Software Testing Unleashed - QA, DevEx & Quality Engineering

Teaching Automation Before Test Plans? - Dmitrij Nikolajev


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Engaging Students in Software Testing: From Test Automation to Motivation

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"Ideally, I would love to see one day a full bachelor program on software testing." - Dmitrij Nikolajev

In this episode, I talk with Dmitrij Nikolajev about teaching software testing to the next generation. Dmitrij, who balances roles at InSoft and Vilnius University, shares his approach to making software testing engaging for students. He focuses on practical, hands-on experience, using tools like Postman and Selenium to teach automation and performance testing. Dmitrij redesigned his course to appeal to both new learners and those already in the industry. He leverages real-world examples to highlight the importance of testing, encouraging students to understand the consequences of failures. We also talk about the role of AI tools like ChatGPT in the learning process and their impact on student progress.

Dmitrij Nikolajev has built his career in test automation, requirements engineering, and IT project management, with a proven track record in designing and managing mission-critical IT systems. Dmitrij serves as Head of Business Unit at Insoft, where he focuses on developing the professional skills of testing teams, ensuring the success of testing activities, and driving the delivery of high-quality IT services and solutions. In parallel, Dmitrij is a Testing Lecturer at Vilnius University (Lithuania), where he bridges academic knowledge with practical experience by researching and teaching software testing to computer science students and preparing them for careers in the IT industry.

Highlights:

  • Introducing test automation and performance testing before test plans keeps students engaged because they experience what testing does before learning what it is called.
  • Students using AI tools like ChatGPT to write automation code is not a problem to block but a skill to develop: the course responds by raising exercise complexity to match the faster pace.
  • Codeless test tools are not truly codeless, because complex scenarios still require custom code, which means knowing how to write and evaluate code remains a core skill for testers.
  • Graduated difficulty in lab exercises, where early tasks are easy enough to score points immediately, builds motivation that carries students through harder stages later in the course.
  • Assigning students to research real software failures and present them to classmates, rather than to the lecturer, creates healthy peer competition and makes the cost of poor quality concrete.
  • ...more
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    Software Testing Unleashed - QA, DevEx & Quality EngineeringBy Richard Seidl | Software Development & Testing Expert