Browsing by Author "Clarke, Paul M."

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Citation Count: Olgun, Serhan...et al., "A Systematic Investigation into the Use of Game Elements in the Context of Software Business Landscapes: A Systematic Literature Review", Software Process Improvement And Capability Determination, Spıce 2017, Vol. 770, pp. 384-398, (2017).
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; Clarke, Paul M.; O'Connor, Rory V.
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 Count: Yilmaz, M...et al."Applying Blockchain to Improve the Integrity of the Software Development Process",Communications in Computer and Information Science, Vol. 1060, pp. 260-271, (2019).
Applying Blockchain to Improve the Integrity of the Software Development Process
(Springer Verlag, 2019) Yılmaz, Murat; Taşel, Serdar; Tüzün, Eray; Güleç, Ulaş; O'Connor, Rory V.; Clarke, Paul M.; 55346
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 Count: Güleç, Ulaş...et al. "Digital Storytelling on a Virtual Heritage Museum with Believable Agents", 15th Turkish National Software Engineering Symposium (UYMS), 2021.
Digital Storytelling on a Virtual Heritage Museum with Believable Agents
(2021) Güleç, Ulaş; Yılmaz, Murat; Kalan, Kaan; Dikbayır, Hasan Saygın; Merdivanlı, Oğulcan; Değirmenci, Utku Mert; Clarke, Paul M.
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.
Citation Count: Üsfekes, Çağdaş...et al. "Examining Reward Mechanisms for Effective Usage of Application Lifecycle Management Tools",Systems, Software and Services Process Improvement, pp. 259-268, 2017.
Examining Reward Mechanisms for Effective Usage of Application Lifecycle Management Tools
(2017) Üsfekes, Çağdaş; Yılmaz, Murat; Uzun, Eray; Clarke, Paul M.; O’Connor, Rory V.
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 Count: Clarke, Paul M...et al., "Exploring Software Process Variation Arising from Differences in Situational Context", Systems, Software and Services Process Improvement (EUROSPI 2017), Vol. 748, pp. 29-42, (2017).
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; Yılmaz,Murat; Ennis, Adam; Gerrity, Mark; McGrath, Sean; 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 Count: Nazligul, Merve Denizci; Yilmaz, Murat; Gulec, Ulas; et al., "Overcoming Public Speaking Anxiety of Software Engineers Using Virtual Reality Exposure Therapy", Systems, Software and Services Process Improvement (EUROSPI 2017), Vol. 748, pp. 191-202, (2017).
Overcoming Public Speaking Anxiety of Software Engineers Using Virtual Reality Exposure Therapy
(Springer-Verlag Berlin, 2017) Nazlıgül, Merve Denizci; Yılmaz, Murat; Güleç, Ulaş; Gözcü, Mert Ali; O'Connor, Rory V.; Clarke, Paul M.; 47439
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 Count: Kosa, Mehmet...et al., "Software Engineering Education and Games: A Systematic Literature Review", Journal of Universal Computer Science, Vol. 22, No. 12, pp. 1558-1574, (2016).
Software Engineering Education and Games: A Systematic Literature Review
(Graz Univ Technolgoy, 2016) Koşa, Mehmet; Yılmaz, Murat; O'Connor, Rory V.; Clarke, Paul M.
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 Count: Aydan, Ufuk; Yilmaz, Murat; Clarke, Paul M.; O'Connor, Rory V. (2017). Teaching ISO/IEC 12207 software lifecycle processes: A serious game approach Conference: 16th International Conference on Software Process Improvement and Capability Determination (SPICE) Location: Dublin City Univ, Dublin, Computer Standards & Interfaces, 54, 129-138.
Teaching ISO/IEC 12207 software lifecycle processes: A serious game approach
(Elsevier, 2017) Aydan, Ufuk; Yılmaz, Murat; Clarke, Paul M.; O'Connor, Rory V.; 55248
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 Count: Giray, Görkem...et al (2018). "The Impact of Situational Context on Software Process: A Case Study of a Very Small-Sized Company in the Online Advertising Domain", Communications in Computer and Information Science, Vol. 896, pp. 28-39.
The Impact of Situational Context on Software Process: A Case Study of a Very Small-Sized Company in the Online Advertising Domain
(2018) Giray, Görkem; Yılmaz, Murat; O’Connor, Rory V.; Clarke, Paul M.
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.