Although software testing is crucial for the quality of modern and increasingly complex systems, such as AI and autonomous software, it still receives too little attention in education. In this webinar on Thursday 12 June 2025, Prof Tanja Vos will show how that must and can change.

Competence-based development with Open University and KIVI

From 2025, the Open University will organise an inspiring webinar every two months focusing on one of the five core competences from the KIVI competence framework. These interactive sessions are designed to give you an insight into the practical application of each competency and provide tools to continue your professional development.

This is the third webinar as part of the offerings related to the KIVI competencies for Chartered Engineer and Young KIVI Engineers. This webinar focuses on competency A 'Technical knowledge and understanding' of the KIVI competency framework and offers a fresh perspective on how testing can be taught in a contemporary, experimental and meaningful way.

Other webinars under the competences will follow in September and November:
- Professional Commitment (E) and
- Leadership, responsibility and quality (C).

For more information on our in-depth courses per competency, see our Competency-based development page with Open University and KIVI.

Webinar Testing is not an afterthought: building quality-conscious IT professionals

Although software testing is crucial for the quality of modern and increasingly complex systems, such as AI and autonomous software, it still receives too little attention in education. In this webinar, Tanja Vos shows how that must and can change.

At the Open University, we approach testing as a discipline in its own right and, with targeted educational innovations, address fundamental shortcomings in test education. It starts with the educational paradigm itself: testing is still too often seen as a control activity, while it is essentially about critical thinking, experimentation and dealing with uncertainty. Moreover, many curricula still use outdated or incorrect definitions, in which testing is reduced to ticking off requirements - rather than exploring quality. We work with a richer, more meaningful definition and integrate it from the very first programming class, so that students learn to apply testing early and naturally rather than late. And because testing is often perceived as 'boring', we also bet on puzzle-based education: students learn to think like a tester through playful, challenging tasks that encourage exploration, questioning and pattern recognition.

About the speakers

Tanja Vos is professor of Software Engineering at the Open University in the Netherlands and associate professor at the Universitat Politècnica de València in Spain. She has dedicated her career to advancing software testing through her extensive research and more than 25 years of teaching experience. Tanja is the project leader of TESTAR.org, an open-source project that aims to create an intelligent tool for automated testing at the level of graphical user interfaces.

Registration information

Everyone is welcome to attend this webinar on Thursday 12 June 2025 at 8pm via Microsoft Teams. During the session, you can ask questions via the chat function. You can register by filling in the registration form filling in the registration form. You will receive a reminder in advance and again the link to participate. The duration of the webinar is about 60 minutes.