Transforming Interviews into Experiences: The Power of Immersive Role Playing in Requirements Engineering Education
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.5753/jserd.2025.5781Keywords:
Social and professional topics, Professional topics, Computing education, Computing education programs, Software Engineering educationAbstract
Developing the necessary skills in Software Engineering students to conduct effective requirements elicitation interviews is a complex challenge. Immersive role playing has emerged as a promising educational strategy, enabling students to simulate realistic interviews, receive real-time feedback, and improve their performance under pressure. This approach blends traditional role playing with immersive learning environments, providing engaging and authentic experiences that better prepare students for industry demands. This article presents an experience report on the use of an immersive role playing to teach the interview technique for requirements elicitation. Conducted with 86 undergraduate students enrolled in a Requirements Engineering course, the study offers a broader perspective on the effectiveness and challenges of this approach. The findings suggest that immersive activities foster reflection, help identify areas for improvement, and emphasize the importance of emotional regulation in real-world interactions. These insights reinforce that mastering Requirements Engineering requires not only technical proficiency, but also strong interpersonal and emotional skills.
Downloads
References
Alnagrat, A., Ismail, R. C., and Zulkarnain, S. I. S. (2022). A review of extended reality (xr) technologies in the future of human education: Current trend and future opportunity. Journal of Human Reproductive Sciences, 1:81–96.
Andersson, N. and Andersson, P. H. (2010). Teaching professional engineering skills: Industry participation in realistic role-play simulation. In Proceedings of the 6th International CDIO Conference: Making Change Last – Sustaining and Globalizing Engineering Educational Reform, Montréal, Canada. École Polytechnique.
Anzai, Y. and Simon, H. A. (1979). The theory of learning by doing. Psychological Review, 86:124–139.
Bano, M., Zowghi, D., Ferrari, A., Spoletini, P., and Donati, B. (2019). Teaching requirements elicitation interviews: An empirical study of learning from mistakes. Requirements Engineering, 24:259–289.
Castro, L. M. (2023). Role-playing software architecture styles. In 2023 IEEE 20th International Conference on Software Architecture Companion (ICSA-C), pages 171–174. IEEE.
Cavalcante, V., Costa, C., Sarkis, L., Soares, D., and Freitas, S. (2023). Contributions of an extension course focused on good software engineering practices for students and it professionals. In Anais do XXII Simpósio Brasileiro de Qualidade de Software, pages 301–310. SBC.
Daun, M., Grubb, A. M., Stenkova, V., and Tenbergen, B. (2023). The field of requirements engineering education. In Proceedings of the 2023 IEEE 35th International Conference on Software Engineering Education and Training (CSEE&T), page 119, Tokyo, Japan. IEEE.
Daun, M., Grubb, A. M., and Tenbergen, B. (2021). A survey of instructional approaches in the requirements engineering education literature. In 2021 IEEE 29th International Requirements Engineering Conference (RE), pages 257–268. IEEE.
Davis, A. M., Óscar Dieste, Hickey, A. M., Juristo, N., and Moreno, A. M. (2006). Effectiveness of requirements elicitation techniques: Empirical results derived from a systematic review. In Proceedings of the 14th IEEE International Requirements Engineering Conference (RE 2006), pages 176–185, Minneapolis/St. Paul, MN, USA. IEEE.
Dengel, A. (2022). What is immersive learning? In Proceedings of the 8th International Conference of the Immersive Learning Research Network (iLRN 2022), pages 1–5, Vienna, Austria. IEEE.
Dewey, J. (1986). Experience and education. The Educational Forum, 50:241–252.
Fernandes, F., Castro, D., Rodrigues, C., and Werner, C. (2022). Development of the software engineering education virtual classroom prototype: An experience report. In WEI, pages 85–96.
Fernández, D. M., Wagner, S., Kalinowski, M., et al. (2017). Naming the pain in requirements engineering. Empirical Software Engineering, 22:2298–2338.
Ferrari, A., Spoletini, P., Bano, M., and Zowghi, D. (2019). Learning requirements elicitation interviews with role-playing, self-assessment, and peer-review. In 2019 IEEE 27th International Requirements Engineering Conference (RE), pages 28–39. IEEE.
Ferrari, A., Spoletini, P., Bano, M., and Zowghi, D. (2020). Role-playing and role reversal. Requirements Engineering, 25:417–438.
Görer, B. and Aydemir, F. B. (2024). Exploring the reit architecture for requirements elicitation interview training with robotic and virtual tutors. Journal of Systems and Software, 212:112018.
Hadar, I., Soffer, P., and Kenzi, K. (2014). The role of domain knowledge in requirements elicitation via interviews: An exploratory study. Requirements Engineering, 19:143–159.
Khlaif, Z., Mousa, A., and Sanmugam, M. A. L. (2024). Immersive extended reality (xr) technology in engineering education: Opportunities and challenges. Technology, Knowledge and Learning, pages 1–24.
Krusche, S., von Frankenberg, N., Reimer, L. M., and Bruegge, B. (2020). An interactive learning method to engage students in modeling. In ICSE-SEET, pages 12–22. ACM.
Mims, C. (2003). Authentic learning: A practical introduction & guide for implementation. Meridian: A Middle School Computer Technologies Journal, 6(1):Article 6.
Montenegro, C. H., Astudillo, H., and Gomez, M. C. (2017). Atam-rpg: A role-playing game to teach architecture tradeoff analysis method (atam). In 2017 XLIII Latin American Computer Conference (CLEI), pages 1–9. IEEE.
Morávanszky, A. (2023). An investigation of requirements engineering teaching in higher education in switzerland. In 2023 IEEE 31st International Requirements Engineering Conference (RE), pages 371–375.
Mystakidis, S. and Lympouridis, V. (2023). Immersive learning. Encyclopedia, 3:396–405.
Nakamura, T., Kai, U., and Tachikawa, Y. (2014). Requirements engineering education using expert system and role-play training. In 2014 IEEE International Conference on Teaching, Assessment and Learning for Engineering (TALE), pages 375–382. IEEE.
Otemaier, K., Albuquerque, R., Diniz, R., Reinehr, S., and Malucelli, A. (2024). Immersive role-playing: An experience report on a promising approach to learning requirements elicitation. In Proceedings of the ACM Conference, pages 586–595.
Ouhbi, S. and Pombo, N. (2020). Software engineering education: Challenges and perspectives. In 2020 IEEE Global Engineering Education Conference (EDUCON), pages 202–209. IEEE.
Preece, J., Sharp, H., and Rogers, Y. (2015). Interaction Design: Beyond Human–Computer Interaction. John Wiley & Sons, Hoboken, NJ, USA, 4 edition.
Quaye, S. J., Harper, S. R., and Pendakur, S. L., editors (2019). Student Engagement in Higher Education: Theoretical Perspectives and Practical Approaches for Diverse Populations. Routledge, New York, NY, USA, 3 edition.
Rusu, A. A., Russell, R., and Cocco, R. (2011). Simulating the software engineering interview process using a decision-based serious computer game. In 16th International Conference on Computer Games (CGAMES), pages 235–239. IEEE.
Sakuma, H., Takahashi, H., Ogawa, K., and Ishiguro, H. (2023). Immersive role-playing with avatars leads to adoption of others’ personalities. Frontiers in Virtual Reality, 4:1025526.
Tachikawa, Y. and Nakamura, T. (2017). Education for requirements elicitation using group-work and role-play. In 2017 IEEE Global Engineering Education Conference (EDUCON), pages 780–783. IEEE.
Zowghi, D. and Paryani, S. (2003). Teaching requirements engineering through role playing: Lessons learnt. In 11th IEEE International Requirements Engineering Conference, pages 233–241. IEEE.
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2025 Rafaela Otemaier, Regina Albuquerque, Rodolfo Diniz, Sheila Reinehr, Andreia Malucelli
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
