Testing UML design model for web-based system

UML has been widely used as a modeling tool in software development. Software developed with UML has to be tested to assure its qua1ity and to prevent faults. Current practice in UML design evaluation consists of walkthrough and inspections. However, these techniques are too complex and tedious because the reviewer needs to track large amount of information. Furthermore, the lack of assessment of design quality, and deficiency in detecting and correcting design fault in the model can increase the total software development costs and time to market. This indicates that the need of testing and validating design model for web-based applications is high. Therefore, this study intends to justify whether the DCD criteria can be used to derive suitable test cases for web-based application UML design model

Progressive assessment of student engagement with web-based guided learning

Purpose – The purpose of this research is to investigate student engagement in guided web-based learning systems.It looks into students' engagement and their behavioral patterns in two types of guided learning systems (i.e. a fully- and a partially-guided).The research also aims to demonstrate how the engagement evolves from the beginning towards the end of the interactions; which enables analysis to be performed on the quality of engagement. Design/methodology/approach – An experimental study was conducted on 41 students from a public university in Malaysia using two web-based systems as the main learning tools.The students' engagement data were captured three times during the interactions and once at the end of the experimental study using student self-report.Findings – The main outcome of this study suggests that student engagement was changing over time either in positive or negative patterns.The directions of change in both types of guided learning were mainly influenced by the students' background of knowledge.Practical implications – This study demonstrates that student engagement is dynamic. Therefore, progressive assessment is a practical approach to obtain the engagement data which can be used to regulate and improve student engagement in web-based systems.As a result, an adaptive and intelligent web-based learning environment can be created. Originality/value – This research proposes a new approach to improve students' engagement in web-based instruction, that is, through a progressive assessment of their current experience

An Enhanced Block Pre-processing of PRESENT Algorithm for Fingerprint Template Encryption in the Internet of Things Environment

Many previous studies had proven that The PRESENT algorithm is ultra-lightweight encryption. Therefore, it is suitable for use in an IoT environment. However, the main problem with block encryption algorithms like PRESENT is that it causes attackers to break the encryption key. In the context of a fingerprint template, it contains a header and many zero blocks that lead to a pattern and make it easier for attackers to obtain an encryption key. Thus, this research proposed header and zero blocks bypass method during the block pre-processing to overcome this problem. First, the original PRESENT algorithm was enhanced by incorporating the block pre-processing phase. Then, the algorithm’s performance was tested using three measures: time, memory usage, and CPU usage for encrypting and decrypting fingerprint templates. This study demonstrated that the proposed method encrypted and decrypted the fingerprint templates faster with the same CPU usage of the original algorithm but consumed higher memory. Thus, it has the potential to be used in IoT environments for security

Assessment of students’ cognitive–affective states in learning within a computer-based environment: Effects on performance

Students’ cognitive-affective states are human elements that are crucial in the design of computer-based learning (CBL) systems.This paper presents an investigation of students’ cognitiveaffective states (i.e., engaged concentration, anxiety, and boredom) when they learn a particular course within CBL systems.The results of past studies by other researchers suggested that certain cognitive-affective states; particularly boredom and anxiety could negatively influence learning in a computer-based environment.This paper investigates the types of cognitive-affective state that students experience when they learn through a specifi c instance of CBL (i.e., a content sequencing system). Further, research was carried to understand whether the cognitive-affective states would infl uence students’ performance within the environment.A one-way between-subject-design experiment was conducted utilizing four instruments (i) CBL systems known as IT-Tutor for learning computer network, (ii) a pre-test, (iii) a post-test, and (iv) self-report inventory to capture the students’ cognitive-affective states. A cluster analysis and discriminant function analysis were employed to identify and classify the students’ cognitiveaffective states.Students were classifi ed according to their prior knowledge to element the effects of it on performance.Then,non-parametric statistical tests were conducted on different pairs of cluster of the cognitive-affective states and prior knowledge to determine differences on students’ performance. The results of this study suggested that all the three cognitive-affective states were experienced by the students. The cognitive-affective states were found to have positive effects on the students’ performance.This study revealed that disengaged cognitive-affective states, particularly boredom can improve learning performance for lowprior knowledge students

Testing UML design model for web-based reservation system

Adequate testing is essential to guarantee the quality of a software system and satisfy the user requirements.In today’s environment, web-based applications become critical to a company’s success.Therefore to ensure the web-based application works correctly, the application’s part must be thoroughly tested with appropriate testing technique.A systematic procedure in developing set of test cases is needed to ensure the quality of the application. Thus, this study is conducted to construct test cases using Design Class Diagram (DCD) criteria and study the suitability of this criterion in testing the web-based application class diagram.The DCD criteria contain three (3) criterions which are, Association End Multiplicity (AEM), Generalization (GN) and Class Attributes (CA). UML for Web Application Extension (WAE) was adapted in designing the web-based application class diagram.In order to test a web-based application, a web-based Hotel Reservation System (W-HReS) was developed using Active Server Page (ASP) technology. The application consists of five use cases, which are Make Registration, Make Reservation, Search for Room Availability, Login and Cancel Reservation.A set of test cases derived for DCD criteria has been constructed to test the application.The findings suggest that DCD criteria, in total, are not appropriate for testing web-based application.This is due to the fact that AEM cannot be used to represent all relationships in WAE class diagram.In addition, since there is no generalization association in WAE class diagram, GN cannot be used to test the diagram. However CA seems to be appropriate to test the diagram since all criteria are apparent and well-defined in the diagram

Users’ Acceptance Study of OAuth Manager Module for Social Login in Mobile Environment

Social login is a way that allows social network users to use their credential to log in to other applications. Currently, many developers make use of Open Authorization (OAuth) protocol to implement social login (SL). The design of OAuth protocol works well on workstations and desktops as they uniformly use web browsers to access web applications. However, it is exposed to security issues when it is moved to the mobile environment. Although native mobile applications are installed on the mobile devices, this protocol will call system browsers to complete the task; hence, exposing users to token redirection attacks. In overcoming the issue, this study attempts to evaluate a method called OAuth Manager Module (OMM) that aims to improve the security of this protocol in a mobile environment. It provides client isolation to prevent malicious actions during the social login process. A controlled experiment was conducted to evaluate user acceptance towards OMM. A within-subject design was conducted on thirty participants who participated in this study on a voluntary basis. The results show that users perceived OMM useful and easy-to-use compared to social login with system browser. However, in overall, users are still worried about the security of using social logins on mobile devices. This study can further serve as a foundation for various research on the security aspect of social login

Exploring the role of social media credentials in mobile learning: The engagement perspective

This paper presents a study on social media credentials as an authentication mechanism for accessing a mobile learning application.The aim of the study is to investigate whether the use of social network credentials would have effect on mobile learning activities particularly learners’ engagement.An experimental study was conducted on forty students from a higher learning institution in Malaysia using a mobile learning application named LANGKAWI APPS and a learning engagement questionnaire.The mobile application was developed in two versions, one with the social network login facility and the other one with traditional authentication method.The results of the statistical tests demonstrate that social network credentials was rated higher by the learners in terms of attention in mobile learning compared to the traditional method.The results are discussed in terms of applicability of social network credential as an authentication mechanism for mobile learning

Security and privacy of Single-Sign-On (SSO) in mobile environment: Students' experiences and perceptions

The number of password-protected Internet-based applications is increasing significantly compared to a decade ago.Many Internet applications require users to subscribe to their services and authenticate themselves through the use of login credentials.The number of such applications is increasing exponentially.Consequently, it causes an increase in the number of login credentials that users have to manage for both Internet and mobile environments.Due to the limitation in human memory, users usually forget their credentials (i.e., user names/IDs and passwords) and they tend to write down the passwords or replicate single password for many different applications. This practice could expose users to variety of security threats and attacks.A recent technological development on user authentication has introduced single-sign-on (SSO) that intends to help users with their credentials management.This research aims to investigate password management and SSO for accessing Internet applications especially through the use of mobile devices.The research was carried out in two phases: (i) a focus group study and (ii) survey.The researchers interviewed 11 students from School of Computing (SOC), Universiti Utara Malaysia (UUM).The results of the study found that the students did not practice proper password management. Further, it suggested that SSO may not be the immediate solution to improve the students’ password management.A behavioral study was conducted on 250 students from Universiti Utara Malaysia to understand how they managed their login credentials while accessing the Internet via their mobile devices, and their perceptions and awareness towards SSO.The results suggested that students practiced poor login credential management, however, the students are concerned about the security and privacy of their credentials.Security and privacy in mobile environment are important and need to be addressed through the use of technology and policy.The findings of this research imply system developers and policy makers on the aspect of users’ security and privacy.The findings are also useful for the purpose of training and educating students on the importance of security and privacy in mobile environment

Towards designing effective security messages: Persuasive password guidelines

The current state of information security compliance in workplaces is deteriorating. In many cases human factors were attributed as the cause of the problem.Humans are well known as the weakest link in the security chain.Commonly, end-users will depend on security messages when confronted with security-related decision making. Most of the time, end-users will try their best to make sense of unclear instructions in order to cope with situations.This indicates the way security messages are presented is of utmost importance. However, research focusing on designing effective security messages is quite limited.This paper presents research in progress, towards designing effective security messages focusing on passwords guidelines.Our initial review indicated the lack of persuasive elements in the current password guidelines may lead to unmotivated behaviour of producing good (strong) passwords.This paper also includes initial results obtained from pilot study which reveal promising results supporting the usage of persuasion strategies to improve the current state information security compliance

Linear and non-linear navigations of learning content

This paper reports a study concerning linear and non-linear navigations in WBI.The effects of the two navigations on students’ engagement aspects namely; control, focus, curiosity, and intrinsic interests were investigated. The study aimed to identify whether the linear and the non-linear navigations could be the factors that influence students’ engagement while learning in WBI environment.An exploratory experimental study was conducted on seventy-two students from a university in Malaysia using a web-based system for learning Basic Computer Networks.The study suggested that the types of navigations had affected the control aspect, but not the focus, curiosity, and intrinsic interests.Students’ engagement from the context of focus, intrinsic interests and curiosity was similar in both linear and non-linear.These findings are further discussed from cultural perspectives of Malaysian students