Diseño de mecanismos eficientes para la gestión de subredes infiniband

El objetivo principal de esta tesis doctoral es contribuir al desarrollo de mecanismos de asimilación de cambios toplogicos para la arquitectura de red infiniband. En una primera fase, se ha diseñado y evaluado un primer prototipo de mecanismo de gestión. Su evaluación nos ha permitido identificar los principales cuellos de botella en el proceso de adaptación al cambio. A continuación, se han propuesto mecanismos optimizados para cada una de las tareas involucradas en dicho proceso: la detección del cambio topológico, la adquisición de la nueva topología de la red, el cómputo de nuevas rutas y la distribución de tables de encaminamiento actualizadas a los conmutadores de la red. El resultado es un mecanismo de gestión totalmente compatible con la especificación de infiniband, fácilmente implementable en sistemas comerciales, y casi transparente desde el punto de vista de las aplicaciones a las que da servicio la red

Development of procedures to assess problem-solving competence in computing engineering

In the context of higher education, a competence may be understood as the combination of skills, knowledge, attitudes, values, and abilities that underpin effective and/or superior performance in a professional area. The aim of the work reported here was to design a set of procedures to assess a transferable competence, i.e., problem solving, that is basic for learning, in both academic and professional life, and crucial for engineering. The study involved a total of 71 students enrolled at three universities at two different stages of their studies. The development phases of the assessment device included an analysis of the competence and its facets, the design of the assessment task, the development of criteria to rate student performance, and the analysis of the basic psychometric properties for assessment methods in the area of education. The conclusion was drawn that the training process and the elaboration of scoring criteria are costly but necessary if objectivity in the interpretation of results is to be guaranteed. The main achievement of this project was the development of a procedure that measures learning outcomes and, more specifically, problem solvin

Assessment of problem solving in computing studies

The assessment of learning outcomes is a key concept in the European Credit Transfer and Accumulation System (ECTS) since credits are awarded when the assessment shows the competences which were aimed at have been developed at an appropriate level. This paper describes a study which was first part of the Bologna Experts Team-Spain project and then developed as an independent study. It was carried out with the overall goal to gain experience in the assessment of learning outcomes. More specifically it aimed at 1) designing procedures for the assessment of learning outcomes related to these compulsory generic competences; 2) testing some basic psychometric features that an assessment device with some consequences for the subjects being evaluated needs to prove; 3) testing different procedures of standard setting, and 4) using assessment results as orienting feedback to students and their tutors. The process of development of tests to carry out the assessment of learning outcomes is described as well as some basic features regarding their reliability and validity. First conclusions on the comparison of the results achieved at two academic levels are also presented