Avaliação da percepção de uso de uma plataforma gamificada sob a perspectiva discente: uma abordagem no estudo da UML

Abstract

Software modeling is considered one of the most important topics in software engineering education. Currently, the Unified Modeling Language (UML) is the most widespread and used software modeling language in the software engineering industry. Although the UML is constantly being improved and studied, many studies show that there is difficulty in teaching and learning the subject, due to the complexity of its concepts and the students' cognitive difficulties with abstraction. Also, students face difficulties in understanding the semantics and syntax of models, as well as structuring the information in these models. In addition, there are difficulties for teachers in finding different pedagogical strategies, in order to teach modeling. In this sense, some researches thus search for new tools, techniques or methodologies that help teachers and motivate students regarding the study of UML. This work proposed the development of a web platform to support the studying of software modeling with the UML, using gamification resources. The platform proposed allowed students to complement their UML knowledge in an environment with game elements. Aiming to investigate the impact of using the developed gamified platform, a case study was carried out to evaluate the user experience and satisfaction from the student perspective. From the results, it can be concluded that the platform obtained great acceptance and satisfaction of use. Most of the students participating in the research were satisfied with the usability of the platform, reporting a feeling of contribution of the tool in the studying of the content, in addition to pointing out the satisfaction of using gamification as a pedagogical strategy. As a result, the platform was effective in terms of engaging and motivating students, being a complement to the traditional teaching method.