-The importance of software testing is widely recognized, but usually only a small portion of the Computer Science (CS) curriculum is allocated for teaching it. Some experiences have suggested that the teaching of software testing should begin as early as possible so an adequate culture of testing could be created. One way to achieve this is addressing testing practices in conjunction with programming concepts in introductory CS courses. In this paper we explore such idea, working on the integration between the teaching of software testing along with the teaching of programming foundations. We discuss the development of an educational module, and its related learning materials, for integrating such knowledge domains. Besides that, we propose PROGTEST -a Webbased environment for the submission and automatic evaluation of practical programming assignments based on testing activities, aiming at providing an adequate feedback to evaluate the learners' performance concerning programming and testing.

The qualitative influence of several model parameters on the dynamic response of a railways viaduct, modelled after an actual structure located in Santana do Cartaxo, Portugal, is analysed through a parametric statistical analysis. Two-level factorial experimentation was carried out with the help of a parametric model of the viaduct developed with ANSYS APDL. The range of values admitted for the key parameters and the corresponding deviations from mean values were evaluated from data made accessible by the road authorities and experience. For the sake of simplicity only one axle load was applied on a single module of the viaduct. It was concluded that the analysis of individual effects is satisfactory to obtain key results based on maximum displacements. Nevertheless, regarding peak accelerations, especially at the viaduct deck, interaction effects are important and the influence of key parameters cannot be analysed individually. Therefore, simultaneous consideration of several key parameters provides a better representation of reality associated with the application of statistical analysis.