Content and Skills for Teaching BPM in Computer Science Courses: A

Systematic Mapping Study

Matheus Ribeiro Brant Nobre

and J

essyka Vilela

Centro de Inform

atica, Universidade Federal de Pernambuco (UFPE),

Av. Jornalista An

ıbal Fernandes, s/n – Cidade Universit

aria, Recife-PE, Brazil

Keywords:

BPM, Teaching, Systematic Mapping Study, SBC, CBOK, Computer Science Courses.

Abstract:

The increasing demand for professionals in Business Process Management (BPM) highlights the need to align

technical skills developed in education with market requirements, revealing a gap that requires investigat-

ing the essential content and skills for BPM education. This work aims to understand the content and skills

addressed in BPM education, contributing substantially to understanding the current academic landscape of

BPM. We conducted a systematic literature review to investigate the state of the art regarding BPM educa-

tion. We also compared the content of the curriculum guidelines of the Brazilian Computing Society (SBC)

and Business Process Management Common Body of Knowledge (BPM CBOK). In addition to providing a

critical analysis of trends and gaps in the literature, this work offers insights that can be applied to enhance

education in the ﬁeld of BPM. The expectation is that the results obtained can inform the better training of

professionals, aligning them effectively with the dynamic and speciﬁc market needs in terms of efﬁcient BPM,

thus promoting integration between theory and practice in the academic and professional context.

1 INTRODUCTION

The teaching of Business Process Management

(BPM), a concept solidiﬁed by the global trend of

process-based management, encounters challenges in

ensuring requisite content and skills within profes-

sional training. This complexity arises as BPM

extends beyond supportive tools, encompassing the

integration of knowledge and practical application

(Moormann and Bandara, 2012). The intricate nature

of processes, exempliﬁed by events, activities, deci-

sion points, and multiple actors, underscores BPM’s

dynamic interaction with organizational elements and

outcomes (Dumas et al., 2012).

Despite BPM’s maturity as a discipline, persis-

tent challenges, such as the misalignment between

education and anticipated job market skills, accen-

tuate the necessity of aligning educational curricula

with BPM professional requirements (Delavari et al.,

2010). These gaps have repercussions for educational

institutions and individuals, punctuating the signiﬁ-

cance of overcoming obstacles in deﬁning curricula

and implementing programs aligned with practical re-

alities.

https://orcid.org/0009-0000-0471-9280

https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5541-5188

As market demands evolve, it becomes impera-

tive to identify speciﬁc content for dissemination and

delineate the essential skills professionals must culti-

vate to apply BPM in real-world scenarios effectively.

Moreover, this study’s motivation extends to explor-

ing innovative and adaptable teaching methods capa-

ble of integrating technological transformations that

continue to shape BPM education.

Curriculum guidelines are crucial in developing

Pedagogical Projects for Courses within Higher Ed-

ucation Institutions (Colares, Furtado, and Oliveira,

2023). Within this educational framework, organiza-

tions like the Association for Computing Machinery

(ACM), the Institute of Electrical and Electronics En-

gineers (IEEE), and the Brazilian Computing Society

(SBC) are prominent for offering curriculum guide-

lines for courses in the computing domain (Colares,

Furtado, and Oliveira, 2023). Furthermore, it’s vi-

tal to incorporate the best practices outlined in the

BPM CBOK (Business Process Management Com-

mon Body of Knowledge).

The absence of consensus in deﬁning a standard-

ized BPM curriculum for educational institutions and

the challenges in aligning programs with industry dy-

namics emerge as critical issues in this study. This

gap has signiﬁcant implications for educational in-

Nobre, M. and Vilela, J.

Content and Skills for Teaching BPM in Computer Science Courses: A Systematic Mapping Study.

DOI: 10.5220/0012629500003693

Paper published under CC license (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0)

In Proceedings of the 16th International Conference on Computer Supported Education (CSEDU 2024) - Volume 2, pages 373-384

ISBN: 978-989-758-697-2; ISSN: 2184-5026

373

stitutions and students seeking a foundational under-

standing of BPM capabilities, emphasizing the in-

evitability of a thorough investigation.

Motivated by this context, the following research

questions guide this work:

RQ1: How has Business Process Management

(BPM) been taught? We conducted a Systematic

Mapping Study (SMS) to understand the content, de-

veloped skills, teaching methods, technological sup-

port, and challenges faced in the training process.

RQ2: How do current BPM (Business Process

Management) educational programs align with the

curricular guidelines provided by the SBC and the

BPM CBOK in computing courses?” To answer this

question, we compared the content of the curriculum

guidelines of SBC and BPM CBOK.

Therefore, the study contributes to a compre-

hensive understanding of the BPM education land-

scape by gathering different perspectives on the topic

and comparing them with the curricular guidelines

of institutions that regulate BPM education in com-

puting courses, Brazilian Computing Society (SBC)

and Business Process Management Common Body of

Knowledge Guide (BPM CBOK), respectively.

To report this research, this paper is organized into

ﬁve Sections. In Section 2, we discuss background

and related works. Section 3 details the research

methodology. In Section 4, we provide answers to the

research questions. Finally, in Section 5, we present

conclusions and future work.

2 BACKGROUND

This Section provides critical perspectives on the

landscape of BPM education. We will discuss the

need for sophisticated methods to navigate intricate

business processes, emphasizing the strategic impor-

tance of BPM. We will analyze existing literature re-

views on the subject, identifying critical facets such

as guidelines for successful teaching and the growing

demand for competent BPM professionals.

This highlights the relevance of a more compre-

hensive Systematic Mapping Study (SMS), consider-

ing the different gaps identiﬁed in the studies con-

ducted so far and their alignment with the curricular

guidelines for BPM education. Finally, we will exam-

ine some teaching methodologies that categorize ap-

proaches, emphasizing the evolving roles of students

and the integration of Bloom’s taxonomy for more re-

ﬁned learning objectives in BPM education.

2.1 Business Process Management

(BPM)

Contemporary BPM is dealing with a dynamic and

challenging environment due to factors like global-

ization, technological innovation, and the information

explosion (Pasha, 2013). As business processes vary

in complexity, with some being knowledge-intensive

and deeply integrated into organizational practices,

BPM becomes a competitive tool in modern busi-

ness. This emphasizes the need for structured meth-

ods and technologies to manage multi-functional pro-

cesses continuously. Van Der Aalst (2012) adds to

this understanding, deﬁning BPM as the discipline

that combines knowledge of information technology

and management sciences applied to operational busi-

ness processes. The holistic view of BPM aims to im-

prove these processes, often using modeling and sim-

ulation for optimization.

2.2 BPM CBOK

The Business Process Management Common Body of

Knowledge Guide (BPM CBOK)

was developed by

ABPMP International to provide an overview of best

practices in the BPM market. It deﬁnes four knowl-

edge areas: Business Process Management, Process

Management Organization, Enterprise Process Man-

agement, and Business Process Management Tech-

nologies.

The BPM knowledge area is divided into ﬁve sub-

areas: Process Modeling, Process Analysis, Process

Design, Process Performance Management, and Pro-

cess Transformation.

2.3 SBC Computing Training Reference

The Brazilian Computing Society (SBC)

is a non-

proﬁt organization that brings together professionals

and enthusiasts in the ﬁeld of Computing and Infor-

matics in Brazil. It promotes access to information

culture and encourages research and education.

The SBC guides computer education, inﬂuencing

the National Curricular Guidelines (NCGs) (Zorzo et

al., 2017). To provide this guidance, its internal com-

mittees are responsible for the preparation and ap-

proval of the ”References for Training in Comput-

ing” (RF), which are required to adhere to the NCGs

and employ a competency-based model(Zorzo et al.,

2017).

The RF framework is segmented into three princi-

pal components (Zorzo et al., 2017): Training Axis,

https://www.abpmp.org/page/guide BPM CBOK

https://www.sbc.org.br/

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374

Derived Competencies, and Speciﬁc Content. The

Training Axis encompasses a collection of skills per-

tinent to a particular ﬁeld of knowledge. Derived

Competencies are skills that emerge from the Train-

ing Axis, offering more granular and detailed insights.

Lastly, Speciﬁc Content pertains to the distinct mate-

rials associated with the competencies and the Train-

ing Axis. This content is structured to enable learn-

ers to grasp the requisite knowledge and skills essen-

tial for cultivating the competencies demanded by the

Training Axis (Zorzo et al., 2017).

2.4 Related Works

Following an exploratory study on BPM education,

a dearth of other SMS on teaching BPM became ap-

parent. Four literature reviews were identiﬁed, each

addressing speciﬁc facets. In the initial study by Mar-

janovic and Bandara (2011), guidelines for BPM suc-

cess were scrutinized, emphasizing the imperative for

qualiﬁed professionals. The persistent issue of inad-

equate BPM education was underscored, highlighting

the urgency of a higher education approach, particu-

larly integrating BPM courses into computer science

undergraduate curricula.

In the second study, Bandara et al. (2013) delved

into the intricacies of BPM initiatives, spotlighting

the emergence of new roles and tasks. The global

demand for qualiﬁed professionals spurred increased

BPM courses offered by educational institutions. The

third study, conducted by Silva and Thom (2021), re-

inforced the heightened pursuit of skilled profession-

als across all phases of the BPM lifecycle.

Delavari et al.’s (2010) study centered on the dis-

parity between BPM education in Australia and the

skills demanded by the industry, shedding light on

challenges such as the absence of consensus on BPM

implications. Comparing these studies with the objec-

tives of this SMS mentioned in the previous Section, it

becomes evident that there are distinct emphases and

contributions.

2.5 Teaching Methodology

The study conducted by Brighenti et al. (2015)

classiﬁes teaching methodologies into collective,

group, individualized, and socialized-individualized

approaches. Collective methods deliver instruction

to groups, emphasizing shared learning experiences,

while group methods prioritize student interaction.

Individualized methods tailor instruction to meet the

speciﬁc needs of each student, and the socialized-

individualized approach combines both group and in-

dividual work (Brighenti et al., 2015).

Diesel et al. (2017) pinpoint intersections between

active teaching methodologies and educational prac-

tices. The text underscores the increasing prevalence

of active methodologies in international universities,

highlighting their integration into Brazilian institu-

tions. The paper emphasizes the transformation in the

role of students in BPM education, with a particular

focus on active methodologies.

In BPM education, the work of Pasha (2013) em-

ploys Bloom’s taxonomy to articulate learning ob-

jectives, categorizing them within the cognitive do-

main across six main areas: Knowledge, Comprehen-

sion, Application, Analysis, Synthesis, and Evalua-

tion. The revised taxonomy structure encompasses

Factual, Conceptual, Procedural, and Metacognitive

Knowledge.

3 METHOD

We selected an exploratory research approach similar

to the work of Luz et al. (2022) because our objective

is to uncover the methods, teaching practices, mate-

rials utilized, and other pedagogical mechanisms that

could enhance the teaching of BPM.

The methodology adopted in this paper comprises

two steps. First, we conducted a Systematic Map-

ping Study (SMS) following Kitchenham and Char-

ters (2007) guidelines to answer RQ1. Secondly,

we performed a content analysis of SBC and BPM

CBOK documents to answer RQ2.

3.1 Systematic Mapping Study

Kitchenham and Charters (2007) deﬁne a Systematic

Mapping Study (SMS) as a comprehensive system

for acquiring information that describes, compares, or

elucidates knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors, often

presented in questionnaire format. The authors em-

phasize that SMS is a method to identify, assess and

interpret all relevant available research for a research

question, aiming to provide an accurate assessment

through a reliable methodology.

This SMS aims to identify the essential content

and skills for promoting BPM education, seeking a

comprehensive understanding of how BPM concepts

are taught. To address this, Speciﬁc Research Ques-

tions (SRQs) have been formulated to guide the syn-

thesis of results, which are presented in Table 1.

Content and Skills for Teaching BPM in Computer Science Courses: A Systematic Mapping Study

375

Table 1: Speciﬁc Research Questions.

Identiﬁer Research Sub-question

SRQ1 What is the main content covered in BPM education?

SRQ2 What are the key skills developed in BPM education?

SRQ3 What are the teaching methods for conveying BPM

knowledge?

SRQ4 How do technologies support BPM education?

SRQ5 What are the main challenges in the training of BPM

professionals?

3.1.1 Search Strategy

We chose research sources based on their relevance

to Software Engineering. Thus, the SMS was initially

conducted across four research sources: ACM Digital

Library, IEEEXplore, ScienceDirect, and Scopus. To

identify papers through an automated search, we used

the following search string:

(BPM OR ”Business Process Management”)

AND (Education OR Teaching OR Learning OR

Training)

We tested various combinations of terms and syn-

onyms to determine the search string used. We opted

for the terms ”BPM” and ”Business Process Man-

agement” as they are commonly utilized in this area.

We selected synonymous terms such as ”Education”,

”Teaching”, ”Learning”, and ”Training” because nu-

merous papers not only addressed the teaching of

BPM but also explored BPM techniques used to opti-

mize the teaching process.

We restricted the search to publications from 2013

to 2023, to focus the analysis on a relevant time-

frame for developing the research topic, consider-

ing changes, advancements, or signiﬁcant events over

time in the area of interest for this study.

3.1.2 Selection Criteria

We used the inclusion and exclusion criteria in Table

2 to select the studies.

Table 2: Inclusion and Exclusion Criteria.

Identiﬁer Inclusion criteria

CI1 Papers related to the theme and research questions.

CI2 Papers within the chosen research period (2013 to 2023).

CI3 Papers referencing versions 3 or 4 of the BPM CBOK.

Identiﬁer Exclusion criteria

CE1 Papers outside the chosen research period (2013 to

2023).

CE2 Secondary papers (other SLR or SMS).

CE3 Papers with fewer than four pages.

CE4 Duplicate or similar papers.

CE5 Papers not written in English.

The search selection process occurred in three

steps. Step 1: read titles, abstracts, and keywords.

Step 2: Read the introduction and conclusion. Step 3:

the selected studies were thoroughly read, excluding

papers irrelevant to the research questions.

3.1.3 Quality Assessment

To analyze the quality of the selected articles, we clas-

siﬁed the studies according to the following quality

criteria already used by the literature (Dermeval et

al., 2016): ”Clear Context”, ”Well-Deﬁned Method-

ology”, ”Related Work”, ”Relevant and Consistent

Discussion”, and ”Commented Research Limitations

and Threats.”

The quality criteria were scored based on the fol-

lowing values: a score of 0 would be assigned if the

article did not meet the criterion, 0.5 would be granted

if the article partially met the criterion, and a score of

1.0 would be assigned if the article fully met the crite-

rion. Thus, the maximum possible score for the total

article evaluation would be 5.0. We adopted a mini-

mum score of 60%; hence, articles scoring below 3.0

would be excluded from the review process.

3.1.4 Data Collection and Replicability

A data collection form was developed for the se-

lected articles.Variables included details such as ”Ti-

tle”, ”Authors” and ”Year of Publication”. Quality

criteria were incorporated to facilitate result synthe-

sis, with colors indicating approval or disapproval. A

repository was established to present the spreadsheet

and the ﬁnal list of articles, including links for replica-

tion, available in this link in line with scientiﬁc rigor

and data sharing standards (DAFOE, 2014).

3.2 Document Analysis

To answer RQ2, we compared the SMS results with

the national curriculum guidelines outlined in the

Reference Framework for Undergraduate Computing

Courses of 2017 (the most current reference curricu-

lum available on the ofﬁcial SBC website) developed

by SBC and the Essential BPM Curriculum deﬁned in

CBOK 4.0.

4 RESULTS

This section presents the results of our research ques-

tions. Each aspect is examined individually, provid-

ing a thorough understanding of the ﬁndings and con-

solidating the contributions of the selected studies to

the research area.

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4.1 RQ1: How Has Business Process

Management (BPM) Been Taught?

First, we provide an overview of the selected studies,

including insights into the data collection process, se-

lection criteria, quality analysis, and data synthesis.

The next subsections answer the research questions

of our SMS listed in Table 1.

4.1.1 Studies Overview

The selected research sources returned the following

outcomes: ACM DL yielded 67 results, IEEEXplore

contributed 178 results, ScienceDirect generated 203

results, and Scopus, the most comprehensive source,

returned 1226 results. This amounted to a total of

1674 initially identiﬁed articles.

After applying inclusion and exclusion criteria,

we conducted an initial ﬁlter on titles and abstracts

according to Table 3, resulting in the selection of 32

articles, comprising three from ACM DL, ﬁve from

IEEEXplore, two from ScienceDirect, and 22 from

Scopus. For some inconclusive publications, a sec-

ond ﬁlter was applied to introductions and conclu-

sions, maintaining the same criteria and including

three more articles from Scopus. In total, 35 articles

were selected.

Table 3: Collection Process Evolution.

Source Initial Filter 1 Filter 2 Filter 3 Final

ACM DL 67 3 0 3 1

IEEEXplore 178 5 0 5 5

ScienceDirect 203 2 0 2 1

Scopus 1226 22 3 25 14

We proceeded with the application of the quality

criteria as a third ﬁlter. This process resulted in the

ﬁnal qualiﬁcation of 21 papers for our research, dis-

tributed as follows: 1 paper from ACM DL, 5 from

IEEEXplore, 1 from ScienceDirect, and 14 from Sco-

pus. Table 11 (Appendix) contains the ﬁnal list of

selected papers.

Figure 1 illustrates the scores resulting from the

quality analysis applied to the ﬁnal articles selected

in this study. Most articles (15) received scores rang-

ing from 3.5 to 4.5 points, indicating substantial qual-

ity. Additionally, three articles (A7, A15, and A18)

reached the minimum score of 3 points required for

qualiﬁcation. In comparison, only two articles (A8,

A14) achieved the maximum score of 5 points.

Figure 2 demonstrates a progressive increase in

the number of articles from 2013, going from a single

article to four articles in 2015, with the majority of

articles qualiﬁed for this research totaling four. Sub-

sequently, there was a decrease until 2017, followed

Figure 1: Articles x Quality Assessment Score.

Figure 2: Articles x Year of Publication.

by a stabilization at two articles per year from 2019.

Figure 3 depicts the analysis of the geographi-

cal distribution of the selected articles. Each time a

country of origin was identiﬁed for a particular au-

thor during the data collection, their contribution was

recorded. It is essential to highlight that some of the

analyzed studies resulted from collaborations among

researchers from different countries, and the national-

ity of each author was considered individually to gen-

erate this ﬁgure.

This analysis reveals that the predominant aca-

demic contributions to BPM teaching originate from

European countries. Among these, seven authors who

conducted the studies are from Germany, followed

by three from France. Researchers from Switzerland,

Figure 3: Articles x Country of Origin.

Content and Skills for Teaching BPM in Computer Science Courses: A Systematic Mapping Study

377

Denmark, Spain, Austria, and Italy contributed to dif-

ferent studies.

It is important to highlight that three researchers

from the United States authored some of the selected

articles, while two are from South Africa, one from

Libya, and another two from Australia. Three Asian

authors were identiﬁed, one from China, Singapore

and Vietnam. Only one Latin American author was

accounted for among the qualiﬁed articles from Peru.

The curriculum for BPM education encompasses

different dimensions, each associated with distinctive

tasks to provide a practical and in-depth understand-

ing of BPM principles. We formulated ﬁve speciﬁc

research questions described in Table 1 to identify the

necessary contents and competencies for promoting

BPM education.

4.1.2 SRQ1: What Is the Main Content Covered

in BPM Education?

The SMS unveiled a variety of content covered in the

teaching of BPM. It is important to emphasize that

the codes for the articles mentioned in the following

Sections are described in the ”Identiﬁer” column of

Table 4. Among the 20 articles directly addressing

this speciﬁc research question, we identiﬁed ﬁve main

contents covered in BPM education, as indicated in

Table 4.

Table 4: Main contents covered in teaching BPM.

Identiﬁer Content Citations Total

CO1 Introduction to BPM A1, A2, A3,

A10, A14

CO2 Business Process Modeling A5, A12,

A13, A16,

A20

CO3 Business Processes in Tech-

nologies

A4, A15,

A18

CO4 Performance in Business Pro-

cesses

A9, A17,

A19

CO5 Interdisciplinarity of BPM A6, A21 2

The Introduction to BPM (CO1) primarily covers

traditional teaching content, focusing on the business

process life cycle (A1, A2, A3). A10 explores Se-

rious Games (SG), introducing the Paper Game as a

structured method. A14 suggests integrating BPM

into university curricula using the Paper Game, ac-

celerating learning.

In Business Process Modeling (CO2), A16 dis-

cusses content and pedagogy, introducing analytics

in modeling courses. A20 proposes dramatization for

business processes and ERP system learning. A5 em-

phasizes IBM’s INNOV8 for process modeling. A12

and A13 present a board game to motivate students to

learn modeling interactively.

For Business Processes in Technologies (CO3),

A15 explores Digital Game-Based Learning in Infor-

mation Systems, while A4 introduces Social BPM.

A18 focuses on teaching execution and process

knowledge through e-learning.

Concerning Performance in Business Processes

(CO4), A9 introduces a university course empower-

ing information systems students. A17 evaluates the

impact of feedback on simulation games, like IN-

NOV8, while A19 analyzes real-time feedback with

INNOV8.

Regarding Interdisciplinarity in BPM (CO5), A6

highlights the challenge of varied focuses in different

schools. A21 introduces teaching cases to develop a

holistic view of processes.

These articles contribute to a diverse understand-

ing of BPM education, emphasizing various pedagog-

ical approaches and tools for effective learning.

4.1.3 SRQ2: What Are the Key Skills Developed

in BPM Education?

BPM teaching encompasses various fundamental

competencies for students’ education and profes-

sional training. Among the 20 articles addressing this

research question, we identiﬁed six key competencies

developed in BPM education, as outlined in Table 5.

Table 5: Main skills developed in teaching BPM.

Identiﬁer Skills Citations Total

SK1 Model, analyze, design and

implement business processes

A3, A21,

A10, A12,

A13

SK2 Work with BPM support tools A1, A11,

A16

SK3 Develop interpersonal skills A4, A6,

A18

SK4 Develop interdisciplinary

skills

A5, A7,

A14

SK5 Manage a business process A19, A20 2

SK6 Close observation of processes

in organizations

A19, A20 2

Regarding SK1, article A3 focuses on the BPM

project lifecycle, providing a comprehensive under-

standing of identiﬁcation and process monitoring.

A21 presents a case study aimed at developing pro-

cess modeling skills for undergraduates, postgradu-

ates, and professionals enrolling students in a univer-

sity.

A10 underscores the effectiveness of the Paper

Game, a simulation game, in enhancing practical un-

derstanding of business processes. A12 introduces the

BPMN Wheel game, emphasizing its versatility. A13

describes the same game as a simulation with learning

and modeling phases, teaching theoretical fundamen-

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378

tals applied to business process modeling.

Moving to BPM support tools (SK2), A1 high-

lights hands-on practice using Signavio Academic for

practical exercises, contributing to advanced skills de-

velopment. A16 mentions Signavio Process Editor

for learning process modeling and solution design.

A11 introduces Model Judge, a web platform aiding

students in process modeling and instructors in agile

exercise creation.

Concerning interpersonal skills (SK3), A6 high-

lights the diversity of skills required for Business Pro-

cess Analysts (BPA). A18 explores situated learning

in BPM logic, suggesting its potential effectiveness.

A4 describes using social software and the Horus tool

in labs focusing on process modeling.

For interdisciplinary skills (SK4), A7 emphasizes

gaps in BPM training, stressing the importance of

interdisciplinary education. A5 discusses using IN-

NOV8, adopting a multidisciplinary approach with a

3D experience for teaching BPM.

Managing a business process (SK5) is discussed

in A20, where group dramatization is employed to en-

gage students in learning key steps, functional areas,

and process management. A19 explores students’ per-

ception of simulation games, highlighting the applica-

tion of prior knowledge to solve process management

problems.

Close observation of processes in organizations

(SK6) is covered in the university course ”BPM and

Organizational Practice” (A9), aiming to shape reﬂec-

tive process professionals. A15 discusses the study of

INNOV8, demonstrating its potential to increase in-

trinsic motivation among students in the course.

BPM education integrates theoretical and practi-

cal competencies, utilizing tools, labs, and serious

games. Interpersonal skills and understanding of the

organizational context are emphasized to prepare stu-

dents for practical challenges in BPM.

4.1.4 SRQ3: What Are the Teaching Methods

for Conveying BPM Knowledge?

The teaching and assessment of BPM knowledge

can employ various methods tailored to the student’s

needs. Nineteen articles directly address this issue,

and to deﬁne the teaching methods, we rely on the

classiﬁcation by Brighenti et al. (2015) as their cat-

egorization enables the analysis of results in studies

ensuring the transmission of BPM knowledge, as in-

dicated in Table 6.

Table 6: BPM teaching methods.

Identiﬁer Method Citations Total

MT1 Socialized-individualizing

teaching method

A4, A5,

A12, A13,

A15, A17,

A18

MT2 Group teaching method A1, A10,

A14, A19,

A20

MT3 Collective teaching method A7, A9,

A16

MT4 Individualized teaching

method

A2, A3 2

The text outlines various innovative approaches in

BPM education. In MT1, A18 advocates for prac-

tical methods with hands-on tasks, utilizing pre and

post-tests in both e-learning and in-person settings.

A4 introduces the Horus Method in a BPM Social

Lab, while A5 enhances learning with simulated chal-

lenges using INNOV8. A15 incorporates INNOV8 to-

ward the end of the BPM course. A12 tests the BPMN

Wheel game, showing improvements in model qual-

ity.

MT2 highlights a dramatization exercise (A20)

that signiﬁcantly increases students’ knowledge. In

A1, a gamiﬁed approach is explored, with A10 em-

phasizing the early use of the Paper Game and A14

assessing understanding with pre and post-tests. A19

stresses the importance of feedback in simulation

games.

In MT3, A7 suggests an interdisciplinary ap-

proach, combining online and in-person training. A9

describes teaching methods at renowned universities,

integrating theory and practice. A16 presents a Pro-

cess Modeling and Solution Design course.

In MT4, A2 introduces a self-learning program,

while A3 proposes a pedagogy with an integrated

ﬂipped classroom and Problem-Based Learning. Both

methods aim to enhance understanding and practical

application of BPM concepts, garnering positive feed-

back from students.

4.1.5 SRQ4: How Do Technologies Support

BPM Education?

The teaching of BPM has undergone signiﬁcant trans-

formations driven by technological advancements.

Among the 16 articles that directly address this re-

search question, we identiﬁed four main technologies

supporting the BPM teaching approach, as indicated

in Table 7.

Content and Skills for Teaching BPM in Computer Science Courses: A Systematic Mapping Study

379

Table 7: Technologies that support BPM teaching.

Identiﬁer Technology Citations Total

TC1 Serious Games A1, A5,

A10, A12,

A13, A14,

A15, A16,

A17

TC2 Business Process Modeling

Software

A3, A4,

A11

TC3 E-learning A18 1

TC4 Frameworks A8 1

In the case of Serious Games (TC1), A1 highlights

the innovative use of gamiﬁed tools in BPM education

for increased interest, motivation, and effective learn-

ing with real-time feedback.

A15 and A5 demonstrate the applicability and

effectiveness of the INNOV8 game in BPM teach-

ing, promoting intrinsic motivation, understanding of

business processes, and student satisfaction.

Studies A12 and A13 explore the BPMN Wheel

game as a learning tool, showing a positive impact on

the learning ﬂow and process modeling quality.

On the other hand, in Business Process Model-

ing Software (TC2) A3 proposes a pedagogical ap-

proach combining ﬂipped classroom and Problem-

Based Learning (PBL) to teach BPM, utilizing soft-

ware such as Apromore, Bizagi, bpmn.io, Visual

Paradigm, and Business Process Simulator.

A4 highlights the Horus Enterprise process mod-

eling tool, which is recommended to support the Ho-

rus Method, enabling the modeling and simulation of

business processes with support for various models.

A11 introduces the Model Judge framework, a

platform for the automatic validation of process mod-

els, providing diagnostics on syntactic, pragmatic,

and semantic quality issues, allowing instructors to

create exercises and monitor students’ progress in

real-time.

About e-learning (TC3), A18 addresses situated

learning through e-learning in the context of BPM, in-

dicating a signiﬁcant contribution of situated learning

to understanding BPM logic. However, compared to

face-to-face teaching, a lesser learning effect was ob-

served in e-learning. The authors emphasize the im-

portance of personal interaction and immediate feed-

back to understand BPM effectively.

A8 introduces the aCHAT-WF, a framework

(TC4), an adaptive chatbot for workﬂows that is more

user-friendly for learning than traditional interfaces.

It connects students and teachers, separates content

and conversation, adheres to the teaching approach,

and delivers interconnected learning content through

conversation. The tool allows the creation of differ-

ent chatbots and tailored courses involving IT experts,

conversation designers, and editors.

In summary, technologies like modeling tools,

simulation games, e-learning platforms, and inno-

vative frameworks such as aCHAT-WF have proven

valuable in BPM education, providing practical ex-

periences, continuous feedback, and a deeper under-

standing of business process concepts. These ap-

proaches represent an evolution in BPM education,

incorporating innovative and interactive methods.

4.1.6 SRQ5: What Are the Main Challenges in

the Training of BPM Professionals?

Few articles in the Systematic Mapping Study (SMS)

address the alignment between university education

in BPM and the technical requirements of the mar-

ket, indicating a gap in this research area. Out of

the three articles dealing with this issue, we identiﬁed

three perspectives from professionals and employers

regarding market demands and university education

in BPM, as outlined in Table 8.

Table 8: Challenges in training BPM professionals.

Identiﬁer Challenge Citations Total

CH1 Increasing demand for profes-

sionals specialized in BPM

A16 1

CH2 Valuation of interpersonal

skills by employers

A6 1

CH3 Excessive emphasis on techni-

cal skills in higher education

institutions

A10 1

In light of this, considering the information in the

articles, it becomes possible to extract an analysis

aimed at understanding the perception of both BPM

graduates and employers regarding BPM education to

meet practical market demands.

In Increasing demand for professionals special-

ized in BPM (CH1), article 16 highlights the grow-

ing demand for Information Systems (IS) profession-

als with skills in business process analysis. The arti-

cle suggests that modifying existing courses to incor-

porate analytics may effectively meet this emerging

demand in the job market.

Furthermore, in the Valuation of Interpersonal

Skills by employers (CH2), the study presented in A6

highlights the importance of interpersonal skills com-

pared to technical skills in BPM. The results indicate

that employers consider interpersonal skills more im-

portant than technical skills.

Lastly, in Excessive Emphasis on Technical Skills

in Higher Education Institutions (CH3), article A10

highlights the growing demand for BPM knowledge

in the industry and the need to incorporate this knowl-

edge into university curricula.

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380

It emphasizes the importance of innovative meth-

ods, such as serious simulation games, for situated

training of BPM professionals, indicating gaps be-

tween the skills acquired in academic training and

those required by the market, with a focus on inter-

personal skills. Challenges include adapting teaching

to meet digital demands.

4.2 RQ2: How Do Current BPM

Educational Programs Align with

the Curricular Guidelines Provided

by the SBC and the BPM CBOK in

Computing Courses?

For the comparison of the results of this SMS with

the curriculum guidelines for BPM education, we ini-

tially relied on the training axes, competencies and

content of the Training References for Undergraduate

Computing Courses 2017, the most recent document

provided by the Brazilian Computing Society (SBC).

The training axes aim to empower the student with

general competencies and encompass the main lines

for the education of a Bachelor of Information Sys-

tems student. For the student to acquire these gen-

eral competencies, it is necessary for them to develop

derived competencies that require the mobilization of

speciﬁc content taught in curricular units or courses.

The training axis for the management of informa-

tion systems and information technology described

in the document addresses general competencies that

aim to develop skills such as ”the management of in-

formation systems and information technology archi-

tecture in organizations, proposing solutions for in-

formation systems, software, and storage and com-

munication infrastructure aligned with organizational

goals and strategies, carrying out projects of informa-

tion systems and information technology, and apply-

ing concepts, methods, techniques, and tools suitable

for the management and governance of information

systems and information technology.” (Zorzo et al.,

2017)

This training axis presents ﬁve derived competen-

cies from these general competencies, classiﬁed ac-

cording to the cognitive levels of the Bloom’s Taxon-

omy scale (Create, Evaluate, and Analyze). Among

these derived competencies, the ﬁrst provides curricu-

lum guidelines for content that should be considered

in BPM education. Derived competence C.2.1 aims to

develop the following skills: ”Manage organizational

processes, describing their operation, evaluating their

performance, and implementing changes in their op-

eration by applying concepts of information systems.”

(Zorzo et al., 2017)

The document describes the following content to

be taught from this derived competencies: ”Strate-

gic planning, Organizational modeling, Business Pro-

cess Management (Survey, Modeling, Analysis, Re-

design, Automation, Evaluation, and Measurement),

Automated tools for managing organizational pro-

cesses, and Change management in organizational

processes.”

As highlighted in Table 9, we conducted a com-

parative analysis between the speciﬁc contents of

derivative competency C.2.1 and the key topics men-

tioned in the articles qualiﬁed in our SMS. The aim of

this comparison is to identify the extent to which the

contents covered with students align with the curricu-

lum guidelines established by the Brazilian Comput-

ing Society (SBC).

Table 9: Speciﬁc Content of SBC’s Curriculum Guidelines

x SMS Speciﬁc Research Questions.

Speciﬁc Content SRQs

Strategic planning SRQ1, SRQ2 and SRQ5

Organizational modeling SRQ1, SRQ2 and SRQ4

Business Process Management SRQ1, SRQ2, SRQ3,

SRQ4 and SQR5

Automated tools for managing organiza-

tional processes

SRQ1, SRQ2 and SRQ4

Change management in organizational

processes

SRQ2, SRQ4 and SRQ5

We can infer from this comparison that the main

contents covered in BPM education are satisfacto-

rily aligned with the speciﬁc content outlined in the

curriculum guidelines of the SBC. Clearly, the spe-

ciﬁc content of Business Process Management is ad-

dressed in all speciﬁc research questions. In the

results of SRQ1, we observe that speciﬁc contents

such as strategic planning, organizational modeling,

and automated tools for managing organizational pro-

cesses are covered in CO5, CO2, and CO3, respec-

tively.

The results of SRQ2 encompass all speciﬁc con-

tents described in the curriculum guidelines of the

SBC, by developing skills such as modeling, analy-

sis, design, and implementation of business processes

(SK1); working with BPM support tools (SK2); de-

veloping interdisciplinary skills (SK4); managing and

closely observing organization processes (SK5 and

SK6). Regarding SRQ4, technologies described in

TC1, TC2, and TC3 address speciﬁc contents such

as organizational modeling and automated tools for

managing organizational processes, as well as change

management in organizational processes by simulat-

ing the real context of BPM.

Additionally, we considered the Guide to the

Common Body of Knowledge in Business Pro-

Content and Skills for Teaching BPM in Computer Science Courses: A Systematic Mapping Study

381

cess Management (BPM CBOK 4.0), the most re-

cent document provided by the Association of Busi-

ness Process Management Professionals International

(ABPMP). This guide thoroughly describes the func-

tional areas, purpose, functions, products, and mod-

ules of BPM education.

BPM CBOK 4.0 also presents an Essential BPM

Curriculum from ABPMP in Appendix B, aiming to

provide a proposal for educational courses to meet the

growing need to develop in BPM professionals the

”necessary and desirable skills to integrate business

processes across different business functions and of-

ten distinct information technologies, delivering value

to the customer” (CBOK 4.0, 2020).

The suggested course program consists of ﬁve

mandatory BPM disciplines starting with a general

introduction to BPM and continuing throughout the

process lifecycle of modeling, analysis, design, and

implementation. Complemented by three elective dis-

ciplines, allowing for a deeper exploration of BPM,

culminating in a discipline on Business Process Strat-

egy.

This program is presented in an organizational

chart that divides mandatory and elective disciplines

for BPM education, along with a curriculum model

for undergraduate and postgraduate programs (Mas-

ter’s and MBA) in BPM. It provides detailed descrip-

tions of objectives, student proﬁles, career opportu-

nities, and an overview of the curriculum for each

course, where the document details each discipline

and the content to be covered. For our analysis, we

will consider the mandatory disciplines mentioned

for undergraduate courses teaching BPM, which are:

”Introduction to BPM, Process Modeling, Design

for Process Management, Implementation of Process

Management and Business Process Strategy.”

Table 10 demonstrates the comparative analysis

between the mandatory disciplines of the essential

undergraduate curriculum and the key topics men-

tioned in the articles qualiﬁed in our SMS. The goal

of this comparison is to identify the extent to which

the content and skills addressed by students align with

the mandatory disciplines established by BPM CBOK

4.0.

Table 10: CBOK 4.0 Mandatory BPM Disciplines x SMS

Speciﬁc Research Questions.

Mandatory BPM Disciplines SRQs

Introduction to BPM SRQ1, SRQ2 and SRQ4

Process Modeling SRQ1, SRQ2, SQR3 and

SRQ4

Design for Process Management SRQ1, SRQ2 and SRQ4

Implementation of Process Man-

agement

SRQ1, SRQ2, SQR3 and

SRQ4

Business Process Strategy SRQ1 and SRQ2

This comparison leads us to conclude that the

main contents covered in BPM education from the

articles analyzed in the SMS are aligned with the

mandatory disciplines suggested by CBOK 4.0. How-

ever, the contents are often grouped into a single disci-

pline, reﬂecting on the available time to develop stu-

dents’ understanding and desired skills in each con-

tent area.

The contents and skills presented in SRQ1 and

SRQ2 align with all the mandatory disciplines out-

lined by CBOK 4.0, as they cover everything from

the introduction to BPM to the analysis, modeling,

design, and implementation of process management.

Additionally, in CO4 and CO5, SK4, SK5, and SK6

address business process strategy. The results of

SRQ4 also demonstrate alignment with the manda-

tory disciplines, as the use of technologies such as

serious games and process modeling software covers

the contents of introduction to BPM, modeling, de-

sign, and implementation of process management.

4.3 Threats to Validity

Throughout this study, we identiﬁed some limitations

and challenges in BPM education that deserve atten-

tion. The 10-year time constraint in the systematic

literature review may lead to the exclusion of relevant

studies predating this period, limiting the historical

perspective of BPM education. The prevalence of Eu-

ropean studies may introduce a geographical limita-

tion in generalizing conclusions, not fully represent-

ing the global diversity in this ﬁeld of education.

The speciﬁc choice of research sources, such as

ACM DL, IEEEXplore, ScienceDirect, and Scopus,

may introduce bias in the results, excluding other rele-

vant sources. The criteria for article inclusion and ex-

clusion, as well as quality assessment, are susceptible

to subjectivity, inﬂuencing the ﬁnal selection and re-

sults. Challenges include the complexity of assessing

article quality, the diversity of sources and methods

in the reviewed studies, and the need for curriculum

adaptation to meet market demands.

Although the introduction of innovative methods,

such as game simulations, is suggested as a solution

to enhance practical understanding of BPM concepts,

its implementation may face institutional resistance

and practical challenges. In summary, the study high-

lights gaps between BPM education and market de-

mands, emphasizing the importance of overcoming

these challenges to improve education in the ﬁeld in

the future.

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382

5 CONCLUSIONS AND FUTURE

WORK

The teaching of BPM is undergoing a transformative

phase, driven by technological advancements and in-

creasing challenges. This study explored emerging

trends, developed competencies, teaching and assess-

ment methods, the impact of technologies, and the

challenges inherent in aligning education with the job

market.

We conclude that diversiﬁed approaches and the

effective incorporation of innovative methodologies

are crucial to meeting the dynamic demands of BPM

education, preparing students to tackle real-world

challenges with proﬁciency and adaptability.

We propose a research agenda to enhance BPM

education. Firstly, we suggest investigating interper-

sonal competencies in the BPM context to integrate

them into curricula. Secondly, we recommend peri-

odic studies on the impact of emerging technologies

on BPM education. Thirdly, we propose in-depth re-

search on innovative methodologies, such as simula-

tions and interactive games, to understand their im-

pact on learning.

Additionally, we suggest comparative research be-

tween teaching approaches in different national con-

texts and the systematic evaluation of the alignment

of BPM educational programs with real market de-

mands. Lastly, the investigation of the development

of dynamic BPM curricula to ensure continuous rel-

evance amid changes in the business environment.

This agenda seeks to enhance BPM education, effec-

tively aligning it with the ever-changing demands of

the business landscape.

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APPENDIX

Table 11: Selected papers.

ID Title Source

A1 Gamiﬁcation of Business Process Modeling

Notation education: an experience report.

ACM DL

A2 Application of Business Process Management

in the Libyan International Medical University:

History and Development.

IEEEXplore

A3 Teaching Business Process Management with a

Flipped-Classroom and Problem-Based Learn-

ing Approach with the Use of Apromore and

Other BPM Software in Graduate Information

Systems Courses.

IEEEXplore

A4 Social BPM Lab – Characterization of a Col-

laborative Approach for Business Process Man-

agement Education.

IEEEXplore

A5 Learning Business Process Management

through Serious Games: Feedbacks on the

Usage of INNOV8.

IEEEXplore

A6 Uncovering the competency gap of students

employed in business process analyst roles —

An employer perspective.

IEEEXplore

A7 The Need for a Standardized and Common Way

of Process Training.

Science Di-

rect

A8 aCHAT-WF: Generating conversational agents

for teaching business process models.

Scopus

A9 Managing Process Dynamics in a Digital

World: Integrating Business Process Manage-

ment and Routine Dynamics in IS Curricula.

Scopus

A10 Business process management and digital trans-

formation in higher education.

Scopus

A11 Supporting the Process of Learning and Teach-

ing Process Models.

Scopus

A12 BPMN wheel: A board game for business pro-

cess modeling.

Scopus

A13 Gamiﬁcation of business process modeling: A

board game approach to knowledge acquisition

and business process modeling with BPMN.

Scopus

A14 Business process management in the classroom. Scopus

A15 Business process management and digital

game-based learning.

Scopus

A16 Incorporating Analytics into a Business Process

Modeling course.

Scopus

A17 Feedback on integrating a serious game in the

Business Process Management learning.

Scopus

A18 How should we teach the logic of BPM? Com-

paring e-learning and face-to-face settings in

situated learning.

Scopus

A19 Towards an understanding of real-time continu-

ous feedback from simulation games.

Scopus

A20 Engaging students in a group role-play exercise

to improve their understanding of business pro-

cesses and ERP in an introductory information

systems course.

Scopus

A21 Building ’holistic’ business process modeling

skills for IS graduates.

Scopus

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