Teaching Software Quality Assurance (SQA) during COVID-19 Using the HyFlex Approach - Course Design, Results, and Experiences

This full paper discusses the HyFlex pedagogical approach to teaching a highly interactive face-to-face Software Quality Assurance (SQA) course during the COVID-19 pandemic. HyFlex, short for hybrid-flexibility, is a teaching model where instructors and students have the option to attend scheduled courses face-to-face (F2F) or remotely. In this teaching model the learning outcomes for the course remain the same for all who enroll regardless of the mode of attendance. Our HyFlex SQA approach consists of lectures (in class, with video recordings), face-to-face activities, as well as group assignments, group projects, and exams all facilitated through an online campus management system. During the lecture period, the instructor delivers content in the form of lecture slides and writing on a whiteboard. This poses significant challenges for the instructor, as the learning outcomes have to be delivered in different modalities, but with the same quality. This is particularly difficult in SQA courses, as these require instruction in formal methods as well as systematic justification of engineering choices, both of which are best facilitated in F2F fashion that implement Think-Pair-Share (TPS) amongst students. TPS is an active learning technique in which students are allocated adequate time to think individually on a task posed by the instructor, followed by pair discussions, and then as a class discussion. The task given by the instructor is of similar complexity to that which is covered as an example during lecture. Online synchronous activities involve students participating in TPS by working collaboratively as a group on tasks that correspond with concepts covered in the slide-based lectures. This way students learn from each other by thinking individually then sharing ideas in the classroom, thus contributing to better understanding of course content. For assignments and projects students are allocated a portion of the class time to meet with group members and discuss their activities. Groups also have the option to ask the instructor questions aloud that will help other groups to complete their assignments and projects successfully. Delivering these in a hybrid format was required during the fall of 2020 due to COVID-19 restrictions. The results show that while performance in projects and homework assignments remained constant, final exam performance was significantly (p < 0.05) lower in 2020 compared to previous course offerings. We also noted a lower enrollment, higher participatory effort on both instructors and students, and a subjectively decreased feeling of collaboration. Nevertheless, students rated their perceived learning experience as high and regard HyFlex learning facilities as adequate. In this paper we adopted a HyFlex teaching model that incorporates reduced F2F seating, educational tools such as Blackboard, Panopto, Zoom, Google docs, and Discord. We conclude by discussing some challenges experienced with HyFlex teaching model and recommendations for adopting the teaching model by other instructors who teach CS courses that involve a considerable amount of group activities. © American Society for Engineering Education, 2021