Flipping the Classroom to Model the Content: Early Findings

The primary purpose of EDPS 23500 is simply that students would learn how people learn. Of course, key to meeting this objective is an understanding of developmental and motivational considerations in creating environments conducive to learning as well as knowing how to identify when learning has actually taken place (i.e., assessment). When teaching teachers about teaching, the structure of the course is itself instructive. The corner stone of the redesign was to move the lectures to Blackboard Learn. Students check their comprehension of the lectures by taking low-stakes quizzes and explore their conceptual understanding by making contributions to discussion boards. Class time is freed up to allow for a broader array of active learning strategies, such as small-group discussions, the conducting experiments on working memory, and working through case studies.. Data is still in the collection phase, but early results are promising (using 2x2 RM ANOVA). While students in the “control” section of the course reported increased understanding in regards to general outcomes for the course, in practice they did not score significantly higher on any of the specific learning outcomes for the course. Indeed, students in the IMPACT section of the course experience significant differences in three of 15 learning outcomes. Interestingly, IMPACT has had an impact on sections of the course that did NOT undergo significant structural changes. For example, students in the lecture taught concurrently with an IMPACT section experienced higher perceptions of competence, intrinsic motivation, perceptions of skill development, and perceptions of quality instruction

Infiltrating Security into Development:Exploring the World’s Largest Software Security Study

Recent years have seen rapid increases in cybercrime. The use of effective software security activities plays an important part in preventing the harm involved. Objective research on industry use of software security practices is needed to help development teams, academic researchers, and educators to focus their activities. Since 2008, a team of researchers, including two of the authors, has been gathering objective data on the use of 121 software security activities. The Building Security In Maturity Model (BSIMM) study explores the activity use of 675,000 software developers, in companies including some of the world’s largest and most security-focused. Our analysis of the study data shows little consistent growth in security activity adoption industry-wide until 2015. Since then, the data shows a strong increasing trend, along with the adoption of new activities to support cloud-based deployment, an emphasis on component security, and a reduction in security professionals’ policing role. Exploring patterns of adoption, activities related to detecting and responding to vulnerabilities are adopted marginally earlier than activities related to preventing vulnerabilities; and activities related to particular job roles tend to be used together. We also found that 12 developer security activities are adopted early, together, and notably more often than any others. From these results, we offer recommendations for software and security engineers, and corresponding education and research suggestions for academia. These recommendations offer a strong contribution to improving security in development teams in the future

The complexity of contemporary pharmaceutical formulations demands innovative analytical approaches: are we ready?

Solid and semi-solid dosage forms still dominate the pharmaceutical market; furthermore, the composition and complexity of formulations is becoming more diverse. The foregoing has led to an expansion of ever demanding experimental procedures to understand and improve the performance of the formulations/products developed and monitor the quality of end products. One of the new initiatives [1] based on chemical mapping using microscopy, thermal analysis and separation sciences has been recently developed in order to provide answers to complex questions such as chemical 3D mapping (tomography) of solid and semi-solid formulations (and many other systems under investigation/interest), solubility assessment and dissolution profiling in the presence of different solvents or mixtures of solvents. In the new approach, chemical analysis by dissolution assessment (CIDA), material is selectively removed from the surface of the analyte and then analysed (HPLC and IR). Microscopy is used to monitor physical changes at the surface as the material is removed and software (image analysis) enables the analytical data to be correlated with changes in the surface of the sample; this can be undertaken at the nanoscale. The whole system can be analysed isothermally, at different temperatures or via a combination of heating and cooling cycles using thermal analysis techniques. CIDA is an exciting new technique; but, more importantly, significant scientific benefits arise from obtaining many important analytical parameters in a short period of time. The real power of the CIDA approach is that analysis can be reliably applied to a single sample, a wide variety of solvents can be used, physico-chemical changes in surface properties and detection of removed chemicals are simultaneously monitored at the micro/nano scale; the use of chemicals is minimized. Unique information about surface properties and changes therein is obtained and the methodology used can be easily automated. Analytical challenges often led to creativity in problem solving and this approach will, no doubt, present new demands in different areas of research; the example(s) provided in pharmaceuticals will influence interdisciplinary scientific developments in other areas of formulation science

Randomised controlled feasibility trial of a web-based weight management intervention with nurse support for obese patients in primary care

<b>Background</b><p></p> There is a need for cost-effective weight management interventions that primary care can deliver to reduce the morbidity caused by obesity. Automated web-based interventions might provide a solution, but evidence suggests that they may be ineffective without additional human support. The main aim of this study was to carry out a feasibility trial of a web-based weight management intervention in primary care, comparing different levels of nurse support, to determine the optimal combination of web-based and personal support to be tested in a full trial.<p></p> <b>Methods</b><p></p> This was an individually randomised four arm parallel non-blinded trial, recruiting obese patients in primary care. Following online registration, patients were randomly allocated by the automated intervention to either usual care, the web-based intervention only, or the web-based intervention with either basic nurse support (3 sessions in 3 months) or regular nurse support (7 sessions in 6 months). The main outcome measure (intended as the primary outcome for the main trial) was weight loss in kg at 12 months. As this was a feasibility trial no statistical analyses were carried out, but we present means, confidence intervals and effect sizes for weight loss in each group, uptake and retention, and completion of intervention components and outcome measures.<p></p> <b>Results</b><p></p> All randomised patients were included in the weight loss analyses (using Last Observation Carried Forward). At 12 months mean weight loss was: usual care group (n = 43) 2.44 kg; web-based only group (n = 45) 2.30 kg; basic nurse support group (n = 44) 4.31 kg; regular nurse support group (n = 47) 2.50 kg. Intervention effect sizes compared with usual care were: d = 0.01 web-based; d = 0.34 basic nurse support; d = 0.02 regular nurse support. Two practices deviated from protocol by providing considerable weight management support to their usual care patients.<p></p> <b>Conclusions</b><p></p> This study demonstrated the feasibility of delivering a web-based weight management intervention supported by practice nurses in primary care, and suggests that the combination of the web-based intervention with basic nurse support could provide an effective solution to weight management support in a primary care context