creased by 0.47 SDs under active learning (n = 158 studies), and that the odds ratio for failing was 1.95 under traditional lecturing (n = 67 studies). These results indicate that average examination scores improved by about 6% in active learning sections, and that students in classes with traditional lecturing were 1.5 times more likely to fail than were students in classes with active learning. Heterogeneity analyses indicated that both results hold across the STEM disciplines, that active learning increases scores on concept inventories more than on course examinations, and that active learning appears effective across all class sizes—although the greatest effects are in small (n ≤ 50) classes. Trim and fill analyses and fail-safe n calculations suggest that the results are not due to publication bias. The results also appear robust to variation in the methodological rigor of the included studies, based on the quality of controls over student quality and instructor identity. This is the largest and most comprehensive metaanalysis of undergraduate STEM education published to date. The results raise questions about the continued use of traditional lecturing as a control in research studies, and support active learning as the preferred, empirically validated teaching practice in regular classrooms.

/pdf/active-learning-increases-student-performance-in-science-3j0c6wu4k5.pdf

Active learning increases student performance in science, engineering, and mathematics

To build systems shielding users from fraudulent (or phishing) websites, designers need to know which attack strategies work and why. This paper provides the first empirical evidence about which malicious strategies are successful at deceiving general users. We first analyzed a large set of captured phishing attacks and developed a set of hypotheses about why these strategies might work. We then assessed these hypotheses with a usability study in which 22 participants were shown 20 web sites and asked to determine which ones were fraudulent. We found that 23% of the participants did not look at browser-based cues such as the address bar, status bar and the security indicators, leading to incorrect choices 40% of the time. We also found that some visual deception attacks can fool even the most sophisticated users. These results illustrate that standard security indicators are not effective for a substantial fraction of users, and suggest that alternative approaches are needed.

Why phishing works

Recent calls for educational reform highlight ongoing concerns about the ability of current curricula to equip aspiring health care professionals with the skills for success. Whereas a wide range of proposed solutions attempt to address apparent deficiencies in current educational models, a growing body of literature consistently points to the need to rethink the traditional in-class, lecturebased course model. One such proposal is the flipped classroom, in which content is offloaded for students to learn on their own, and class time is dedicated to engaging students in student-centered learning activities, like problem-based learning and inquiry-oriented strategies. In 2012, the authors flipped a required first-year pharmaceutics course at the University of North Carolina Eshelman School of Pharmacy. They offloaded all lectures to self-paced online videos and used class time to engage students in active learning exercises. In this article, the authors describe the philosophy and methodology used to redesign the Basic Pharmaceutics II course and outline the research they conducted to investigate the resulting outcomes. This article is intended to serve as a guide to instructors and educational programs seeking to develop, implement, and evaluate innovative and practical strategies to transform students’ learning experience. As class attendance, students’ learning, and the perceived value of this model all increased following participation in the flipped classroom, the authors conclude that this approach warrants careful consideration as educators aim to enhance learning, improve outcomes, and fully equip students to address 21st-century health care needs.

https://em.osumc.edu/education/journalclub/the_flipped_classroom.pdf

The Flipped Classroom: A Course Redesign to Foster Learning and Engagement in a Health Professions School

Science, technology, engineering, and mathematics instructors have been charged with improving the performance and retention of students from diverse backgrounds. To date, programs that close the achievement gap between students from disadvantaged versus nondisadvantaged educational backgrounds have required extensive extramural funding. We show that a highly structured course design, based on daily and weekly practice with problem-solving, data analysis, and other higher-order cognitive skills, improved the performance of all students in a college-level introductory biology class and reduced the achievement gap between disadvantaged and nondisadvantaged students--without increased expenditures. These results support the Carnegie Hall hypothesis: Intensive practice, via active-learning exercises, has a disproportionate benefit for capable but poorly prepared students.

https://science.sciencemag.org/content/sci/332/6034/1213.full.pdf

Increased structure and active learning reduce the achievement gap in introductory biology.

Phishing is a model problem for illustrating usability concerns of privacy and security because both system designers and attackers battle using user interfaces to guide (or misguide) users.We propose a new scheme, Dynamic Security Skins, that allows a remote web server to prove its identity in a way that is easy for a human user to verify and hard for an attacker to spoof. We describe the design of an extension to the Mozilla Firefox browser that implements this scheme.We present two novel interaction techniques to prevent spoofing. First, our browser extension provides a trusted window in the browser dedicated to username and password entry. We use a photographic image to create a trusted path between the user and this window to prevent spoofing of the window and of the text entry fields.Second, our scheme allows the remote server to generate a unique abstract image for each user and each transaction. This image creates a "skin" that automatically customizes the browser window or the user interface elements in the content of a remote web page. Our extension allows the user's browser to independently compute the image that it expects to receive from the server. To authenticate content from the server, the user can visually verify that the images match.We contrast our work with existing anti-phishing proposals. In contrast to other proposals, our scheme places a very low burden on the user in terms of effort, memory and time. To authenticate himself, the user has to recognize only one image and remember one low entropy password, no matter how many servers he wishes to interact with. To authenticate content from an authenticated server, the user only needs to perform one visual matching operation to compare two images. Furthermore, it places a high burden of effort on an attacker to spoof customized security indicators.

/pdf/the-battle-against-phishing-dynamic-security-skins-2x4bv2jnwy.pdf

The battle against phishing: Dynamic Security Skins

We tested five course designs that varied in the structure of daily and weekly active-learning exercises in an attempt to lower the traditionally high failure rate in a gateway course for biology majors. Students were given daily multiple-choice questions and answered with electronic response devices (clickers) or cards. Card responses were ungraded; clicker responses were graded for right/wrong answers or participation. Weekly practice exams were done as an individual or as part of a study group. Compared with previous versions of the same course taught by the same instructor, students in the new course designs performed better: There were significantly lower failure rates, higher total exam points, and higher scores on an identical midterm. Attendance was higher in the clicker versus cards section; attendance and course grade were positively correlated. Students did better on clicker questions if they were graded for right/wrong answers versus participation, although this improvement did not translate into increased scores on exams. In this course, achievement increases when students get regular practice via prescribed (graded) active-learning exercises.

/pdf/prescribed-active-learning-increases-performance-in-30ajkxspgw.pdf

Prescribed Active Learning Increases Performance in Introductory Biology

This study characterizes users' conceptions of web security. Seventy-two individuals, 24 each from a rural community in Maine, a suburban professional community in New Jersey, and a high-technology community in California, participated in an extensive (2-hour) semi-structured interview (including a drawing task) about Web security. The results show that many users across the three diverse communities mistakently evaluated whether a connection is secure or not secure. Empirically-derived typologies are provided for (1) conceptions of security based on users' verbal reasoning, (2) the types of evidence users depend upon in evaluating whether a connection is secure, and (3) conceptions of security as portrayed in users' drawings. Design implications are discussed.

Users' conceptions of web security: a comparative study

In this study, we analyzed Web users concerns about potential risks and harms from Web use to themselves and to society at large. In addition, we assessed how strongly users felt something should be done to address their concerns. Seventy-two individuals, 24 each from a rural community in Maine, a suburban professional community in New Jersey, and a high-technology community in California, participated in an extensive (2-hour) semistructured interview about Web security. Results show that Web users were primarily concerned about risks to Information, and secondarily about risks to People and Technology. Different sets of concerns were identified among the rural, suburban, and high-technology communities. Our discussion focuses on implications for interface design and information policy.

Users' conceptions of risks and harms on the web: a comparative study

The use of optimal foraging theory in archaeology has been criticized for focusing heavily on “negative” human-environmental interactions, particularly anthropogenic resource depression, in which prey populations are reduced by foragers’ own foraging activities. In addition, some researchers have suggested the focus on resource depression is more common in the zooarchaeological literature than in the archaeobotanical literature, indicating fundamental differences in the ways zooarchaeologists and archaeobotanists approach the archaeological record. In this paper, we assess these critiques through a review of the literature between 1997 and 2017. We find that studies identifying resource depression occur at similar rates in the archaeobotanical and zooarchaeological literature. In addition, while earlier archaeological applications of optimal foraging theory did focus heavily on the identification of resource depression, the literature published between 2013 and 2017 shows a wider variety of approaches.

/pdf/beyond-depression-a-review-of-the-optimal-foraging-theory-aga55dd4rp.pdf

Beyond depression? A review of the optimal foraging theory literature in zooarchaeology and archaeobotany.

Purpose




This paper aims to provide academic instruction librarians with a model for integrating concepts from the Association of College and Research Libraries (ACRL) Framework into “one-shot” library instruction sessions without losing the practical experience of searching the library resources.




Design/methodology/approach




The authors adapted the Cephalonian method as the structure of first-year library instruction sessions for an English composition class. The sessions were re-designed to emphasize the core concepts of information literacy while incorporating active learning activities and discussion.




Findings




The authors found the Cephalonian method to be a useful structure for incorporating aspects of the ACRL Framework into the first-year library instruction program. The call-and-response format fosters conversations and leads seamlessly into hands-on activities. When used as part of “flipped” instruction, the Cephalonian method allows instructors to engage students who have completed the online portion and those who have not.




Practical implications




This paper offers librarians practical ideas for incorporating the information literacy concepts outlined in the ACRL Framework into one-shot instruction sessions.




Originality/value




With the recent adoption of the Framework for Information Literacy for Higher Education by ACRL, there is a need for practical examples of how to incorporate the frames into existing library instruction programs.

/pdf/teaching-with-the-framework-a-cephalonian-approach-4e49jz8om0.pdf

David A. Hurley

Papers

Prescribed Active Learning Increases Performance in Introductory Biology

Users' conceptions of web security: a comparative study

Users' conceptions of risks and harms on the web: a comparative study

Beyond depression? A review of the optimal foraging theory literature in zooarchaeology and archaeobotany.

Teaching with the Framework: a Cephalonian approach