connor, Rory V.; Clarke, Paul M.; Bilgisayar Mühendisliği; Yazılım Mühendisliği
In recent years there has been an increased use of serious games to help increase the level of knowledge and experience of individuals working in different domains. In particular serious games for educational purposes have been used in many domains including software engineering and computer science [1]. Hence, this study proposes a quantitative research approach to increase the programming knowledge levels of the first-year undergraduate students at computer engineering departments. For this aim, a responsive web platform was developed to teach the syntax and logic of the C programming language by using game elements. This environment provided students with an ability to independently investigate the C programming language continuously since the platform is always accessible. To better understand the effectiveness of the designed environment, 10 first-year computer engineering students were selected as a pilot experimental group. According to the results obtained from the user tests, this game can be used as an educational tool, which supports the traditional training methods, to increase the knowledge levels of students about the syntax and logic of the C programming language.
Citation - WoS: 0
Citation - Scopus: 1
Digital Storytelling on a Virtual Heritage Museum with Believable Agents
(Ieee, 2021) Güleç, Ulaş; Gulec, Ulas; Yilmaz, Murat; Yılmaz, Murat; Kalan, Kaan; Dikbayir, Hasan Saygin; Merdivanli, Ogulcan; Degirmenci, Utku Mert; Clarke, Paul M.; Bilgisayar Mühendisliği; Yazılım Mühendisliği
The preservation of cultural heritage plays a very important role in terms of the sustainability of societies since culture is one of the most important phenomena that hold individuals together. However, although the protection of cultural heritage is a very important issue for societies, there are serious problems in the accuracy of information or access to information due to the verbal or written communication of the subjects that need to be conveyed. In particular, there is a serious decrease in the sense of belonging in individuals due to the inability to transfer cultural heritage to the younger generations correctly. At this point, the aim of the study is to teach individuals the Turkish horror culture by experiencing them in a realistic environment with various different stories in a virtual reality-based gamified system instead of teaching them in writing or verbally. For this purpose, a 3D virtual museum was developed within the scope of the study, inspired by real characters and areas, and it was aimed for individuals to learn Turkish horror culture elements through tasks in different scenarios. The developed system was tested by 5 experts in the field as a preliminary study and the realism level of the created system was measured with the comments of the experts. According to the findings, it has been determined that the level of realism offered by the designed virtual environment is sufficient to explain the Turkish horror culture to individuals.
Examining Reward Mechanisms for Effective Usage of Application Lifecycle Management Tools
(2017) Yılmaz, Murat; Yılmaz, Murat; Uzun, Eray; Clarke, Paul M.; O’Connor, Rory V.; Yazılım Mühendisliği
Application lifecycle management (ALM) highlights the rules of the road for the entire software ecosystems’ lifecycle. Successful ALM enables clarity around the entire delivery effort, from defining requirements to deploying the software product. One of the challenges in software engineering today is to orchestrate ALM tools to a set of software projects effectively. In particular, it is challenging for software practitioners to continuously fully engage with the tasks that are assigned to them. The goal of this study is to address such situations using a game theoretic approach by utilizing a reward mechanism, which we intent to test in a medium-sized software development organization. Based on a set of game elements, this study proposes an auction mechanism to address human resource allocation and task optimization issues, and consequently tackle the potential problem of software practitioners’ engagement.
Citation - WoS: 4
Citation - Scopus: 5
Examining reward mechanisms for effective usage of application lifecycle management tools
(Springer-verlag Berlin, 2017) Usfekes, Cagdas; Yılmaz, Murat; Yilmaz, Murat; Tuzun, Eray; Clarke, Paul M.; O'Connor, Rory V.; Yazılım Mühendisliği
Application lifecycle management (ALM) highlights the rules of the road for the entire software ecosystems' lifecycle. Successful ALM enables clarity around the entire delivery effort, from defining requirements to deploying the software product. One of the challenges in software engineering today is to orchestrate ALM tools to a set of software projects effectively. In particular, it is challenging for software practitioners to continuously fully engage with the tasks that are assigned to them. The goal of this study is to address such situations using a game theoretic approach by utilizing a reward mechanism, which we intent to test in a medium-sized software development organization. Based on a set of game elements, this study proposes an auction mechanism to address human resource allocation and task optimization issues, and consequently tackle the potential problem of software practitioners' engagement.
Citation - WoS: 8
Citation - Scopus: 11
Exploring Software Process Variation Arising from Differences in Situational Context
(Springer-verlag Berlin, 2017) Clarke, Paul M.; O'Connor, Rory V.; Solan, David; Elger, Peter; Yilmaz, Murat; Ennis, Adam; Treanor, Ryan
The software development process is continuously changing, there is huge pressure to condense release cycles into shorter and shorter timeframes, tools are changing dramatically and companies must continually examine the efficacy of their development process. Attempting to hit a moving target is difficult and it is a decision which can have a major effect in terms of both the end-product and the business. In this paper, we discuss the role of situational context in deciding upon the software development process through the analysis of two case studies. The case studies take a detailed look at the organisational profile and context of each company in turn before we compare and contrast each situational context for factors that may influence the development process. We then compare the processes each company has chosen before our discussion of the role context plays in choosing a 'correct' software development process. While both companies have enjoyed sustained business growth and while both are agile in mindset, we find that they are in fact quite distinct in their processes, this distinction being driven by their different situational contexts.
Citation - WoS: 29
Citation - Scopus: 36
Overcoming Public Speaking Anxiety of Software Engineers Using Virtual Reality Exposure Therapy
(Springer-verlag Berlin, 2017) Yılmaz, Murat; Nazligul, Merve Denizci; Yilmaz, Murat; Güleç, Ulaş; Gulec, Ulas; Gozcu, Mert Ali; O'Connor, Rory V.; Clarke, Paul M.; 47439; Bilgisayar Mühendisliği; Yazılım Mühendisliği
Public speaking anxiety is a type of social phobia, which might be commonly seen in novice software engineers. It is usually triggered by a fear of social performance especially when the performer is unfamiliar with the audience. Today, many software engineering activities (e.g. code inspection, peer review, daily meetings, etc.) require social gatherings where individuals need to present their work. However, novice software engineers may not be able to reduce their performance anxiety during their course of education. In this study, we propose a virtual reality approach to construct a practice environment for improving novice software engineers' pubic speaking experiences. Consequently, we examine the effects of virtual reality intervention on the public speaking experience of six novice software engineers from a computer engineering department. We designed a virtual auditorium to simulate the presentation delivery environment and findings suggest that using this infrastructure for training purposes can reduce presenter anxiety levels - which is consistent with related published studies. We believe that this virtual auditorium environment can deliver benefits for students and practitioners alike in terms of addressing the anxiety that is often associated with early stage career presenters.
Citation - WoS: 11
Citation - Scopus: 13
Refactoring Software Development Process Terminology Through the Use of Ontology
(Springer-verlag Berlin, 2016) Clarke, Paul M.; Mesquida Calafat, Antoni Lluis; Ekert, Damjan; Ekstrom, J. J.; Gornostaja, Tatjana; Jovanovic, Milos; Yilmaz, Murat
In work that is ongoing, the authors are examining the extent of software development process terminology drift. Initial findings suggest there is a degree of term confusion, with the mapping of concepts to terms lacking precision in some instances. Ontologies are concerned with identifying the concepts of relevance to a field of endeavour and mapping those concepts to terms such that term confusion is reduced. In this paper, we discuss how ontologies are developed. We also identify various sources of software process terminology. Our work to date indicates that the systematic development of a software development process ontology would be of benefit to the entire software development community. The development of such an ontology would in effect represent a systematic refactoring of the terminology and concepts produced over four decades of software process innovation.
Citation - WoS: 48
Citation - Scopus: 63
Software Engineering Education and Games: A Systematic Literature Review
(Graz Univ Technolgoy, inst information Systems Computer Media-iicm, 2016) Kosa, Mehmet; Yılmaz, Murat; Yilmaz, Murat; O'Connor, Rory V.; Clarke, Paul M.; Yazılım Mühendisliği
The trend in using games in elementary level education also spreads through higher education levels and specific domains such as engineering. Recently, researchers have shown an increased interest in the usage of games in software engineering. In this paper, we are presenting a systematic review and analysis of 350 papers regarding games in software engineering education that was published in the last fifteen years. After applying our inclusion criteria and manual inspection of these studies, we have ended up with 53 primary papers. Based on a systematic process, we reported and discussed our findings with possible future research directions. The main results of this study indicate that the studies are accumulated around 5 categories: Games that learners/students play, games that learners/students develop as projects, curriculum proposals, developing/coming up with new approaches, tools, frameworks or suggestions and others.
Citation - WoS: 24
Citation - Scopus: 32
Teaching ISO/IEC 12207 software lifecycle processes: A serious game approach
(Elsevier Science Bv, 2017) Aydan, Ufuk; Yılmaz, Murat; Yilmaz, Murat; Clarke, Paul M.; O'Connor, Rory V.; 55248; Yazılım Mühendisliği
Serious games involve applying game design techniques to tasks of a serious nature. In particular, serious games can be used as informative tools and can be embedded in formal education. Although there are some studies related to the application of serious games for the software development process, there is no serious game that teaches the fundamentals of the ISO/IEC 12207:1995 Systems and software engineering Software life cycle processes, which is an international standard for software lifecycle processes that aims to be 'the' standard that defines all the tasks required for developing and maintaining software. "Floors" is a serious game that proposes an interactive learning experience to introduce ISO/IEC 12207:1995 by creating different floors of a virtual environment where various processes of the standard are discussed and implemented. Inherently, it follows an iterative process based on interactive technical dialogues in a 3D computer simulated office. The tool is designed to assess the novice engineering practitioners knowledge and provide preliminary training for ISO/IEC 12207:1995 processes. By playing such a game, participants are able to learn about the details of this standard. The present study provides a framework for the exploration of research data obtained from computer engineering students. Results suggest that there is a significant difference between the knowledge gained among the students who have played Floors and those who have only participated in paper-based learning sessions. Our findings indicate that participants who played Floors tend to have greater knowledge of the ISO/IEC 12207:1995 standard, and as a result, we recommend the use of serious games that seem to be superior to traditional paper based approach.
Citation - WoS: 6
Citation - Scopus: 10
The Impact of Situational Context on Software Process: A Case Study of a Very Small-Sized Company in the Online Advertising Domain
(Springer international Publishing Ag, 2018) Giray, Gorkem; Yılmaz, Murat; Yilmaz, Murat; O'Connor, Rory V.; Clarke, Paul M.; Yazılım Mühendisliği
A primary concern of software development is selecting a suitable methodology to implement a software project. However, this selection is affected by many factors, with evidence suggesting that a specific set of factors defines a specific situational context for a project. This situational context leads to a project-specific software process. In this paper, we report on our analysis of a very small-sized company's current software process based on a reference framework that identifies the factors of a situational context. The outcome of our case study confirms the earlier findings that a software process is highly dependent on situational factors. The company has a suitable situational context (such as very small-sized, experienced, skilled, cohesive team with low turnover) to apply agile practices and its software process is more close to an agile rather than plan-driven approach. Moreover, the company is continuously adopting its software process to the situational factors changing from project to project and over time.