Diagnosis of Teaching Non-Functional Software Requirements and User Experience in Undergraduate Computer Science Courses in Brazil
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.5753/rbie.2025.5435Keywords:
Non-Functional Software Requirements, User Experience, Software Engineering, Human-Computer Interaction, Computer Science Curricula, Computer EducationAbstract
This article presents a diagnosis of the teaching of Non-Functional Requirements (NFRs) and User Experience (UX) in undergraduate Computer Science courses in Brazil. The research considers the 2020 ACM/IEEE curriculum, the 2017 Brazilian Computer Society (SBC) Training References, and the Software Engineering Body of Knowledge (SWEBOK – 3.0) Guide, the main references for Computer Science curricula in Brazil. Pedagogical Course Projects (PPCs), teaching plans, and program contents of 44 courses were analyzed, covering 62 disciplines distributed among 24 institutions, considered the best Brazilian universities in Computer Science according to the 2024 Folha University Ranking (RUF). The results show that NFRs are mainly addressed in Software Engineering disciplines, with a focus on Security, Usability, and Performance. Subtopics such as Emergent Properties, Error Handling, Fault Tolerance and Emergent System Properties are absent. The UX is covered in Human-Computer Interaction courses, addressing Interface Design, Accessibility and Usability Heuristics. Subtopics such as Localization, Internationalization and Software Robustness receive little attention. The predominant workload is 60 hours, adequate for introductory content, but may be insufficient for specialized topics of NFRs and UX from SWEBOK, which are absent in the analyzed curricula. Practical and extension activities carried out by some universities are valuable for applying knowledge. The conformity of curricula related to NFRs and UX, compared to the ACM/IEEE and SBC references, is limited, evidencing a gap to be addressed. The study shows that curricula do not integrate NFRs and UX, restricting a holistic view for the development of robust and user-friendly systems. It is concluded that there are opportunities to improve curricula, recommending an interdisciplinary approach aligned with the ACM/IEEE, SBC and SWEBOK Guide guidelines, strengthening the technical training of students and increasing the quality of the systems developed.
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Copyright (c) 2025 Josué Viana Ferreira, Sandro Ronaldo Bezerra Oliveira, Carlos do Santos Portela
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