Assessing the Unseen: Roles of Confidentiality and Trust in Software Engineering Work-based Learning Programmes [Poster]

A typical academic degree focused on software engineering has little practical relationship with the industry it is named for, other than the occasional placement or internship. Unlike other professions such as medicine, dentistry and veterinary sciences, candidates do not need to participate in significant professional practice to earn their degree. Indeed, if we consider a traditional academic software engineering student they probably have far more experience constructing shiny new ‘green-field’ systems, than maintaining the old ‘brown-field’ systems found in industry, and generating most professional work. Consequently, there is growing enthusiasm for work-based learning programmes that provide an opportunity for candidates to cement abstract academic theory in concrete personal experience. Work-based learning software engineering students earn their degree by combining theory with actual practice in a professional environment. Nevertheless, the intangible outcomes for much of software engineering has led to an industry obsessed with confidentiality, driven by concerns of employees smuggling source code to competitors or regulators. This obsession potentially presents a barrier to work-based learning schemes as employers prevent outsiders, even close higher education partners, from observing the systems and the source code that learners are working on. Learners may have the opportunity for concrete personal experience, but educators are barred from observing any such experience. However, confidentiality agreements may not necessarily present barriers to assessment, but instead provide an opportunity to assess comprehension and transferable skills by requiring abstract descriptions and reports. This is the converse to the problem in some programming courses, where students submit code without demonstrating that they understand it and can discuss it in terms of the concepts taught. In this talk and accompanying poster we explore some models for software engineering work-based learning programmes that have the potential to maintain confidentiality while assessing learners’ comprehension and ability. We invite discussion and criticism from conference attendees of the presented models, and are interested in potential partners for future collaboration

Close Encounters of the Industry Kind

No abstract available

Beyond Capture: Perspectives, Privacy and Pedagogy

The automatic capture of lectures has the potential to greatly benefit students beyond the original session with minimal cost to lecturers. However, student instincts are often wrong regarding what supports their own learning. Lecturers need to consider the problems as well as the possibilities of automatically capturing content. The talk will address three key considerations beyond capture. The first is anecdotal perspectives of students and staff in the automatic capturing of lectures. The second is the importance of privacy of students and staff when capturing lectures. The third is pedagogy, in terms of how to support students in consuming lecture recordings and how staff can potential repurpose sessions to improve learning. The expectation is that after the session, staff will be able to make the most of lecture capture

State of Alternative Authentication Research in Scotland

Research into graphical authentication has yet to be meaningfully transferred into industry. This is the case globally, but is concerning in Scotland as considerable research into the area has been published and presented by academics in SICSA universities (e.g. University of Glasgow, Glasgow Caledonian University, Napier University). The lack of knowledge transfer is particularly perplexing given the interest of industry in improving digital security. There are several explanations for the lack of progress, but a prominent issue is the inconsistency in reporting scientific data pertaining to graphical authentication. There is no framework for the reporting of field investigations into graphical authentication solutions. This situation not only hinders knowledge transfer into industry but the progress of research into alternative authentication solutions. Industry and researchers require metrics and strong qualitative data to utilise and progress research in the area. Consequently, the Scottish Informatics and Computer Science Alliance (SICSA) has provided financial support for a research exchange for me to visit and work with Prof. Melanie Volkamer. The primary aim of the proposed exchange is to develop a field evaluation framework for graphical authentication solutions to ensure consistent reporting of scientific data. The Center for Advanced Security Research at Technische Universität Darmstadt has an established track record of transferring knowledge into industry. Notably, Prof. Melanie Volkamer from the Technische Universität Darmstadt, along with Dr Karen Renaud and myself at the University of Glasgow have collaborated and made progress in transferring knowledge of graphical authentication research into industry

Close Encounters of the Industry Kind

No abstract available

Sport in foreign policy: issues, challenges and opportunities

Sport has been used variously as a social glue, a factor in nation-building, a projection of "soft power" and a form of cultural diplomacy - especially in the Cold War period. Less well-known is the use that global sport has been put to in spying and intelligence gathering. The article gives an overview over central issues, challenges and opportunities in regard to sport in foreign policy

Preserving Privacy and Reconceptualising Sharing in Active Learning Spaces

Active Learning Spaces present opportunities and challenges for learning in higher education. The reconfigurable spaces with particular focus on technology, empower students in participative learning. The opportunity for students is to use their own, familiar and friendly devices to create and share content with peers. They do not need to learn a new tool and instead can focus on the task at hand. The challenge for educators is to recognise that such devices are not just generic pieces of plastic, but rather, highly personal devices. They are more than just a familiar tool. Smartphones share more similarities with a personal diary than a traditional desktop, they are pocket computers that contain countless conversations, notes and photographs. The concern is that students may share more than they would like with the rest of the class. Smartphone sharing in an active learning space is little more than pushing pixels from a single small screen to several larger ones. It is an all or nothing experience. The potential result is that a student’s shared creation could be interrupted with a message from mum, balance notification from their bank or an invite to play a game. The brief experience not only serves to embarrass the student, but dissuade others from sharing in class. Practically preserving the privacy of computing science students in active spaces has prompted my own thoughts on the challenges of sharing. These problems will be faced by students in varied domains as such spaces become prevalent. However, the solution should not been seen through a technical lens, but rather as an opportunity to reconsider the requirements of sharing and what it actually means in active learning spaces. The talk will consider solutions to preserving privacy as well as privacy challenges of in higher education before attempting to reconceptualising sharing for active learning. The aspiration is that reconsidering sharing might not only spare the blushes of students it could also produce stronger outcomes from active spaces

Optical and Mechanical Studies of Semiconductor Resonators

This thesis concerns the investigation of micromechanical resonators formed either from group III-V semiconductors, or two-dimensional (2D) transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDs). The work is motivated by furthering the understanding of nonlinear resonator dynamics at the micron-scale, and, separately, the possibility of coupling the mechanics to an embedded quantum emitter. The latter is of particular interest for sensing applications using micromechanical resonators. First, gallium arsenide (GaAs) nanowires (NWs) are grown with cross-sectional dimensions of varied elongation, and the effects of the elongation on the resonator dynamics are studied. The single-mode dynamics of the NWs are found to agree with predictions made using Euler-Bernoulli (EB) beam theory. The NWs are then driven into the large amplitude regime of motion, and the nonlinear response is used to estimate the cubic Duffing nonlinearity. The nonlinear response of NWs gives rise to coupled mode dynamics. In the coupled mode regime, a quadratic dependence between the change in the fundamental (and second order) mode frequencies on the drive amplitude of the coupled mode is observed. Depending on the NW elongation, and which flexural modes are driven, a reversal in the direction of the frequency change is observed. This response is explained using the coupled, nonlinear Duffing equations of motion. Strain coupling between the mechanical motion of a GaAs cantilever and the emission properties of an embedded indium arsenide (InAs) quantum dot (QD) is then investigated. The cantilever is driven at the fundamental resonance frequency, and the effect of the cantilever motion on the QD emission energy is evaluated. The QD emission energy is modulated at the cantilever’s resonance frequency via the deformation potential, and is used to estimate the QD-cantilever optomechanical coupling rate. Computational modelling is used to predict the strain fields within the cantilever, and therefore estimate the optomechanical coupling rate. This is found to be in good agreement with predictions made from the experimental observations. This research is working towards the realisation of strain-induced sensing applications using micromechanical resonators formed from III-V semiconductors. Next, GaAs cantilevers, similar to those studied for the previous strain tuning application, are integrated with a one-dimensional (1D) photonic crystal cavity (PhCC), and a 1D perturbing PhC structure. The PhCC acts as an on-chip spectral filter or cavity for enhancement of the QD emission. In this system, displacement of the cantilever results in an out-of-plane separation between the PhCC and the perturbing PhC structure, which can be used to tune the PhCC mode resonance indirectly. Here, indirect tuning of the PhCC resonance is attempted through electrostatic actuation of the cantilever. Computational modelling is carried out to predict the optical response of the PhCC in response to the out-of-plane separation of the perturbing PhC structure, and the technological challenges involved with fabricating the structures are outlined. This research has applications in on-chip integrated quantum optical circuits. Finally, monolayer tungsten diselenide (WSe2) integrated within an optically and electrically active van der Waals heterostructure is studied, with specific focus given to the emission properties of embedded single defect emitters (SDEs). Electrical tuning of the SDEs is demonstrated, which has promising applications for quantum information processing (QIP). Observations of SDEs in monolayer TMDs motivated the study of the mechanical properties of suspended molybdenum diselenide (MoSe2) monolayer resonators, which could be used as mechanical strain sensors. The resonators are electrostatically driven by applying a bias to the suspended structures with time varying (AC) and constant voltage (DC) components. The initial tension within the monolayer is tuned by controlling DC bias, which in turn allows for tuning of the resonator’s resonance frequency. Then, the monolayers are driven into the large amplitude regime of motion (similar to previous demonstrations using GaAs NWs and cantilevers) and nonlinear motion is observed. These observations contribute to the fundamental understanding of the dynamical properties of TMD monolayer resonators

Lessons learned from evaluating eight password nudges in the wild

Background. The tension between security and convenience, when creating passwords, is well established. It is a tension that often leads users to create poor passwords. For security designers, three mitigation strategies exist: issuing passwords, mandating minimum strength levels or encouraging better passwords. The first strategy prompts recording, the second reuse, but the third merits further investigation. It seemed promising to explore whether users could be subtly nudged towards stronger passwords.Aim. The aim of the study was to investigate the influence of visual nudges on self-chosen password length and/or strength.Method. A university application, enabling students to check course dates and review grades, was used to support two consecutive empirical studies over the course of two academic years. In total, 497 and 776 participants, respectively, were randomly assigned either to a control or an experimental group. Whereas the control group received no intervention, the experimental groups were presented with different visual nudges on the registration page of the web application whenever passwords were created. The experimental groups’ password strengths and lengths were then compared that of the control group.Results. No impact of the visual nudges could be detected, neither in terms of password strength nor length. The ordinal score metric used to calculate password strength led to a decrease in variance and test power, so that the inability to detect an effect size does not definitively indicate that such an effect does not exist.Conclusion. We cannot conclude that the nudges had no effect on password strength. It might well be that an actual effect was not detected due to the experimental design choices. Another possible explanation for our result is that password choice is influenced by the user’s task, cognitive budget, goals and pre-existing routines. A simple visual nudge might not have the power to overcome these forces. Our lessons learned therefore recommend the use of a richer password strength quantification measure, and the acknowledgement of the user’s context, in future studies