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The paper introduces a visual programming language and corresponding web- and cloud-based development environment called NetsBlox. NetsBlox is an extension of Snap! and it builds upon its visual formalism as well as its open source code base. NetsBlox adds distributed programming capabilities to Snap! by introducing two simple abstractions: messages and NetsBlox services. Messages containing data...
This paper presents the development and assessment of a computer organization course for undergraduate students in computer science that has been infused with data security concepts. The infusion gives an opportunity for students to learn essential cybersecurity topics in an introductory computer science course. Specifically, students were introduced to the well-known data encryption algorithm called...
In this paper, we present our Concurrent Systems class, where parallel programming and parallel and distributed computing (PDC) concepts have been taught for more than 20 years. Despite several rounds of changes in hardware, the class maintains its goals of allowing students to learn parallel computer organizations, studying parallel algorithms, and writing code to be able to run on parallel and distributed...
It is widely acknowledged that many freshmen go to university without any prior grounding in computer science. Recent studies conducted in the US have shown that not only do high school students lack any exposure, but also they possess ill-conceived notions of what computer science is, a problem also affecting their parents, teachers and regional school superintendents. For incoming students, the...
The teaching of algorithms and programming concepts to students of the first years of Computer Science course has been a major challenge, because students often have difficulty understanding the subject, leading to a high dropout rate. At our institution, dropout rate in the first year of the Computer Science course is 26%, which led us to think of pedagogical strategies to reduce this number. The...
This study investigates two different forms of examination in introductory Java programming courses: computer-based examination where the students are given one relatively large programming task only, and paper-/computer-based examination where the students are given a number of smaller questions to answer. The study focuses on identifying how well the two different examination forms reveal the students'...
This research project aims to investigate, how young men and women differ regarding (1) their perceptions of Computer Science (CS) as a scientific discipline respectively as a professional field and (2) the experiences that had influenced their choice of major subject. For that purpose, we conducted a biographical study of CS freshmen at university. In total, 217 students (54 female, 163 male) participated...
Advanced Computer Architecture is an upper-level required course offered by the Department of Computer Science and Engineering at the University of Alaska-Anchorage (UAA). Course content is structured to provide students with a qualitative and quantitative approach to computer architecture, which addresses both the hardware and software aspects of parallelism in modern computing systems. Historically,...
Information technology has been contributing to various areas of knowledge; in particular, the field of education stands out. In what concerns the teaching of computer programming, literature contains important efforts that aim to assist in the learning process. Teaching algorithms and programming concepts for first year students has always been a great challenge for universities, new Computer Science...
Student persistence in computing majors is one of the keys to providing the talent needed to fill the projected job openings in the computing professions. A range of factors can affect a student's decision to remain in a computing major or change to another major. In this paper we describe an assignment that we use in a course for first semester computing majors. The assignment is based on students...
Computational thinking ability is important in computer science education. It emphasizes abstraction and automation. For automation, programming has become a key ability in digital society recently. As a result, the increase in the importance of coding education in many countries has brought various educational methods to improve teenagers' programming abilities. Among programming abilities, reading...
Joint ACM/IEEE Computer Society undergraduate computer engineering curriculum guidelines are slated for release in 2016. These update the 2004 guidelines commonly known as CE2004. The presenters are part of the task group leading the revisions and will give an overview of the latest draft. Participants will engage in discussions on potential improvements to the guidelines to ensure that they are useful...
Computer Science has evolved towards a discipline with different branches. Software is designed, produced and linked taking into account different viewpoints. This process typically involves multidisciplinary teams: Front End Developers, (OO)Programmers, Database Engineers. Software developers, who were educated in different computing disciplines, meet on the shop floor, where they link together software...
DISSECT (DIScover SciEnce through Computational Thinking) is a project aimed at introducing students to computer science principles by establishing computational thinking (CT) as a problem-solving technique within middle school and high school Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) courses. While DISSECT has shown successful integration of CT into middle school and high school STEM...
In this paper we report on an experiment conducted in an attempt to improve further the learning environment in a basic campus course on Object-Oriented Programming and Design given to first-year engineering students studying Computer Science and Engineering. This course has for years had the same traditional set-up that is common also in other engineering schools around the world including lectures,...
In this paper we raise the issue of how to assess novice youths' learning of programming in an open-ended, project-based learning environment. One approach could be a way to apply quantitative measures to the analysis of programming education across frequent saves in a variety of open-ended projects. This paper focuses on the first stage of this endeavor: the development of exploratory quantitative...
This study aims to analyze the programming examples of commercial vocational high school textbooks in Taiwan. Five programming textbooks widely adopted by schools were reviewed to examine the presentation of programming examples' problem-solving steps: problem analysis, solution planning, coding and testing/debugging. It is found that the examples lack abundant guidance of problem-solving steps for...
This paper introduces a new approach for the analysis of didactic transposition phenomenon in Computer Science education, and its foundations for the construction of teaching objects. Thus, two main scenarios were explored: teaching experiences on programming fundamentals at undergraduate level, and the construction and deployment of teaching objects which have been framed within the European project...
Being able to teach students about CS concepts effectively is a growing priority in primary schools. Teachers need to develop not just their content knowledge but also best -- practice pedagogical approaches. Direct observation is one way of evaluating new teaching methods, but research with video/screen capture is typically time -- consuming and difficult to get quick insights from. In this study...
Gamification — the use of game design elements in non-game contexts — has seen rapid adoption in various areas in recent years. Its application in education is particularly promising, due to its potential to shape user behavior in desirable directions through increasing user motivation and engagement. This work-in-progress paper presents a course gamification platform aimed at supporting instructors...
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