Practice and Transfer of Learning in the Teaching of Software Testing

Many university classes and commercial training courses rely on classroom lecture and practice exercises to help students learn new skills. The thesis work described in this paper sought to create an optimal set of lecture notes and practice exercises to teach a software testing technique, domain testing. The new materials were successful at teaching students to consistently and meticulously execute the procedures they learned. To the surprise of the authors, the students were unable to apply their new skills to a more applied task that was similar to those practiced. The results of this study provide a striking example of the limitations inherent in traditional instruction. They motivated Kaner to reconceptualize his instructional practices toward helping students deepen their appreciation of the complex cognitive tasks of the craft rather than procedurally-focused practice of new skills.