Teaching Software Engineering from a Collaborative Perspective: Some Latin-American Experiences

Teaching software engineering has been recognized as an important challenge for computer science undergraduate programs. Instruction in such area requires not only to deliver theoretical knowledge, but also to perform practical experiences that allow students to assimilate and apply such knowledge. This paper presents some results of two Computer-Supported Collaborative Learning (CSCL) experiences that involved students of software engineering courses from four Latin American Universities. The obtained results were satisfactory and indicate the reported collaborative activity could be appropriate to address teaching software engineering.Teaching software engineering has been recognized as an important challenge for computer science undergraduate programs. Instruction in such area requires not only to deliver theoretical knowledge, but also to perform practical experiences that allow students to assimilate and apply such knowledge. This paper presents some results of two Computer-Supported Collaborative Learning (CSCL) experiences that involved students of software engineering courses from four Latin American Universities. The obtained results were satisfactory and indicate the reported collaborative activity could be appropriate to address teaching software engineering

Permutable entire functions satisfying algebraic differential equations

It is shown that if two transcendental entire functions permute, and if one of them satisfies an algebraic differential equation, then so does the other one.Comment: 5 page

Interactions as the Basis of Collaboration Dynamics in Teaching Usability

Este artículo presenta el resultado de una experiencia en la cual, mediante la aplicación de un modelo instruccional colaborativo, para la enseñanza de las técnicas más comunes de evaluación de la usabilidad de interfaces de usuario, se valida el papel que desempeñan las interacciones entre estudiantes en las actividades colaborativas. Las interacciones y la aplicación del modelo facilitaron el trabajo colaborativo, entre diversas instituciones educativas, geográficamente dispersas, como un medio para transmitir conocimiento específico a estudiantes de nivel universitario. Además del modelo instruccional colaborativo aplicado, el artículo presenta resultados obtenidos en el uso experimental del modelo propuesto.Este artículo presenta el resultado de una experiencia en la cual, mediante la aplicación de un modelo instruccional colaborativo, para la enseñanza de las técnicas más comunes de evaluación de la usabilidad de interfaces de usuario, se valida el papel que desempeñan las interacciones entre estudiantes en las actividades colaborativas. Las interacciones y la aplicación del modelo facilitaron el trabajo colaborativo, entre diversas instituciones educativas, geográficamente dispersas, como un medio para transmitir conocimiento específico a estudiantes de nivel universitario. Además del modelo instruccional colaborativo aplicado, el artículo presenta resultados obtenidos en el uso experimental del modelo propuesto

A Latin American proposal for collaboration in the teaching of software usability

Este artículo propone un modelo instruccional colaborativo, para la enseñanza de las técnicas más comunes de evaluación de la usabilidad de interfaces de usuario. El modelo facilitó el trabajo colaborativo entre diversas universidades latinoamericanas, geográficamente dispersas, como un medio para transmitir conocimiento específico a estudiantes de pregrado en Ingeniería Informática y Ciencias de la Computación. Además del modelo instruccional colaborativo propuesto, el artículo presenta resultados experimentales obtenidos de su aplicación.This paper proposes a collaborative instructional model for teaching most common approaches for evaluating the usability of user interfaces. This model have facilitated the collaborative work between several Latin American universities, geographically dispersed, as a mechanism to deliver specific knowledge to undergraduate students of Computer Science and Computer Engineering. In addition to the proposed collaborative instructional model, our paper presents results of tests were we have applied this collaborative model

Una propuesta latinoamericana de colaboración en la enseñanza de la usabilidad del software

Este artículo propone un modelo instruccional colaborativo, para la enseñanza de las técnicas más comunes de evaluación de la usabilidad de interfaces de usuario. El modelo facilitó el trabajo colaborativo entre diversas universidades latinoamericanas, geográficamente dispersas, como un medio para transmitir conocimiento específico a estudiantes de pregrado en Ingeniería Informática y Ciencias de la Computación. Además del modelo instruccional colaborativo propuesto, el artículo presenta resultados experimentales obtenidos de su aplicación

Viral Endomyocardial Infection Is an Independent Predictor and Potentially Treatable Risk Factor for Graft Loss and Coronary Vasculopathy in Pediatric Cardiac Transplant Recipients

ObjectivesThis study sought to evaluate the outcome and prevalence of viral endomyocardial infection after cardiac transplantation.BackgroundViral myocardial infection causes heart failure, but its role after cardiac transplantation is unclear. We hypothesized that viral infection of the cardiac allograft reduces graft survival.MethodsBetween June 1999 and November 2004, 94 pediatric cardiac transplant patients were screened for the presence of viral genome in serial endomyocardial biopsies (EMBs) using polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assays. Graft loss, advanced transplant coronary artery disease (TCAD), and acute rejection (AR) were compared in the PCR-positive (n = 37) and PCR-negative (n = 57) groups, using time-dependent Kaplan-Meier and Cox regression analyses. From November 2002 to November 2004, intravenous immunoglobulin therapy (IVIG) was administered to patients with PCR-positive EMBs. The outcomes of the IVIG-treated, PCR-positive patients (n = 20) were compared with IVIG-untreated, PCR-positive patients (n = 17).ResultsViral genomes were detected in EMBs from 37 (39%) patients; parvovirus B19, adenovirus, and Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) were the most common. The PCR-positive group (n = 37, 25% graft loss at 2.4 years) had decreased graft survival (p < 0.001) compared with the PCR-negative group (n = 57, 25% graft loss at 8.7 years) and developed advanced TCAD prematurely (p = 0.001). The number of AR episodes was similar in both groups. On multivariate analysis, presence of viral genome was an independent risk factor for graft loss (relative risk: 4.2, p = 0.015). The time to advanced TCAD after becoming PCR-positive was longer in the IVIG-treated patients (p = 0.03) with a trend toward improved graft survival (p = 0.06).ConclusionsViral endomyocardial infection is an independent predictor of graft loss in pediatric cardiac transplant recipients. This effect appears to be mediated through premature development of advanced TCAD. IVIG therapy in this subgroup may improve survival and merits further investigation