scholarly journals Bad Tools Hurt: Lessons for teaching computer security skills to undergraduates

2021 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
pp. 74-92
Author(s):  
Jonathan Sharman ◽  
Claudia Acemyan ◽  
Philip Kortum ◽  
Dan Wallach
Keyword(s):  
Computer Security ◽  
Undergraduate Students ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Web Applications ◽  
Success Rates ◽  
Testing Tool ◽  
Programming Skills ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Positive Effect ◽  
Cross Site Request Forgery

Understanding why developers continue to misuse security tools is critical to designing safer software, yet the underlying reasons developers fail to write secure code are not well understood. In order to better understand how to teach these skills, we conducted two comparatively large-scale usability studies with undergraduate CS students to assess factors that affect success rates in securing web applications against cross-site request forgery (CSRF) attacks. First, we examined the impact of providing students with example code and/or a testing tool. Next, we examined the impact of working in pairs. We found that access to relevant secure code samples gave significant benefit to security outcomes. However, access to the tool alone had no significant effect on security outcomes, and surprisingly, the same held true for the tool and example code combined. These results confirm the importance of quality example code and demonstrate the potential danger of using security tools in the classroom that have not been validated for usability. No individual differences predicted one’s ability to complete the task. We also found that working in pairs had a significant positive effect on security outcomes. These results provide useful directions for teaching computer security programming skills to undergraduate students.

scholarly journals Expressive Writing to Relieve Academic Stress at University Level

2021 ◽  
Vol 23 (2) ◽  
pp. 17-33
Author(s):  
Juanita Argudo
Keyword(s):  
Focus Groups ◽  
Undergraduate Students ◽  
Mixed Method ◽  
Expressive Writing ◽  
Academic Stress ◽  
Mixed Method Study ◽  
University Level ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Positive Effect ◽  
Shed Light

This paper reports on a descriptive mixed-method study that aimed to identify the impact of expressive writing on relieving the academic stress of 157 undergraduate students at an Ecuadorian university. Data were gathered through two questionnaires and from focus groups. Results showed enduring relief of academic stress. Furthermore, they help to shed light on the need to study the impact of academic stress on university students and to look for different strategies that can alleviate it. These findings could help to understand students’ needs, as they have essential implications in teachers’ practices and, consequently, in students’ performance. In conclusion, expressive writing has a positive effect on helping to ease academic stress and overcome some difficulties caused by this issue.

scholarly journals “Being fat is not a disease but a sign of good living”: The Political Economy of Overweight and Obesity in Nigeria

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 99-114
Author(s):  
Tolulope Osayomi
Keyword(s):  
Economic Development ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Secondary Data ◽  
Overweight And Obesity ◽  
The Political ◽  
Linear Regression Models ◽  
Good Living ◽  
Political Economic ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Positive Effect

Increasing overweight and obesity rates have accompanied economic development in recent years. This twofold health issue has become increasingly worrisome and is currently receiving academic interest and government attention.  A growing volume of studies has examined the demographic, socio economic, environmental and cultural risk factors of overweight and obesity in Nigeria where fatness is culturally revered. However, information on large scale factors associated with economic development shaping the geographical distribution of overweight and obesity is sparse. From the political economic standpoint, the central question of this paper is: ‘Does the spatial pattern of overweight and obesity correspond with the varying levels of economic development in Nigeria? The study relied on secondary data from published sources.  Linear regression models were estimated to determine the impact of economic development variables on overweight and obesity. Results reveal that percent population with white collar jobs had a significant positive effect on overweight whereas poverty, gross domestic product (GDP) and degree of urbanization were significantly related to obesity. The paper concludes that the spatial patterns of overweight and obesity follow the pathways of economic development in Nigeria.

scholarly journals TOWARDS A SCALABLE SCIENTIFIC DATA GRID MODEL AND SERVICES

2010 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 97-107
Author(s):  
Azizol Abdullah
Keyword(s):  
Large Scale ◽  
Large Data ◽  
Data Grid ◽  
Scientific Data ◽  
Success Rates ◽  
Distributed Resources ◽  
Grid Model ◽  
Grid Simulation ◽  
Geographically Distributed ◽  
The Impact

Scientific Data Grid mostly deals with large computational problems. It provides geographically distributed resources for large-scale data-intensive applications that generate large scientific data sets. This required the scientist in modern scientific computing communities involved in managing massive amounts of a very large data collections that are geographically distributed. Research in the area of grid has given various ideas and solutions to address these requirements. However, nowadays the number of participants (scientists and institutions) that are involved in this kind of environment is increasing tremendously. This situation has lead to a problem of scalability. In order to overcome this problem we need a data grid model that can scale well with the increasing number of users. Peer-to-peer (P2P) is one of the architectures that is a promising scale and dynamism environment. In this paper, we present a P2P model for Scientific Data Grid that utilizes the P2P services to address the scalability problem. By using this model, we study and propose various decentralized discovery strategies that intend to address the problem of scalability. We also investigate the impact of data replication that addresses the data distribution and reliability problem for our Scientific Data Grid model on the propose discovery strategies. For the purpose of this study, we have developed and used our own data grid simulation written using PARSEC. We illustrate our P2P Scientific Data Grid model and our data grid simulation used in this study. We then analyze the performance of the discovery strategies with and without the existence of replication strategies relative to their success rates, bandwidth consumption and average number of hop.

scholarly journals “Hour of Code”: Can It Change Students’ Attitudes toward Programming?

10.28945/3421 ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 15 ◽  
pp. 053-073 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jie Du ◽  
Hayden Wimmer ◽  
Roy Rada
Keyword(s):  
Computer Science ◽  
Undergraduate Students ◽  
Student Attitudes ◽  
Positive Impact ◽  
Non Profit ◽  
Electronic Questionnaire ◽  
Programming Skills ◽  
Students Attitudes ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Programming Ability

The Hour of Code is a one-hour introduction to computer science organized by Code.org, a non-profit dedicated to expanding participation in computer science. This study investigated the impact of the Hour of Code on students’ attitudes towards computer programming and their knowledge of programming. A sample of undergraduate students from two universities was selected to participate. Participants completed an Hour of Code tutorial as part of an undergraduate course. An electronic questionnaire was implemented in a pre-survey and post-survey format to gauge the change in student attitudes toward programming and their programming ability. The findings indicated the positive impact of the Hour of Code tutorial on students’ attitude toward programming. However, the students’ programming skills did not significantly change. The authors suggest that a deeper alignment of marketing, teaching, and content would help sustain the type of initiative exemplified by the Hour of Code.

scholarly journals Development And Evaluation Of An Undergraduate Multidisciplinary Project Activity In Engineering And Design

2012 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 41-52 ◽  
Author(s):  
David R. Smith ◽  
Joanne Cole
Keyword(s):  
Undergraduate Students ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Learning Experience ◽  
Computer Engineering ◽  
Group Project ◽  
Project Activity ◽  
Undergraduate Study ◽  
Subject Areas ◽  
Survey Responses ◽  
The Impact

The School of Engineering and Design Multidisciplinary Project (MDP) at Brunel University is a one week long project based activity involving first year undergraduate students from across the School subject areas of Electronic and Computer Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Civil Engineering and Design. This paper describes the main aims of the MDP and gives an overview of how it has developed over the last four years to become a key part of the engineering undergraduate programme at Brunel University. The paper then presents an in-depth evaluation of the MDP, following the collection of 114 survey responses from students across all four subject areas and all four academic years that have participated in the activity, to assess the impact of the MDP on the student learning experience throughout the period of undergraduate study. The paper also discusses feedback about the MDP obtained from the relevant professional bodies that accredit Brunel University undergraduate engineering programmes, and representatives from the Brunel Placement and Careers Centre, to assess their opinions of the usefulness of the project activity in developing key transferable skills and enhancing the employability of Brunel graduates. The findings of this study will ensure the continued success of the MDP in future academic years and also provide a case study of a large scale multidisciplinary group project teaching activity that may prove useful to those considering or currently developing such activities at other higher education institutions. 

scholarly journals Contextual Inferencing Strategies and Changes in Reading Attitudes: the Case of Iranian EFL Undergraduates

2019 ◽  
Vol 26 (1) ◽  
pp. 306-323
Author(s):  
Танназ Садегжи ◽  
Амін Марцбан
Keyword(s):  
Undergraduate Students ◽  
Negative Relationship ◽  
Reading Attitudes ◽  
Strategy Training ◽  
Before And After ◽  
Two Phases ◽  
Age Range ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Positive Effect ◽  
Attitudes Towards Reading

Objective. The present study examined the impact of contextual inferencing on Iranian EFL learners’ attitudes towards reading in English. Methods and techniques of the research. To achieve such goals, 60 BA undergraduate students at Islamic Azad University of Shiraz, majoring in English teaching and English translation studies within the age range of 19-23 participated in the study. They were divided into two groups of control and experimental randomly. The data were collected through an ‘Attitude towards Reading’ questionnaire and a revised version of Demet Kulac’s (2011) interview in two phases before and after the instruction. Results. The comparison of pre- and post-questionnaires showed that contextual inferencing strategies had a positive effect on learners’ attitudes towards reading, and there was a negative relationship between unknown vocabulary encounters and learners’ attitudes towards reading English texts. Finally, the analysis of the interview confirmed the effectiveness of strategy training in reading attitudes and showed some other factors which were enhanced by using contextual inferencing strategies. Conclusions. The findings contribute to syllabus designers and teachers in reading comprehension and international tests preparation courses.

The Impact of TimeSlips on Undergraduate Students in Service Learning With Older Adults

2020 ◽  
pp. 1-8
Author(s):  
Sabine Heuer
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Service Learning ◽  
Undergraduate Students ◽  
Attitude Scale ◽  
Evidence Based ◽  
Attitudes Toward Older Adults ◽  
Students Attitudes ◽  
Attitude Shift ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Journal Entries

Purpose Future speech-language pathologists are often unprepared in their academic training to serve the communicative and cognitive needs of older adults with dementia. While negative attitudes toward older adults are prevalent among undergraduate students, service learning has been shown to positively affect students' attitudes toward older adults. TimeSlips is an evidence-based approach that has been shown to improve health care students' attitudes toward older adults. The purpose of this study is to explore the change in attitudes in speech-language pathology students toward older adults using TimeSlips in service learning. Method Fifty-one students participated in TimeSlips service learning with older adults and completed the Dementia Attitude Scale (DAS) before and after service learning. In addition, students completed a reflection journal. The DAS data were analyzed using nonparametric statistics, and journal entries were analyzed using a qualitative analysis approach. Results The service learners exhibited a significant increase in positive attitude as indexed on the DAS. The reflective journal entries supported the positive change in attitudes. Conclusions A noticeable attitude shift was indexed in reflective journals and on the DAS. TimeSlips is an evidence-based, patient-centered approach well suited to address challenges in the preparation of Communication Sciences and Disorders students to work with the growing population of older adults.

Impact of COVID-19 on Nuclear Medicine in Germany, Austria and Switzerland: An International Survey in April 2020

2020 ◽  
Vol 59 (04) ◽  
pp. 294-299 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lutz S. Freudenberg ◽  
Ulf Dittmer ◽  
Ken Herrmann
Keyword(s):  
Nuclear Medicine ◽  
Health Systems ◽  
Personal Protective Equipment ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Diagnostic Procedures ◽  
Protective Equipment ◽  
Current Crisis ◽  
Web Based ◽  
Public Versus Private ◽  
The Impact

Abstract Introduction Preparations of health systems to accommodate large number of severely ill COVID-19 patients in March/April 2020 has a significant impact on nuclear medicine departments. Materials and Methods A web-based questionnaire was designed to differentiate the impact of the pandemic on inpatient and outpatient nuclear medicine operations and on public versus private health systems, respectively. Questions were addressing the following issues: impact on nuclear medicine diagnostics and therapy, use of recommendations, personal protective equipment, and organizational adaptations. The survey was available for 6 days and closed on April 20, 2020. Results 113 complete responses were recorded. Nearly all participants (97 %) report a decline of nuclear medicine diagnostic procedures. The mean reduction in the last three weeks for PET/CT, scintigraphies of bone, myocardium, lung thyroid, sentinel lymph-node are –14.4 %, –47.2 %, –47.5 %, –40.7 %, –58.4 %, and –25.2 % respectively. Furthermore, 76 % of the participants report a reduction in therapies especially for benign thyroid disease (-41.8 %) and radiosynoviorthesis (–53.8 %) while tumor therapies remained mainly stable. 48 % of the participants report a shortage of personal protective equipment. Conclusions Nuclear medicine services are notably reduced 3 weeks after the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic reached Germany, Austria and Switzerland on a large scale. We must be aware that the current crisis will also have a significant economic impact on the healthcare system. As the survey cannot adapt to daily dynamic changes in priorities, it serves as a first snapshot requiring follow-up studies and comparisons with other countries and regions.

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