Class of 2014 Abstract / Specific Aims: On April 18, 2007, the Arizona legislature passed the Pharmacy Continuous Quality Assurance (CQA) law, with enforced compliance beginning January 1, 2014. With the lengthy lag time between passage of the law and required compliance with the law, a continuing pharmacy education (CPE) seminar was developed to educate Arizona pharmacy personnel about the new requirements. The CPE seminar was evaluated by assessing changes in participant self-reported knowledge, motivation, and awareness regarding the quality assurance legislation and the CQA process. Methods: The CPE seminar took place at the Arizona Pharmacy Association’s Community Pharmacy Academy Conference. Data were collected using a retrospective pre-assessment/post-assessment questionnaire. Data were analyzed using Wilcoxon Signed-Rank tests with a Boniferroni correction. Demographic information were reported using descriptive statistics. Main Results: The response rate was 70%, with 28 of 40 participants completing the questionnaire. Each of the six self-assessment questionnaire statements showed a statistically significant change from pre to post assessment (p = 0.0005). Conclusion: The results show that the law CPE session positively impacted participant self-assessment of knowledge, awareness, and motivation of quality improvement initiatives and medication errors. Follow-up research is needed to determine what impact this CPE session will have in pharmacy practice.

Doctor of Philosophy / Department of Computing and Information Sciences / John M. Hatcliff / Current practices in software development heavily emphasize the development of reusable and modular software, which allow software components to be developed and maintained independently. While a component-oriented approach offers a number of benefits, it presents several quality assurance challenges including validating the correctness of individual components as well as their integration. Design-by-contract (DBC) offers a promising solution that emphasizes precisely defined and checkable interface specifications for software components. However, existing tools for the DBC paradigm often have some weaknesses: (1) they have difficulty in dealing with dynamically allocated data; (2) specification and checking efforts are disconnected from quality assurance tools; and (3) user feedback is quite poor. We present Kiasan, a framework that synergistically combines a number of automated reasoning techniques including symbolic execution, model checking, theorem proving, and constraint solving to support design-by-contract reasoning of object-oriented programs written in languages such as Java and C#. Compared to existing approaches to Java contract verification, Kiasan can check much stronger behavioral properties of object-oriented software including properties that make extensive use of heap-allocated data and provide stronger coverage guarantees. In addition, Kiasan naturally generates counter examples illustrating contract violations, visualization of code effects, and JUnit test cases that are driven by code and user-supplied specifications. Coverage/- cost trade-offs are controlled by user-specified bounds on the length of heap-reference chains and number of loop iterations. Kiasan’s unit test case generation facilities compare very favorably with similar tools. Finally, in contrast to other approaches based on symbolic execution, Kiasan has a rigorous foundation: we have shown that Kiasan is relatively sound and complete and the test case generation algorithm is sound.

Statement of the Problem: Source data verification (SDV) is the process of comparing data collected at the source to data recorded on a Case Report Form, either paper or electronic (1) to ensure that the data are complete, accurate and verifiable. Good Clinical Practice (GCP) Guidelines are vague and lack evidence as to the degree of SDV and whether or not SDV affects study outcomes. Methods of Investigation: We performed systematic reviews to establish the published evidence-base for methods of SDV and to examine the effect of SDV on study outcomes. We then conducted a national survey of Canadian Critical Care investigators and research coordinators regarding their attitudes and beliefs regarding SDV. We followed by an audit of the completed and in-progress Randomized Controlled Trials (RCTs) of the Canadian Critical Care Trials Group (CCCTG). Results: Systematic Review of Methods of SDV: The most common reported or recommended frequency of source data verification (10/14 - 71%) was either based on level or risk, or that it be conducted early (i.e. after 1st patient enrolled). The amount of SDV recommended or reported, varied from 5-100%. Systematic Review of Impact of SDV on Study Outcomes: There was no difference in study outcomes for 1 trial and unable to assess in the other. National Survey of Critical Care Investigators and Research Coordinators: Data from the survey found that 95.8% (115/120) of respondents believed that SDV was an important part of Quality Assurance; 73.3% (88/120) felt that academic studies should do more SDV; and 62.5% (75/120) felt that there is insufficient funding available for SDV. Audit of Source Data Verification Practices in CCCTG RCTs: In the national audit of in-progress and completed CCCTG RCTs, 9/15 (60%) included a plan for SDV and 8/15 (53%) actually conducted SDV. Of the 9 completed published trials, 44% (4/9) conducted SDV. Conclusion: There is little evidence base for methods and effect of SDV on study outcomes. Based on the results of the systematic review, survey, and audit, more research is needed to support the evidence base for the methods and effect of SDV on study outcomes.

The diploma thesis focuses on current problems of UI testing within modern methods of design and implementation of information systems. It includes review of available technologies and pratices to solving these problems. There is analysis of selected company, Quality Assurance processes is designed to fit in the company culture. These processes are implemented into concrete project and also set indicators, which will be monitored and evaluated in future progress of the company.

In a world where software systems are essential for our everyday life, a vast amount of software errors have led to severe consequences, almost causing a nuclear war. Ensuring the quality of software systems has increasingly come into demand due to the rising complexity of technologies used in today´s solutions such as cloud computing, internet of things (IoT). Companies strive to ensure the quality of their softwares and have different approaches to do so. Some companies follow an industry standard such as ISO 9000, others develop their own standards and implement a software to ensure conformance. Quality Assurance (QA) has traditionally been implemented in the later stages of the development process. Research suggests however that early or constant implementation of QA is more likely to provide better end results. Current studies explore the stages of implementation for QA, the effects of QA and approaches for QA. Few studies however investigate how QA is approached within private companies. This study investigates the implementation of QA within private companies, the use of QA and which stage of the development process QA should be implemented. The investigation was done through suggesting a suitable approach to achieve QA for the case company Sogeti. The challenge that Sogeti faced was to ensure the quality of their PaaS components configurations. To further understand the problem, a QA plan was developed with the use of Robert P. Elliots ten steps of developing a QA specification. The QA plan indicated that a software would be a suitable approach due to the specific demands that Sogeti provided, the software would then implemented in the later stages of the QA development process before the components reach the end customer. The final prototype of the software helped discovering the amount of improper configurations that exists (38,46% components with improper configurations). Early QA might have been a better approach, assuming that the problems were discovered early. When the problems are dicovered late, the stage of QA implementation might not matter as the approach for QA is reactive. In order to draw that conclusion however, further research is needed where multiple companies are analyzed to visualize the qualitative and quantitative effects of QA.

MEd (Curriculum Studies) / Department of Curriculum Studies / The aim of this study was to investigate the moderation of Business Studies assessment tasks in the FET band in the Soutpansberg Circuit Cluster of the Vhembe District. This study adopted the mixed-methods research design. The mixed-methods research design is the type of research which combines elements of qualitative and quantitative research designs for the purpose of breadth and depth of understanding and corroboration. Interviews and questionnaires were used to collect data from the participants. The population of the study comprised of Business Studies Subject Advisors, School Principals and Heads of Departments. Purposive sampling was used to select participants for qualitative data. The qualitative sample comprised of 3 Subject Advisors, 6 School Principals and 6 Heads of Departments. The qualitative sample comprised of 60 teachers of Business studies. Qualitative data was analysed thematically and Quantitative data through the SPSS version 25. The study revealed that he moderation of Business Studies assessment tasks has serious concerns that need to be addressed in many schools in the FET band. It is found out that successful implementation of moderation of business studies assessment tasks can be achieved if all stakeholders are well trained. The study recommended that the Department of Basic Education should manage the moderation of assessment tasks properly. Subject- advisors, School Principals, Heads of Departments and teachers should be capacitated to conduct moderation of assessment tasks effectively because of constant curriculum changes. / NRF

The aim of this research was to explore how examiners achieve and maintain high quality assessment during marking and moderation of the BGCSE (Botswana General Certificate of Secondary Education) Home Economics coursework in Botswana. In 2000, localization of the Cambridge Overseas School Certificate (COSC) to the Botswana General Certificate of Secondary Education (BGCSE) took place as per the recommendations of the Revised National Policy on Education (RNPE) document. This new certificate system, marked locally, allows for varied modes of assessment, with more emphasis being placed on continuous assessment. This also means that the assessment is school-based, with teachers centrally involved. As is procedure with this kind of assessment, it is subjected to moderation. However, implementation of this new assessment approach exposed, among other challenges, challenges in establishing dependability of teachers’ assessment, possible increase in teacher workload, teachers’ lack of expertise and confidence in undertaking the assessment scheme. This study, among other things, considers the forms of moderation used by the BGCSE to establish consistency in school-based assessment (SBA) and in so doing, it identifies that a dual form of moderation is used. The main research questions guiding this investigation were: <ul> <li>How are teachers and moderators trained so that they may be competent examiners?</li> <li>How is quality assured during marking of coursework?</li> <li>How does the examining body (BEC) Botswana Examination Council ensure that the examiners adhere to the quality control mechanisms?</li> </ul> This was a qualitative study and the sources of data were semi-structured interviews, document analysis and the research journal. The eight respondents who participated in this study were Home Economics teachers, moderators from senior secondary schools and subject experts from the examining body who were all non-randomly sampled from across the country. Purposive sampling was used based on the respondents’ characteristics relevant to the research problem. Data were analyzed using thematic content analysis to describe the phenomenon under inquiry and obtain detailed data. Major findings revealed inconsistencies between teachers and moderators’ marks, and that even though there are procedures that underpin a high quality assessment regime, there is little monitoring by the Botswana Examinations Council (BEC) to ensure adherence by the examiners. Other key concerns included examiners’ dissatisfaction about training and inadequate official support and guidance to equip them as competent examiners in general. / Dissertation (MEd)--University of Pretoria, 2009. / Science, Mathematics and Technology Education / unrestricted

With today's global distribution of movies, series, documentaries, and more, the need for a standardised system for storing content has emerged. Over-the-top media services such as Netflix, HBO, and Amazon Prime are storing large amounts of content, and by providing it internationally, the content multiplies when it has to conform to regional standards and regulations. The organisation Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers (SMPTE) has, in the light of this, created a standard called the Interoperable Master Format (IMF). This component-based media lowers storage costs drastically by only storing and managing the media elements that are unique between versions. In management of media content, one of the tasks is verification, a process where the content is checked for errors. By incorporation this process into an IMF workflow, the efficiency could be considerably improved. The objective of this thesis is to explore the use of IMF today and design a tool used for verification of IMF package data, solving present problems in the verification workflow. By looking more deeply into the IMF standard and the needs of people working with verification, a prototype could be created that attends to the needs of the user while simultaneously conforming to the IMF workflow. The prototype was received well by design experts and there is a potential of the further development of it.

Submitted in fulfillment of the requirements for the degree DOCTOR OF EDUCATION in the Department of Educational Psychology of the Faculty of Education at the University of Zululand, 2006. / The aim of this study was to investigate educators' perceptions of quality assurance in education. During the quality assurance process educators are evaluated on the quality of their delivery inside and outside the classroom, in order to assess whether successful educational outcomes are achieved. Successful educational outcomes are dependent upon empowering, motivating and training educators. Quality assurance seeks to manage and support these processes. The evaluation process is essential to any ongoing effort to improve the teaching profession. Evaluation is part of the educational process, based on sound performance standards that are congruent to the delivery of quality education. The evaluation process is transparent, accountable, supportive, developmental and inclusive. There are three programmes, which together form the Quality Assurance. Each of these programmes has a distinct focus and purpose, and together they monitor the performance of the education system and develop the educator. These are: > Development Appraisal. > Performance Measurement. > Whole School Evaluation. The Developmental Appraisal process appraises individual educators in a transparent manner with the view to determining areas of strength and weaknesses. The Performance Measurement process uses scores achieved during the teacher evaluation exercise to evaluate individual educators for salary progression, grade progression and rewards and incentives. The Whole School Evaluation process, which is an external process, evaluated the overall effectiveness of the school. The empirical investigation commenced with a self-structured questionnaire which was distributed to educators. The data obtained from the completed questionnaires was processed and analyzed by means of descriptive and inferential statistics. The following are some of the recommendations made: > The educator evaluation instrument must focus on teaching time. > The quality assurance process must focus on developing the educator. > Further research should be conducted on the role of quality assurance in educator career paths.

Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) / The advancement in technology has revolutionized the role of software in recent years. Software usage is practically found in all areas of the industry and has become a prime factor in the overall working of the companies. Simultaneously with an increase in the utilization of software, the software quality assurance parameters have become more crucial and complex. Currently the quality measurement approaches, standards, and models that are applied in the software industry are extremely divergent. Many a time the correct approach will wind up to be a combination of di erent concepts and techniques from di erent software assurance approaches [1]. Thus, having a platform that provides a single workspace for incorporating multiple software quality assurance approaches will ease the overall software quality process. In this thesis we have proposed a theoretical framework for distributed software quality assurance, which will be able to continuously monitor a source code repository; create a snapshot of the system for a given commit (both past and present); the snapshot can be used to create a multi-granular blockchain of the system and its metrics (i.e.,metadata) which we believe will let the tool developers and vendors participate continuously in assuring quality and security of systems and in the process be accessible when required while being rewarded for their services.