Marcelo Marinho

Daniel Rosa, Filipe R. Cordeiro, Ruan Carvalho et al.

Handwritten Mathematical Expression Recognition (HMER) is a challenging task with many educational applications. Recent methods for HMER have been developed for complex mathematical expressions in standard horizontal format. However, solutions for elementary mathematical expression, such as vertical addition and subtraction, have not been explored in the literature. This work proposes a new handwritten elementary mathematical expression dataset composed of addition and subtraction expressions in a vertical format. We also extended the MNIST dataset to generate artificial images with this structure. Furthermore, we proposed a solution for offline HMER, able to recognize vertical addition and subtraction expressions. Our analysis evaluated the object detection algorithms YOLO v7, YOLO v8, YOLO-NAS, NanoDet and FCOS for identifying the mathematical symbols. We also proposed a transcription method to map the bounding boxes from the object detection stage to a mathematical expression in the LATEX markup sequence. Results show that our approach is efficient, achieving a high expression recognition rate. The code and dataset are available at https://github.com/Danielgol/HME-VAS

Guilherme Guerino, Luiz Rodrigues, Luana Bianchini et al.

This study explores the integration of Augmented Intelligence (AuI) in Intelligent Tutoring Systems (ITS) to address challenges in Artificial Intelligence in Education (AIED), including teacher involvement, AI reliability, and resource accessibility. We present MathAIde, an ITS that uses computer vision and AI to correct mathematics exercises from student work photos and provide feedback. The system was designed through a collaborative process involving brainstorming with teachers, high-fidelity prototyping, A/B testing, and a real-world case study. Findings emphasize the importance of a teacher-centered, user-driven approach, where AI suggests remediation alternatives while teachers retain decision-making. Results highlight efficiency, usability, and adoption potential in classroom contexts, particularly in resource-limited environments. The study contributes practical insights into designing ITSs that balanceuser needs and technological feasibility, while advancing AIED research by demonstrating the effectiveness of a mixed-methods, user-centered approach to implementing AuI in educational technologies.

Rafael da Camara, Marcelo Marinho, Suzana Sampaio et al.

The dissipation of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) has already taken on pandemic proportions, affecting over 100 countries in a couple of weeks. The evolution of the disease and its economic impact is highly uncertain, which brings challenges for newly created software companies. Software startups are companies that create innovative software products and services in a dynamic and fast-growing market. Agile Software Methods aims to enable startups in responding to uncertainty caused by Covid-19. This paper investigates the impact of Covid-19 in a real software startup context to understand how they have reacted against uncertainties caused by Covid-19. As a research methodology, action research within Di2Win, a Brazilian software startup, has been applied. The study was carried out throughout six sprints, during the quarantine. Practices employed to mitigate threats while simultaneously allowing teams to remain open to opportunities and challenges are detailed. This paper shares lessons learned that could help agile software startups improve their way of work in an uncertain environment caused by the Covid-19 pandemic.

Luís Felipe Amorim, Marcelo Marinho, Suzana Sampaio

Information technology (IT) organizations are increasing the use of agile practices, which are based on a people-centred culture alongside the software development process. Thus, it is vital to understand the social and human factors of the individuals working in agile environments, such as happiness and unhappiness and how these factors impact this kind of environment. Therefore, five case-studies were developed inside agile projects, in a company that values innovation, aiming to identify how (un)happiness impacts software engineers in agile environments. According to the answers gathered from 67 participants through a survey, interviews and using a cross-analysis, happiness factors identified by agile teams were effective communication, motivated members, collaboration among members, proactive members, and present leaders.

Marcelo Marinho, John Noll, Ita Richardson et al.

Background: Agile methods are no longer restricted to small projects and co-located teams. The last decade has seen the spread of agile into large scale, distributed and regulated domains. Many case studies show successful agile adoption in GSD, however, taken as a whole, it remains unclear how widespread this trend is, and what form the agile adoption takes in a global software development (GSD) setting. Aims: Our objective is to gain a deeper understanding of how organisations adopt agile development methods in distributed settings. Specifically we aim to plot the current development process landscape in GSD. Method: We analyse industrial survey data from 33 different countries collected as part of the project that explored the wider use of hybrid development approaches in software development. We extract and analyse the results of 263 surveys completed by participants involved in globally distributed projects. Results: In our sample, 72 of globally distributed projects implement a mix of both agile and traditional approaches (termed `hybrid'). 25 of GSD organisations are predominantly agile, with only very few (5) opting for traditional approaches. GSD projects that used only agile methods tended to be very large. Conclusions: Globally Distributed Software Development (and project size) is not a barrier to adopting agile practices. Yet, to facilitate project coordination and general project management, many adopt traditional approaches, resulting in a hybrid approach that follows defined rules.

Karina Macedo, Marcelo Marinho, Simone Santos

Software development meets the various challenges of rapidly growing markets. To address such challenges projects to design and adopt specific development approaches. However, various project management approaches do not consider the uncertainties that exist in projects. In this paper, we present findings from a case study in which we explore how to apply the Management Uncertainty Software Project (MUPS) approach. We do so by the empirical investigation at a public organization in Brazil. The objective of this study is to contribute to the body of knowledge regarding the potential benefits of MUSP approach. The conclusions of the empirical study will help both researchers and practitioners to understand better which benefits are already being realized in practice, and how they can best be realized.

Marcelo Marinho, Alexandre Luna, Sarah Beecham

Drivers for globalization are significant where today's organizations look for cheaper and faster ways to develop software as well as ways to satisfy quality and investment requirements imposed by customers, shareholders, and governments. Given these needs, Global Software Development (GSD) has become a "normal" way of doing business. Working in GSD often require teams of different cultures to work together. A poor understanding of cultural differences can create barriers to trust or missed opportunities. The literature on culture in GSD is either outdated or disparate, requiring practitioners to read many papers to get an overview of how to manage multi-cultural teams. In this study, we aim to highlight how to increase cultural awareness within teams, avoid potential conflict and harness differences for improved team spirit. To answer our research question, "How should cultural differences be managed, identified and communicated to a GSD team?", we conducted a systematic literature review of the GSD literature. A synthesis of solutions found in nineteen studies provided 12 distinct practices that organizations can implement, to include, "provide a cultural knowledge base", "understand and make team members aware of cultural differences" and "plan responses to mitigate occurrences of cultural misunderstandings". These implementable cultural practices go some way to providing solutions to managing multi-cultural development teams, and thus to support one of the problem dimensions in GSD and embrace cultural differences.

Marcelo Marinho, Suzana Sampaio, Telma Lima et al.

It is no secret that many projects fail, regardless of the business sector, software projects are notoriously disaster victims, not necessarily because of technological failure, but more often due to their uncertainties. The threats identified by uncertainty in day-to-day of a project are real and immediate and the stakes in a project are often high. This paper presents a systematic review about software project management uncertainties. It helps to identify the difficulties and the actions that can minimize the uncertainties effects in the projects and how managers and teams can prepare themselves for the challenges of their projects scenario, with the aim of contributing to the improvement of project management in organizations as well as contributing to project success.