The interaction between humans and knowledge management systems : rethinking the future

In this workshop position paper, we propose a study to understand the importance of knowledge management systems among academics in Saudi higher education institutions, admitting that knowledge workers and Knowledge Management Systems are valuable organizational assets whose interaction should be improved. We intend to understand Saudi academics’ perception toward using the knowledge management system to share their teaching experiences. Based on the findings, we investigate the major research trends in knowledge management systems and give some recommendations for future research

Using web-based peer assessment in fostering deep learning in computer programming

Active learning is considered by many academics as an important and effective learning strategy. Students can improve the quality of their work by developing their higher cognitive skills through reflection on their own ideas and practice of analytic and evaluative skills. Peer assessment is one of the successful approaches which can be used to enhance this deep learning. In this paper we discuss a novel web-based peer assessment system to support computer programming courses. We discuss the educational rational for the system, and the deep learning theory, report on its deployment on large programming modules. The preliminary results indicate that the system has successfully helped students to develop their higher cognitive skills in learning computer programming

Source-code plagiarism : a UK academic perspective

In computing courses, students are often required to complete tutorial and laboratory exercises asking them to produce source-code. Academics may require students to submit source-code produced as part of such exercises in order to monitor their students' understanding of the material taught on that module, and submitted source-code may be checked for similarities in order to identify instances of plagiarism. In exercises that require students to work individually, source-code plagiarism can occur between students or students may plagiarise by copying material from a book or from other sources. We have conducted a survey of UK academics who teach programming on computing courses, in order to establish what is understood to constitute source-code plagiarism in an undergraduate context. In this report, we analyse the responses received from 59 academics. This report presents a detailed description of what can constitute source-code plagiarism from the perspective of academics who teach programming on computing courses, based on the responses to the survey

Source-code plagiarism : an academic perspective

In computing courses, students are often required to complete tutorial and laboratory exercises asking them to produce source-code. Academics may require students to submit source-code produced as part of such exercises in order to monitor their students’ understanding of the material taught on that module, and submitted source-code may be checked for similarities in order to identify instances of plagiarism. In exercises that require students to work individually, source-code plagiarism can occur between students or students may plagiarise by copying material from a book or from other sources. We have conducted a survey of UK academics who teach programming on computing courses, in order to establish what is understood to constitute source-code plagiarism in an undergraduate context. In this report, we analyse the responses received from 59 academics. This report presents a detailed description of what can constitute source-code plagiarism from the perspective of academics who teach programming on computing courses, based on the responses to the survey

Introducing Java : the case for fundamentals-first

Java has increasingly become the language of choice for teaching introductory programming. In this paper, we examine the different approaches to teaching Java (Objects-first, Fundamentals-first and GUI-first) to ascertain whether there exists an agreed ordering of topics and difficulty levels between nine relatively basic Java topics. The results of our literature survey and student questionnaire suggests that the Fundamentals-first approach may have benefits from the student's point of view and an agreed ordering of the Java topics accompanying this approach has been established

A self-regulated learning approach : a mobile context-aware and adaptive learning schedule (mCALS) tool

Self-regulated students are able to create and maximize opportunities they have for studying or learning. We combine this learning approach with our Mobile Context-aware and Adaptive Learning Schedule (mCALS) tool which will create and enhance opportunities for students to study or learn in different locations. The learning schedule is used for two purposes, a) to help students organize their work and facilitate time management, and b) for capturing the users’ activities which can be retrieved and translated as learning contexts later by our tool. These contexts are then used as a basis for selecting appropriate learning materials for the students. Using a learning schedule to capture and retrieve contexts is a novel approach in the context-awareness mobile learning field. In this paper, we present the conceptual model and preliminary architecture of our mCALS tool, as well as our research questions and methodology for evaluating it. The learning materials we intend to use for our tool will be Java for novice programmers. We decided that this would be appropriate because large amounts of time and motivation are necessary to learn an object-oriented programming language such as Java, and we are currently seeking ways to facilitate this for novice programmers

Suggestopedic mobile language learning

The use of suggestopedic teaching methods has been shown to be effective in the domain of language learning. Suggestopaedia is a classroom teaching method that employs certain strategies to enable learners to relax in order to enable more effective learning both consciously and subconsciously. The use of mobile technologies to support language learning has also become very useful and popular. This paper proposes the amalgamation of the two approaches to enable a mobile suggestopedic platform and demonstrates empirical evidence linked to the success of this approach on languge learning. The design of a Suggestopedic mobile language learning app is discussed together with different target groups of learners that can benefit from this type of teaching. Design, development and evaluation of this app forms our future work

Developing an ontology of mathematical logic

An ontology provides a mechanism to formally represent a body of knowledge. Ontologies are one of the key technologies supporting the Semantic Web and the desire to add meaning to the information available on the World Wide Web. They provide the mechanism to describe a set of concepts, their properties and their relations to give a shared representation of knowledge. The MALog project are developing an ontology to support the development of high-quality learning materials in the general area of mathematical logic. This ontology of mathematical logic will form the basis of the semantic architecture allowing us to relate different learning objects and recommend appropriate learning paths. This paper reviews the technologies used to construct the ontology, the use of the ontology to support learning object development and explores the potential future use of the ontology

Deepening computer programming skills by using web-based peer assessment

Peer assessment is a method of motivating students, involving students marking and providing feedback on other students' work. This paper reports on the design and implementation of a novel web-based peer assessment system for computer programming courses, and discusses its deployment on a large programming module. The results indicate that this peer assessment system has successfully helped students to develop their understanding of computer programming

An integrated approach to courseware

Software engineering is becoming increasingly important as an engineering discipline, and its teaching in universities and other higher education institutions should be of high quality. In this paper we describe a tool (BOSS — the Boss Online Submission System) which aids the education of software engineers. BOSS allows students to submit programming assignments online, and to run black-box tests on their programs prior to submission. Instructors can use BOSS to assist in marking such assignments by allowing submitted programs to be tested against multiple data sets. We describe how BOSS helps in the teaching of specific conceptual aspects of software engineering, and how it addresses some of the practical issues involved in teaching large student numbers in a pedagogically neutral manner