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\"Apache Spark is amazing when everything clicks. But if you haven't seen the performance improvements you expected, or still don't feel confident enough to use Spark in production, this practical book is for you. Authors Holden Karau and Rachel Warren demonstrate performance optimizations to help your Spark queries run faster and handle larger data sizes, while using fewer resources. Ideal for software engineers, data engineers, developers, and system administrators working with large-scale data applications, this book describes techniques that can reduce data infrastructure costs and developer hours. Not only will you gain a more comprehensive understanding of Spark, you'll also learn how to make it sing. With this book, you'll explore : How Spark SQL's new interfaces improve performance over SQL's RDD data structure ; The choice between data joins in Core Spark and Spark SQL ; Techniques for getting the most out of standard RDD transformations ; How to work around performance issues in Spark's key/value pair paradigm ; Writing high-performance Spark code without Scala or the JVM ; How to test for functionality and performance when applying suggested improvements ; Using Spark MLlib and Spark ML machine learning libraries ; Spark's Streaming components and external community packages\"-- Back cover.

This research paper investigates the reasons behind the low performance of students in the listening component of English examinations within the General Foundation Program (GFP) at an Omani public university. Recognizing a consistent trend of weak listening outcomes across levels and branches, the study aims to identify the exam sections and question types that pose the greatest challenges to learners. Using data from the university’s largest branch, the study employs Microsoft Office Excel for performance analysis and item analysis to determine the most problematic questions. The listening examinations, which are standardized across all branches, are designed to align with students’ proficiency levels and include multiple-choice, true or false, short-answer, and note-completion tasks. The findings indicate that students experience particular difficulty with cloze and note-completion tasks due to the demands of precise listening, linguistic decoding, and accurate spelling or transcription of words and numbers. The study also highlights inherent challenges of listening comprehension, including real-time processing, exposure to varied accents, differences in speech rate, and the difficulty of converting auditory input into written responses. These findings are relevant not only to the context examined in this study but also to other educational settings where listening skills are taught and assessed. The study underscores the need for targeted pedagogical interventions to improve listening proficiency and assessment performance, thereby supporting students’ overall English competence and academic success in programs where English is the medium of instruction.

The authors bring Spark, statistical methods, and real-world data sets together to teach you how to approach analytics problems by presenting examples and a set of self-contained patterns for performing large-scale data analysis with Spark. You'll start with an introduction to Spark and its ecosystem, and then dive into patterns that apply common techniques-classification, collaborative filtering, and anomaly detection among others-to fields such as genomics, security, and finance. If you have an entry-level understanding of machine learning and statistics, and you program in Java, Python, or Scala, you'll find these patterns useful for working on your own data applications.

Contemporary research in education has placed the growing emphasis on general education principles and standards intended for empowering students and developing them as personalities with the related discussions set in different socio-cultural and geographical contexts. This paper explores how principles and standards of general education are integrated and implemented to support students’ development and enhancement of their skills in the context of the foundation program at Sultan Qaboos University in Oman. In more detail, utilizing personal views and perceptions of the programs’ administrators (department heads, program coordinators and course leaders) involved in constructing and offering the English language foundation program courses, this paper explores how principles and standards of general education are integrated and implemented to support students’ development and academic growth. A qualitative research paradigm is used to provide detailed descriptions, discuss experiences, achievements, challenges, and inform future decisions. The results demonstrate that the English language foundation program courses have good potential for building solid basis for students’ skills and knowledge development, however, more efforts that include revisions in curriculum and teaching practices are required to develop students into educated, responsible and productive citizens for their own advantage and the benefit of the community.

By the 1960s equality of opportunity was a dominant theme in social science research, and in keeping with this trend, the Whitlam Labor Government abolished university fees in 1974 to open university access, especially to talented women and men who otherwise would not contemplate a university career. In the same year also the University of Newcastle instituted a radical new plan to open up its doors to the wider community of 'non traditional students'. This paper explores the history of the enabling program that resulted, the Open Foundation Program, focusing on the 1974 pilot program and its first two years of full operation. Thought at the time likely to 'drain its market' within five years, the Open Foundation has flourished and grown for forty years. The analysis focuses on hitherto unexplored aspects of the program and canvasses three key themes: curriculum and pedagogy, access and success, and support and retention, in order to understand the seeds of this longevity. [Author abstract]

Introduction Direct observation of clinical skills is a key assessment strategy in competency-based medical education. The guidelines presented in this paper synthesize the literature on direct observation of clinical skills. The goal is to provide a practical list of Do’s, Don’ts and Don’t Knows about direct observation for supervisors who teach learners in the clinical setting and for educational leaders who are responsible for clinical training programs. Methods We built consensus through an iterative approach in which each author, based on their medical education and research knowledge and expertise, independently developed a list of Do’s, Don’ts, and Don’t Knows about direct observation of clinical skills. Lists were compiled, discussed and revised. We then sought and compiled evidence to support each guideline and determine the strength of each guideline. Results A final set of 33 Do’s, Don’ts and Don’t Knows is presented along with a summary of evidence for each guideline. Guidelines focus on two groups: individual supervisors and the educational leaders responsible for clinical training programs. Guidelines address recommendations for how to focus direct observation, select an assessment tool, promote high quality assessments, conduct rater training, and create a learning culture conducive to direct observation. Conclusions High frequency, high quality direct observation of clinical skills can be challenging. These guidelines offer important evidence-based Do’s and Don’ts that can help improve the frequency and quality of direct observation. Improving direct observation requires focus not just on individual supervisors and their learners, but also on the organizations and cultures in which they work and train. Additional research to address the Don’t Knows can help educators realize the full potential of direct observation in competency-based education.

Introduction Clinical academics are pivotal in advancing innovations by integrating clinical practice with education and research. The clinical academic workforce in the UK has struggled with a persistent shortage, now reaching a critical point. A recent nationwide decline in medical students opting for intercalated degrees, which provide early research exposure during undergraduate medical education, significantly contributed to the workforce crisis. However, the underlying factors for this recent decline in intercalation remain unclear. This study investigates the factors influencing medical students’ decisions to intercalate, focusing on personal motivations, and perceived value in the context of rising living costs and changing national policies. Methods We utilised a mixed-methods survey to explore the factors influencing medical students’ decisions regarding intercalation. Quantitative data from closed-ended questions were analysed using descriptive statistics and chi-square tests to identify associations between variables. Thematic analysis of qualitative data from open-ended questions was conducted using Vroom’s expectancy theory as an interpretive lens. Results A total of 50 students completed the questionnaire. The chi-square test demonstrated a significant association ( p  = 0.001) between the cost-of-living crisis and the decision to intercalate. The thematic analysis of non-intercalators highlighted the theme of financial burden, including reduced student loans, increased debt, and family financial stress. Conversely, we developed the theme of effective financial strategies and support systems from intercalators. The perception of career benefits significantly influenced intercalation decisions ( p  < 0.001). Furthermore, a change in policy to remove extra consideration for intercalated degree holders in UK foundation applications significantly affected decisions ( p  = 0.014). Thematic analysis of non-intercalators identified the lack of perceived career advantage, including a loss of extrinsic motivation and perceived non-recognition. Intercalators cited long-term career benefits, research skills and confidence, portfolio building and networking as their primary motivators. Conclusions Our study provided new insights into the socioeconomic, policy-related, and motivational differences among students that influence intercalation decisions. Financial constraints and the removal of extra consideration for intercalated degrees in physician training selection were major deterrents, particularly for students from diverse backgrounds. Future research should focus on developing targeted interventions to mitigate challenges and support a diverse and equitable clinical academic workforce.