Complete thesis - Murdoch University

• internal mental model – the accumulated experience/knowledge in the minds of thestakeholders, based on their expertise in the domain of application.While both views shed some insight on the reasons why the Requirements Engineering processis viewed as a complex activity, neither propose a complete picture of the knowledge constructionprocess in that the context of the construction is implicitly rather than explicitlydetailed.Increasingly the Requirements Engineering process is seen as a collaborative venture, framedby• the culture of the domain in which it is undertaken. As one example, within thediscipline of IS, Checkland and Holwell (1998) argue that the systems developmentprocess consists of building and naming models (of a set of purposeful activities). Thedevelopment of such models requires a declaration of the worldview (Weltanschauung)which makes a particular model meaningful – the set of values, outlook – a given-astakenimage of the world. These models are used as a vehicle for the requirementsanalysis process• the environment in which the RE took place. This environment includes the methods,tools available and used and economic constraints imposed as well as the cognitive skillsand social environment of the Requirements Engineering team. Checkland’s model ofsystem development follows closely the premises of the learning theory outlined above.The models built are not viewed as descriptions of reality, but rather concepts relevantto the exploration of what is perceived as reality. He acknowledges that reality is toocomplex to model meaningfully - hence a pragmatic approach is preferred, as is onewhich explores the way in which people attribute meaning to their world. The modelsdeveloped are used to give structure to debate about the problem situation and providea means of exploring possible changes that are both desirable and feasible.Pohl (1994)’s three dimensions of RE described in Chapter 1 may be addressed now from theperspective of constructivist learning theory:specification the degree of specification understanding at any given time – an iterativeprocess. Norman’s conceptual model is constructed through an iterative process andwithin a framework provided by the culture of the problem domain. This is a processof both learning and teaching in that the dialogue requires both teacher and learnerconceptualisations to be both available to each other and able to be adapted throughout the learning process. Norman notes that discovering the learner/user’s mental172