An innovative educational approach to ensuring software quality

The teaching team’s project had two objectives: to give students hands-on experience with current issues in software quality and to produce an overview that would be useful to academics and professionals in the field. Rather than limiting themselves to analyzing existing practices, the students were fully involved in an applied research project, ranging from the design of a measurement tool to the analysis and dissemination of results. This approach fostered active learning, centered on collaboration, critical thinking, and an understanding of real-world practices in the field.

The project began with an in-depth analysis of the scientific literature and leading international reports on software development. This phase helped identify the key themes to be investigated: team organization, methodologies, testing practices, automation, documentation, artificial intelligence, security, technologies, and developer experience.

Based on this, a 78-question survey was collaboratively developed through an iterative process during joint sessions involving students and faculty. Particular attention was paid to the clarity of the questions, their relevance, and their alignment with the practices observed within various organizations that presented their approaches as part of the course.

The survey was distributed between April and July 2025 to software development professionals in the Wallonia-Brussels Federation through academic and industry networks. A total of 52 respondents from organizations of various sizes and sectors (SMEs, mid-sized companies, large corporations, and the public sector) participated in the study. Once the survey was completed, the collected data underwent rigorous analysis by researchers at the SNAIL laboratory, combining quantitative and qualitative methods, before being synthesized and contextualized in the final report.

The SNAIL Report 2025 provides a structured overview of software development practices in the Wallonia-Brussels Federation. Among the trends highlighted are:

• widespread adoption of Agile approaches;
• a central role for collaborative tools and code reviews;
• widespread use of testing practices and automation via CI/CD pipelines;
• the growing integration of artificial intelligence into development activities;
• as well as persistent challenges regarding the formalization of practices, documentation, security, and training.

The report also highlights the importance of human and organizational factors in software quality, particularly collaboration, accountability, and team autonomy.

Beyond the results presented, this initiative illustrates the value of an educational approach based on the co-construction of knowledge, the close link between teaching and research, and openness to the professional world.

For the students, the project was a formative experience, allowing them to develop technical, methodological, and analytical skills while gaining an understanding of current challenges in software development. For the University of Namur, it is a concrete example of how pedagogical innovations can be leveraged to support teaching and research missions.