Continuous assessment is an assessment methodology whose objective is to assess students on an ongoing basis. However, designing, organizing, correcting, and evaluating continuous assessment increases the workload of teachers. Moreover, this methodology may not promote deep learning if it is not implemented properly. In this study, we implemented continuous assessment in an undergraduate programming subject using an automated assessment tool to reduce the workload of professors. We used design-based research (DBR) to implement a prototype of assessment methodology which includes an automated assessment tool developed by our research group. DBR provides us with a scientific background for this implementation through an iterative process in which we progressively come to assess all the activities that students perform in the course. In the different iterations of this process, we have collected students' final and project grades, and their opinions through surveys about the assessments we have implemented. These results allow us to demonstrate that the performance of at least two types of students improves after the implementation of continuous assessment, while at the same time, the depth of learning in the class is not affected. We have also found that students are more motivated and committed to the course when continuous assessment is used as they prefer automated assessment over the traditional exercises. In addition, the implementation of the continuous assessment has shown us some unexpected outcomes about flexibility in methodology design, collection of large amounts of data from the learning process, and students acquiring useful skills for programming. In reality, this can result in students gaining deeper knowledge if they are confronted with a greater number of situations during this time in which they test their knowledge.

Unexpected crises and risks affect the urban population. Critical infrastructure dependency, climate change and social dynamics have captured the attention of city decision makers across different disciplines, sectors, and scales. Addressing these challenges mandates an increase in resilience. This article presents the development of the novel European Resilience Management Guideline (ERMG) developed by the European H2020 Smart Mature Resilience (SMR) project. It encompasses five supporting tools for city resilience. The purpose of this article is threefold. First, it describes the extensive co-creation methods used to establish, validate and test the five ERMG tools as collaborations among seven city stakeholders and researchers in Europe. Second, it explains concisely the features of each tool and its use and applicability in the city resilience building process. Third, it shows how EMRG supports strategic management in encouraging the visibility of risk dependencies, identifying vicious loops and potential cascading effects, and promoting collaboration between stakeholders to share resources. The article concludes with a discussion of SMR standardization activities to support the transfer of these research results to wider audiences. It covers guidance on local resilience planning and supporting efforts in building and operationalizing resilience at the city level.

This article describes an action research (AR) project for designing and implementing a structured mentoring programme in a Spanish university. A student affairs unit, a team of researchers, faculty-mentors and student-protégés worked together on three cycles of AR. The result is a programmatic mentoring programme for the development of non-technical personal and professional competencies for undergraduate students. This paper describes the original situation that sparked the project, the iterative process followed, the tools and guides developed and the final programme designed. In addition to the increase in the level of satisfaction perceived by the entire university, the paper outlines the five critical factors that emerged from the AR project: the competency development process, programme value added, trust between mentors and protégés, the prominence of the student-protégé in the improvement plans and the continuous improvement culture generated.

Although the positive impact of cloud computing seems obvious for both big and small companies, the adoption rate of services associated with it has not reached the levels that were expected. In the case of software as a service (SaaS), the adoption rates of the different application types are not homogeneous. Some well-established application types, such as enterprise resource planning (ERP) software, have lower adoption rates as compared to other applications, such as customer relationship management (CRM) systems. Understanding the drivers of this phenomenon can help software companies design more successful SaaS applications. In this study, we present a framework that can help software companies evaluate the application-cloud fit, along with two strategies that enhance cloud application adoption.

Building on lean and agile practices, DevOps means end-to-end automation in software development and delivery. Hardly anybody will be able to approach it with a cookbook-style approach, but most developers will benefit from better connecting the previously isolated silos of development and operations. Many DevOps tools exist that can help them do this.

Monitoring is critical to IT system health and thus to businesses' bottom line. This article discusses current tools that monitor networks to detect issues, ensure the components' availability, and measure the resources those components use

To choose the most appropriate cloud-computing model for your organization, you must analyze your IT infrastructure, usage, and needs. To help with this, this article describes cloud computing's current status.

Enterprise systems are quickly evolving from monolithic silos to distributed applications with service-oriented flexible usage schemes. To keep up, IT organizations must adapt their legacy systems to meet changing business challenges almost in real time, with no second chances. Service-oriented architectures (SOAs) have evolved to flexibly operate and federate business processes and underlying systems. Authors Nicolas Serrano, Josune Hernantes, and Gorka Gallardo provide an overview of current SOA technologies and how to evolve in legacy environments.

With smartphones being the primary handheld device for more than a billion people, mobile Web apps are a necessity in both technical and commercial fields. There are several approaches to developing mobile Web apps, but given the fast speed of mobile software evolution, in which the leading companies become marginal in months and new gadgets continually appear, it's crucial to understand the basic technologies. Authors Nicola¿s Serrano, Josune Hernantes, and Gorka Gallardo examine current development approaches that can enhance the decision-making pro