Stephanos Matsumoto
Franklin W Olin College of Engineering, MA·Education Research
Writing code is now part of everyday work for many engineers, not just computer scientists. Professional software also has to be designed, tested and maintained as requirements and technologies change.
- Fields
Education Research
Engineering
Computer Science
- Topics
engineering education
software engineering
software testing
- Grants
- 1 known grant, through Jul 2027
What they work on
- Survey undergraduate students and practitioners in mechanical, electrical and civil engineering to identify which software engineering practices and tools (SEPTs) they use, using an instrument grounded in the SWEBOK Guide and SE2014 guidelines.
- Interview students about selected SEPTs to identify factors that drive or block their adoption, using Expectancy-Value Theory and the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT/UTAUT2).
- Compare how students and practitioners value specific SEPTs through follow-up interviews, to reveal how views of software engineering shift as engineers develop professional identities.
More about the research
That takes software engineering practices and tools (SEPTs), such as writing automated tests to keep code correct after updates, or using tools to manage the software packages a project depends on. Little is known about how mechanical, electrical and civil engineering students pick up these skills, or how their use compares with that of professionals.
Why it matters
Engineers increasingly write and maintain software, but engineering programs may not teach the testing and maintenance practices professionals rely on. Identifying gaps between student and practitioner use could help instructors design better ways to teach software engineering in mechanical, electrical and civil engineering. That could better prepare graduates for professional work.
Known grants
From NIH and NSF research grants. Labs often have other funding we can't see.
Closest labs
Andrew Katz
Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, VA·Education Research·Early-career
Extract the skills employers request from more than a decade of engineering job postings, using natural language processing (computer analysis of text) and a skill-extraction algorithm focused on mechanical engineering master's roles.
Amy Gruss
Kennesaw State University, GA·Education Research
Measure how Visual Thinking Strategies (VTS), group discussion of ambiguous art at a campus museum, changes perspective-taking in first-year civil and environmental engineering students, using a validated scale.
Jennifer Detlor
University of Wisconsin-Madison, WI·Education Research
Identify which factors lead engineering students to self-identify as rural, and how strongly they hold that identity, using a survey in which students define rurality in their own terms.
The school
Franklin W Olin College of Engineering: 1 labs on PI Pages.
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