A First Look at the Year in Computing

In this paper, we discuss students’ expectations and experiences in the first term of the Year in Computing, a new programme for non-computing majors at the University of Kent, a public research university in the UK. We focus on the effect of students’ home discipline on their experiences in the programme and situate this work within the context of wider efforts to make the study of computing accessible to a broader range of students

Coping with a changing world: the UK Open University approach to teaching ICT

The rapid pace of change in the ICT field has affected all HE providers, but for the UK Open University (UKOU), used to print-based courses lasting eight years or more, it has been a particular challenge. This paper will present some of the ways the UKOU has been coping with this problem by discussing the design of three courses, the first developed almost a decade ago. All three are distance learning courses that are either core or optional in a variety of bachelors' degrees, including the BSc programmes in: Information and Communication Technology; IT and Computing; and Technology; as well as the BEng (Hons) engineering programme. The first course, Information and Communication Technology: people and interactions is a level 2 (second year undergraduate) course first presented in 2002. It is predominately a print-based course with an eight year lifetime. The second course Networked Living: exploring information and communication technologies is a level 1 (first year undergraduate) course first presented some three-and-a-half years later in 2005. It is expected to have a course life of five years, and uses a mix of print-based (60%) and computer-based (40%) material. Both these courses use assignments as key tools for annual updating. The third course, Keeping ahead in ICT is aimed primarily at equipping students with advanced information searching and evaluation skills that will serve them well in professional life, and is presented at level 3 (final year undergraduate). It was first presented in 2007 and has an expected course life of 8 years. It uses much less print than in most OU courses, and has a greater reliance on third-party resources such as newspaper, conference and journal articles, websites, and other electronic resources. Some elements in each block are designed to change from year to year, in order to retain currency. Finally, the paper will look forward to the development of a new level 2 course with an expected first presentation in 2010, drawing out the lessons learned about course updating, and predicting the approach that the course team may tak

Motivation, Optimal Experience and Flow in First Year Computing Science

We examine the concept of motivation from the perspective of Self Determination Theory and give a brief overview of relevant results. We also consider the optimal state known as "Flow" and give an account of its conceptualisation in the theory due to Csikszentmihalyi. After discussion of ways in which these concepts can be measured, we describe a set of preliminary studies that investigate motivation and flow in the context of a first year computing class. We analyse student responses to enquiries about perceptions of motivation and flow experiences and look at links between them. We also discuss intrinsic motivation within the subject

Motivation, optimal experience and flow in first year computing science.

We examine the concept of motivation from the perspective of Self Determination Theory and give a brief overview of relevant results. We also consider the optimal state known as Flow and give an account of its conceptualisation in the theory due to Csikszentmihalyi. After discussion of ways in which these concepts can be measured, we describe a set of preliminary studies that investigate motivation and flow in the context of a first year computing class. We analyse student responses to enquiries about perceptions of motivation and flow experiences and look at links between them. We also discuss intrinsic motivation within the subject

Using LEGO® Mindstorms and MATLAB in curriculum design of active learning activities for a first-year engineering computing course

The goal of this research project was to investigate the feasibility of implementing a programmable robot (LEGO Mindstorm) combined with a computer program (MATLAB) into MacEwan's Engineering Computer Programming (ENCP 100) curriculum as a hands-on active learning tool. With a more hands-on/practical approach to the course, students may find themselves immersed in the material and motivated to understand and apply the abstract concepts learned in class to real-world applications. Previous studies found in the conducted literature review showed that LEGO® Mindstorms can be used to enhance active learning for students, particularly when used to demonstrate computer programming concepts. The LEGO Mindstorms kits come with several programmable motors and sensors suitable to the first-year curriculum (including touch, colour, rotation, and a text display). Not only is it a tool applicable to ENCP, but it can be used to bring multiple concepts from various engineering courses together. Students can look at displacements, velocities, accelerations, work, energy, equilibrium, and more. The capabilities of the sensors were found to be more than adequate to cover the first-year computing curriculum. Through the assessment of the various sensors, learning activities were designed to develop both fundamental programming skills and hands on problem-solving skills. Results of this research have shown that LEGO ® Mindstorms is a viable teaching tool for a first-year engineering computing course to develop fundamental programming skills and hands-on problem-solving skills.   Faculty Mentor: Shelley Lorimer Department: Biomedical Mechanical Engineerin

Major Computing Technologies of the Past 75 Years

This article is the second in a series of four articles that Computer is publishing to celebrate the 75th anniversary of the IEEE Computer Society (CS) this year. The first article published in the February 2021 issue gave an overview of socioeconomic transformations facilitated by computing technology during the past 75 years and looked at some of the key roles played by the CS to enable this change. In this article, we look at the major computing technologies enabling such transformations

Cloud Computing-based IT Solutions For Organizations with Multiregional Branch Offices

I chaired a session in the morning of April 28, and then presented my paper in the afternoon. There were exciting discussions after my presentation. People in the information and information system management area are interested in the cloud-computing scheme, but they are more concerned with the security issues that may arise. So, some critical evaluation of the new IT solution must be done fully before adopt it for an organization. During the conference, I had talks with other attendees about AU. They are very interested in AU, often surprised at our success. Prof. Grant at the Ryerson University told me that last year she met one of our students we sent to Case IT 2010 competition at SFU, and she got a very good impression of and feedback about AU from the student. This should serve as a proof that we should more often send our students to national or international events such as Case IT (we have sent a team in two consecutive years since last year), HackUs (we sent one student to competition this year). Those students may become good convincing advocates of AU and AU programs. She also mentioned that she had offered one session of teaching through distance learning, and she had some good feedback from the students. So, she would like to do more. This lets me wonder what would happen to AU if more and more professors at other universities start to offer their courses through DE, as an option for students who cannot attend the classes at campus.One of the most significant phenomena of the new century is globalization. As business goes global, multiregional branch offices are needed and networked computing and information services must then be established for those branch offices. In this paper we investigate a cloud computing based approach to the rapid deployment of computing and information services for organizations with multiregional branch offices. We first take a look at the general process leading to the deployment of Computer and Information Technology (CIT) services for organizations, and then present some cloud computing-based solutions for organizations with multiregional branch offices, followed by discussions about their key features as well as issues and concerns surrounding the proposed IT solutions. An important contribution of this paper is a generalized view of the cloud computing-based approach, which may be used as guidance in implementing and deploying such IT solutions

Annual Report 2016-2017

The College of Computing and Digital Media has always prided itself on curriculum, creative work, and research that stays current with changes in our various fields of instruction. As we looked back on our 2016-17 academic year, the need to chronicle the breadth and excellence of this work became clear. We are pleased to share with you this annual report, our first, highlighting our accomplishments. Last year, we began offering three new graduate programs and two new certificate programs. We also planned six degree programs and three new certificate programs for implementation in the current academic year. CDM faculty were published more than 100 times, had their films screened more than 200 times, and participated in over two dozen exhibitions. Our students were recognized for their scholarly and creative work, and our alumni accomplished amazing things, from winning a Student Academy Award to receiving a Pulitzer. We are proud of all the work we have done together. One notable priority for us in 2016-17 was creating and strengthening relationships with industry—including expanding our footprint at Cinespace and developing the iD Lab—as well as with the community, through partnerships with the Chicago Housing Authority, Wabash Lights, and other nonprofit organizations. We look forward to continuing to provide innovative programs and spaces this academic year. Two areas in particular we’ve been watching closely are makerspaces and the “internet of things.” We’ve already made significant commitments to these areas through the creation of our 4,500 square foot makerspace, the Idea Realization Lab, and our new cyber-physical systems bachelor’s program and lab. We are excited to continue providing the opportunities, curriculum, and facilities to support our remarkable students. David MillerDean, College of Computing and Digital Mediahttps://via.library.depaul.edu/cdmannual/1000/thumbnail.jp

Panel: The Y2K Date Rollover: Experiences and Lessons Learned from AIS Region 2

At midnight on December 31st last year one of the most widely anticipated events in computing took placeCthe Millennium date rollover. Fortunately, the occasion was marked by virtually no disruption to computing services and the global meltdown that some authors had predicted did not arise. The purpose of this panel is to explore the experiences of and the lessons learned from the Y2K date rollover. In order to this, the panel will draw on the experiences of a range of countries found in the AIS region 2 (Europe, Middle East and Africa) and will highlight the differing experiences of these countries. The panellists will look at the three stages associated with the date rollover. First, they will explore the preparation that took place in their areas before December 31st. In particular, they will look at the role that governments played in ensuring that organisations were prepared for the date change and the advice that was given to citizens in advance of the date rollover. Next the panellists will briefly review the arrangements for the New Year period, and in particular, any contingency plans that were made for major disruptions arising from the failure of computer systems. Finally, each panellist will review the events that occurred after it became clear that the date rollover had been relatively uneventful and the lessons that had been learned from the whole process. Clearly there are likely to be different national attitudes to each of these aspects of the Y2K problem. For example, there will be differences in the extent to which governments felt it was their obligation to ensure that the country was prepared for December 31st. There will also be differences in the extent to which they were able to ensure that organisations made adequate preparations for the end of the year. Similarly, differences will exist between countries over the New Year period, with countries that have some form of conscription / national guard making very different preparations from those that can only rely on the police and military services in times of national emergency. Finally, the aftermath of the nonBevent will also highlight national differences. In some countries, the lack of millennium bugs will be seen as evidence of successful planning for Y2K, in others it will be seen as evidence of the hysteria and cynical manipulation of public fears by the computing industry. The lessons learned will vary accordingly. Gert Jan Hofstede will introduce the panel with a brief overview of its aims and objectives. He will then introduce each of the panellists who will briefly describe the experiences in their countries. Contributions from the audience will be invited to cover those countries and areas which were not covered by the formal presentations. Finally, Gert Jan will provide a summary of the various presentations and will draw on theories of culture to help explain the different responses to the problems of the date rollover highlighted by the panel

Computing Graduate Employability: Sharing Practice

Computing is one of the largest subject areas in Higher Education, and is taught in almost every institution, graduating around 9,000 students each year. However Computing graduates are recorded as having the highest unemployment rates for all subjects (11% for Computing compared with an overall rate of 7% for graduates of all subjects). This new report, jointly published by the Council of Professors and Heads of Computing (CPHC) and Higher Education Academy (HEA) highlights the depth, complexity and richness of employability practices in the sector, and aims to share those practices more widely. The report places practice in a comparative context so that departments may learn what works from each other. It draws on research gathered from over fifty Higher Education institutions in a series of workshops, focus groups and interviews. Throughout, participants’ voices are given priority, with the report structured around the common employability challenges faced by academics. Within that structure, clusters of similar practice (those which appear in several institutions) are presented, together with a series of showcases providing rich detail of specific interventions. Challenges discussed within the report’s three themes of ‘Addressing Employability’, ‘Curriculum Issues’ and ‘Placements’ include ‘the employability agenda’, ‘student engagement’, ‘curriculum design’, ‘reaching “tipping point”’ and ‘finding alternatives to the “sandwich year”’ and are balanced throughout with a ‘View from Employers’. Clusters identify good practice from ‘hackathons’, competitions, mentoring, ‘compulsion’, an employer-led curriculum, industry-focused projects and placement preparation, application, monitoring, return, assessment and alternatives. Showcases highlight practice in ‘auditing employability’, ‘dedicated placement support’, ‘multiplicity of opportunities’, ‘short placement modules’, ‘think future’, ‘summer internships’ and ‘transition week’ from the universities of York, Kent, London South Bank, West of Scotland, Edinburgh Napier, Southampton and Brunel London, amongst other