Teaching Practically Relevant Research Problem Formulation in Software Engineering with Lean Research Inception
A new academic framework helps 60 software engineering students bridge the industry-academia gap with structured problem formulation.
A team of Brazilian researchers, including Anrafel Fernandes Pereira, Tatiane Ornelas, Allysson Allex Araujo, and Marcos Kalinowski, has published a paper on arXiv detailing a new educational framework called Lean Research Inception (LRI). The method is designed to address a critical gap in software engineering (SE) education: teaching students how to formulate research problems that are relevant to industry practice. The paper, submitted in March 2026, presents a case study conducted with 60 graduate students and 7 faculty advisors at a Brazilian university, demonstrating the framework's practical application and measurable benefits.
The results from the case study are promising. Students reported significant benefits across multiple dimensions: 60% saw improvements in their reasoning process, 61.7% gained better clarity and definition in their problem statements, 60% improved contextualization of their research, and 50% enhanced their communication skills. Faculty advisors observed clearer and more structured research problems from 57.1% of the students, and a strong majority (85.7%) would recommend the LRI approach to colleagues. The framework adapts principles from agile and lean methodologies, providing a structured, workshop-style process to guide students from identifying a broad area of interest to defining a specific, actionable, and practice-aligned research question.
This work is significant because it tackles the perennial 'relevance crisis' in software engineering research, where academic studies often fail to address the pressing problems faced by developers in industry. By providing a teachable, repeatable process for problem formulation, LRI equips the next generation of SE researchers with the tools to ensure their work has tangible impact. The high recommendation rate from advisors suggests the method is not only effective but also practical to implement within existing academic programs.
- The Lean Research Inception (LRI) framework was tested with 60 SE students, with over 60% reporting improved problem clarity and contextualization.
- Faculty advisors observed clearer problems from 57.1% of students and gave the method an 85.7% recommendation rate.
- The method provides a structured process to bridge the industry-academia gap by formulating research problems aligned with real-world software engineering practice.
Why It Matters
It provides a scalable method to train researchers who can produce software engineering work that actually matters to the industry.