A Novel Interdisciplinary Course in Gerontechnology for Disseminating Computational Thinking

While specialized knowledge and skills are the hallmark of modern society, the size and complexity of contemporary problems often require cooperative effort to analyze and solve. Therefore, experiences with skills, methodologies, and tools for effective interdisciplinary collaboration and structured problem solving are vital for preparing students for future academic and professional success. Meanwhile, computational systems have permeated much of modern professional and personal life, making computational thinking an essential skill for members of modern society. However, formal training in these techniques is primarily limited to students within computer science, mathematics, management of information systems, and engineering. At Iowa State University, we have designed and offered an experimental course to develop undergraduate students’ abilities for interdisciplinary teamwork and to disseminate computational thinking skills to a broader range of students. This novel course was jointly designed and instructed by faculty from the Computer Science Department, Gerontology Program, and Graphic Design Program to incorporate diverse faculty expertise and pedagogical approaches. Students were required to interview real users to identify real-life problems, gather requirements, and assess candidate solutions, which necessitated communication both within the group and with technologically-disinclined users. In-class presentations and wiki-based project websites provided regular practice at disseminating domain expertise to larger interdisciplinary audiences. Workshops, group-based mentoring, peer learning, and guided discovery allowed non-CS majors to learn much more about computer programs and tools, and grading criteria held students individually accountable within their disciplines but also emphasized group collaboration

Teaching Computational Thinking: are we considering students' socio-cultural context?

INTRODUCTION: Research to promote Computational Thinking (CT) has become frequent and carried out with the most different characteristics. Educational researchers argue that learning research needs to consider aspects of students' sociocultural context, regardless of what tools are used and how content is worked. However, it is not known if, and to what extent, these aspects are being considered in research to promote CT. OBJECTIVE: This research investigates whether the literature on initiatives to teach CT is recognizing and exploring aspects of students' sociocultural context and, mainly, how this is occurring. METHOD:A systematic review of the literature covering a decade (2007-2017) of articles published in the main vehicles of Computer Science in Education and Computer Science, considering the national and international scenario. RESULTS: The data indicate the students' sociocultural context is not being considered in the activities, although there is evidence that the scenario may be beginning to change. CONCLUSION: The results show that there is a growing concern and an evident effort by researchers to bring relevant elements of students' lives into the conducted practices. However, although it is possible to identify aspects of students' sociocultural context being considered by the mapped researches, it is still necessary to advance in terms of the rigor of the characterization of these aspects and the theoretical basis of the research

Computational Thinking in Education: Where does it fit? A systematic literary review

Computational Thinking (CT) has been described as an essential skill which everyone should learn and can therefore include in their skill set. Seymour Papert is credited as concretising Computational Thinking in 1980 but since Wing popularised the term in 2006 and brought it to the international community's attention, more and more research has been conducted on CT in education. The aim of this systematic literary review is to give educators and education researchers an overview of what work has been carried out in the domain, as well as potential gaps and opportunities that still exist. Overall it was found in this review that, although there is a lot of work currently being done around the world in many different educational contexts, the work relating to CT is still in its infancy. Along with the need to create an agreed-upon definition of CT lots of countries are still in the process of, or have not yet started, introducing CT into curriculums in all levels of education. It was also found that Computer Science/Computing, which could be the most obvious place to teach CT, has yet to become a mainstream subject in some countries, although this is improving. Of encouragement to educators is the wealth of tools and resources being developed to help teach CT as well as more and more work relating to curriculum development. For those teachers looking to incorporate CT into their schools or classes then there are bountiful options which include programming, hands-on exercises and more. The need for more detailed lesson plans and curriculum structure however, is something that could be of benefit to teachers

Changer l'Université : le rôle d'accompagnement des Réseaux Thématiques Erasmus (trois années d'expérience)

*Ecole Nationale Superieure Agronomique de Rennes 65 rue de Saint-Brieuc 35042 RENNES CEDEX (FRA) Diffusion du document : Ecole Nationale Superieure Agronomique de Rennes 65 rue de Saint-Brieuc 35042 RENNES CEDEX (FRA)The thematic Network pilot experiment launched three years ago completed its first cycle of activities in August 1999, with the completion of the first projects that were funded over the 1996-1999 period. Following a report of 1998 based on the activity reports from the first year of functioning, this document is an update of the initial study and focusses on the contents, on the actual scope of the results of the first generation of Networks. With 43 projects underway, the Thematic Networks undoubtedly represent an original and interesting potential of collective mobilisation of university forces, to support and sustain an innovating and transforming higher education policy that takes future stakes into account. They can also participate in the elaboration of policy recommendations.With the benefit of hindsight, the Networks eventually came out as a combination of a tool, an approach and a framework at the service of universities. They are indeed an effective analytical and debating tool to promote prospective, disciplineoriented reflection at the European level, as well as pedagogical innovation. The proposedapproach favours the comparative method and a meso-institutional approach involving the intermediate levels of university institutions (faculties, departments, institutes), where the reality and unity of the pedagogical project is tangible. lt is also based on direct involvement of the various actors of the educational scene.L'expérience pilote des Réseaux Thématiques ERASMUS, lancée il y a trois ans, est arrivée au terme d'un premier cycle d'activités en août 1999 avec la fin des premiers projets financés sur la période 1996 - 1999. Suite à un premier rapport publié en 1998 sur la base d'une exploitation des rapports d'activité de la première année de fonctionnement, ce document met à jour cette première étude en s'intéressant plus particulièrement au contenu,à la portée réelle des résultats et des produits de la première génération de Réseaux. Avec 43 projets en activité, les Réseaux Thématiques présentent incontestablement un potentiel original et intéressant de mobilisation collective des œuvres vives de l'université, pour soutenir une politique d'innovation et de transformation de l'enseignement supérieur qui tienne compte des nouveaux enjeux pour l'avenir. Ils sont, également, en mesure de contribuer à l'élaboration de recommandations à caractère politique

Distributed Computing and Monitoring Technologies for Older Patients

This book summarizes various approaches for the automatic detection of health threats to older patients at home living alone. The text begins by briefly describing those who would most benefit from healthcare supervision. The book then summarizes possible scenarios for monitoring an older patient at home, deriving the common functional requirements for monitoring technology. Next, the work identifies the state of the art of technological monitoring approaches that are practically applicable to geriatric patients. A survey is presented on a range of such interdisciplinary fields as smart homes, telemonitoring, ambient intelligence, ambient assisted living, gerontechnology, and aging-in-place technology. The book discusses relevant experimental studies, highlighting the application of sensor fusion, signal processing and machine learning techniques. Finally, the text discusses future challenges, offering a number of suggestions for further research directions

Exercício do pensamento computacional no ensino superior em computação : investigação de uma abordagem baseada em desafios

Orientador: Dr. Roberto PereiraTese (doutorado) - Universidade Federal do Paraná, Setor de Ciências Exatas, Programa de Pós-Graduação em Informática. Defesa : Curitiba, 11/04/2023Inclui referências: p. 73-86Área de concentração: Ciência da ComputaçãoResumo: Diretrizes curriculares da graduação em Computação recomendam que estudantes desenvolvam o Pensamento Computacional, mas não especificam quando e como essas habilidades devem ser desenvolvidas. A literatura na área também reconhece a importância e relevância do Pensamento Computacional, entretanto, ainda existem poucas evidências em torno de como apoiar o exercício dessas habilidades no ensino superior em Computação. Diante do exposto, esta pesquisa teve como objetivo investigar uma abordagem para apoiar o exercício do Pensamento Computacional no ensino superior em Computação. A abordagem Pense Computacionalmente foi criada com o propósito de apoiar professores e pesquisadores durante a concepção e condução de práticas educacionais que promovam o Pensamento Computacional por meio do processo de solução dos desafios que considera os quatro pilares do Pensamento Computacional. A abordagem tem como premissa que o Pensamento Computacional deve ser explicitamente exercitado no primeiro semestre da graduação de forma significativa, colaborativa, contextualizada, desplugada e baseada em desafios. Desenvolvemos a abordagem para ser utilizada ou adaptada para diferentes contextos educacionais, sendo composta por: um conjunto de orientações sobre como preparar e conduzir o exercício do Pensamento Computacional; um conjunto de sete práticas (desafios) para serem utilizadas ou inspirar a criação de novas; um método para guiar a condução da prática e instruir estudantes a proporem uma solução; e um artefato para apoiar a análise das soluções para coletar evidências do exercício do Pensamento Computacional. Para experimentarmos a abordagem e investigar as potencialidades e fragilidades, realizamos seis estudos de caso. Os estudos de caso foram conduzidos em ofertas diferentes da disciplina de Introdução à Ciência da Computação, dos cursos de Bacharelado em Ciência da Computação e Informática Biomédica da UFPR. Os resultados revelam que os desafios foram bem avaliados tanto pelos docentes quanto discentes, e foram muito bons em provocar o raciocínio e promover o interesse. Além disso, os resultados demonstram que estudantes exercitaram o Pensamento Computacional e desenvolveram a percepção do exercício dessas habilidades. Desse modo, atingimos o objetivo específico de investigar uma abordagem para apoiar o exercício do Pensamento Computacional no ensino superior em Computação. Como resultados desta pesquisa também podemos citar: contribuições conceituais: definição do Pensamento Computacional e suas habilidades no contexto do ensino superior em Computação; relação dos passos realizados durante a resolução de um desafio com as habilidades do Pensamento Computacional; e definição de como coletar evidências do exercício do Pensamento Computacional; contribuição metodológica: como conduzir atividades que foquem no exercício do Pensamento Computacional no ensino superior em Computação; e contribuição técnica: abordagem formatada em material didático.Abstract: The curriculum guidelines for Computing undergraduate courses point out that computational thinking should be a skill exercised by all students in those courses. However, they do not reveal when and how these skills should be developed. The literature in the area also recognizes the importance and relevance of Computational Thinking. There is still little evidence around how to support the exercise of these skills in higher education in Computing. Given the above, this research aimed to investigate an approach to support the exercise of Computational Thinking in higher education in Computing. The Pense Computacionalmente approach was created to support teachers and researchers during the design and conduct of educational practices that promote the exercise of computational thinking through the process of solving challenges considering the four pillars of computational thinking. The approach is based on the premise that Computational Thinking should be explicitly exercised in the first semester of undergraduate courses in a meaningful, collaborative, contextualized, unplugged, and challenge-based way. We developed the approach to be used or adapted for different educational contexts, comprising: a set of guidelines on how to prepare and conduct the exercise of Computational Thinking; a set of seven practices (challenges) to be used or to inspire the creation of new ones; a method to guide the conduct of the practice and instruct the students to propose a solution; and an artifact to support the analysis of solutions to collect evidence from the exercise of Computational Thinking. In order to try out the approach and investigate its strengths and weaknesses, we carried out six case studies. The case studies were conducted in different offerings of the subject Introduction to Computer Science, of the Bachelor's Degree in Computer Science and Biomedical Informatics at UFPR. The studies' results reveal that the challenges were well evaluated by both teachers and students, and were very good at provoking reasoning and promoting students' interest. In addition, the results demonstrate that students exercised Computational Thinking and developed the perception of exercising these skills. In this way, we achieved the specific objective of investigating an approach to support the exercise of Computational Thinking in higher education in Computing. As results of this research, we can also mention: conceptual contributions: the definition of Computational Thinking and its abilities in the context of higher education in Computing; the relationship of the steps taken during the challenge resolution with Computational Thinking skills; and the characterization of how to collect evidence of the exercise of the Computational Thinking; methodological contribution: how to conduct activities that focus on the exercise of Computational Thinking in higher education in Computing; and technical contribution: approach formatted in didactic material