Materials for an Evidence-based software engineering & Systematic reviews course

This material is intended to serve as a reference for preparing and delivering EBSE and SRs courses. A Spanish version was used to teach EBSE and SRs courses at the Universidad de la República (Montevideo, Uruguay) during 2017-2019 and 2021.

We defined a syllabus that aims to promote the practical application of EBSE, this includes:

• Basic aspects of scientific publications (e.g., how to distinguish between scientific papers from other types of publications) and introduction to research in SE (e.g., what research methods are commonly used in SE and for what purpose). These topics are necessary to understand EBSE and it is necessary to include them because many students do not know them when taking our course.

• Introduction to the evidence-based paradigm and characteristics of SRs in SE. Based on chapters 1 to 3 of the reference book on EBSE and SRs [1].

• The process of an SR and characteristics of each of its stages. Namely, SR planning, search for primary studies, study selection, study quality assessment, data extraction from primary studies, analysis in mapping studies, qualitative synthesis, reporting of an SR, and knowledge translation and diffusion). Based on chapters 4-10, 12, and 14 of the EBSE book.

• In our 2021 course, we included the ‘Considerations on the use of evidence and the EBSE process’ topic in week 12 so that the course has a greater emphasis on EBSE and its use.

More information about our first EBSE and SRs course and its evaluation can be found in the following paper:

• Pizard, S., Acerenza, F., Otegui, X. et al. Training students in evidence-based software engineering and systematic reviews: a systematic review and empirical study. Empir Software Eng 26, 50 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10664-021-09953-9

More information about the first three courses and their effects on students are presented at:

• Sebastián Pizard, Diego Vallespir, and Barbara Kitchenham. 2022. A longitudinal case study on the effects of an evidence-based software engineering training. In the 44nd International Conference on Software Engineering: Software Engineering Education and Training (ICSE-SEET ’22), May 21–29, 2022, Pittsburgh, PA, USA. ACM, New York, NY, USA, 13 pages. https://doi.org/10.1145/3510456.3514150

[1] Kitchenham, B., Budgen, D., & Brereton, P. (2015). Evidence-based software engineering and systematic reviews. CRC Press.