Beauty and the beast: New approaches to teaching computing for humanities students at the University of Aberdeen

This paper reports on the history and development of a new undergraduate course teaching Computing for Humanities Students at the University of Aberdeen, and assesses some new teaching approaches developed on the course. It is noted that teaching computing to humanities students has sometimes been viewed with suspicion by both Computer Science and Humanities Departments. The two camps tend to fear, for different reasons, that issues and practices important to their disciplines will be compromised or watered down. Humanities students are often lacking in enthusiasm for computers. This paper describes an attempt to reverse any such attitudes on the part of staff and students and to take undergraduates considerably beyond mere word processing and computer literacy. Various methods and techniques used in the course are presented and their value assessed. The importance of using a consistent computer interface to helping students form a stable conceptual model of computers is considered. The value of teaching more about Human Computer Interaction and Artificial Intelligence than is usual in Humanities Computing courses is considered. A number of lessons are drawn from the course

Improving the Outcomes of Hispanics in Computer Science

Kean faculty members, with vision and passion, provide students and the community the needed diversity, which can be seen by recent national grants Kean faculty received. History faculty members received a National Endowment for the Humanities grant, and their project is called “MakeHISTORY@Kean: William Livingston’s World”. The Computer Science faculty’s project “Improving the Outcomes of Hispanics in Computer Science” received grant funds from Google and are working to advance artificial intelligence research . Computer Science faculty also received a National Science Foundation grant for the project of the INCLUDES (Inclusion across the Nation of Communities of Learners of Underrepresented Discoverers in Engineering and Science), which is funded as part of a regional consortium headed by Northeastern Illinois University: “Computing Alliance of Hispanic-Serving Institutions\u27\u27 (CASHI

Teaching Game Development: At the Intersection of Computer Science and Humanities & Arts

We describe a new major at WPI in Interactive Media and Game Development. We discuss the requirements and courses of the new major, and how it will interact with the existing programs in Computer Science and Humanities & Arts at WPI

Mixing Methods: Practical Insights from the Humanities in the Digital Age

The digital transformation is accompanied by two simultaneous processes: digital humanities challenging the humanities, their theories, methodologies and disciplinary identities, and pushing computer science to get involved in new fields. But how can qualitative and quantitative methods be usefully combined in one research project? What are the theoretical and methodological principles across all disciplinary digital approaches? This volume focusses on driving innovation and conceptualising the humanities in the 21st century. Building on the results of 10 research projects, it serves as a useful tool for designing cutting-edge research that goes beyond conventional strategies

Intelligent Tutoring System for Teaching "Introduction to Computer Science" in Al-Azhar University, Gaza

ITS (Intelligent Tutoring System) is a computer software that supplies direct and adaptive training or response to students without, or with little human teacher interfering. The main target of ITS is smoothing the learning-teaching process using the ultimate technology in computer science. The proposed system will be implemented using the “ITSB” Authoring tool. The book "Introduction To Computer Science" is taught in Al-Azhar University in Gaza as a compulsory subject for students who study at humanities faculties. In this thesis, the researcher demonstrates an intelligent tutoring system for teaching the above mentioned subject. The system was assessed by a group of teachers and students and the results were promising

THE ART AND SCIENCE OF DESIGNING COMPUTER ARTIFACTS

This is a paper about activities such as information system development and software engineering. The specific aspects of these activities that are being investigated are the academic organization for these studies, and the doctrines that are being taught at departments of computer science, information science, informatics, etc. The paper begins with a critique of the existing division of labour in the academic field. The need to transcend the dominating natural science oriented tradition in design of computer artifacts is argued. To replace this tradition a new foundation guided both by a technical knowledge interest in instrumental control as in the natural sciences and a practical knowledge interest in inter-subjective communication as in the social sciences and the humanities is suggested. It is argued that the dominating doctrine of a rationalistic science of the artificial is too limited, and that it ought to be replaced, or complemented, by a doctrine for a practical art and science of designing computer artifacts. Finally, a teachable programme for a disciplinary base of and art and science of designing computer artifacts is outlined

How Insights from the Humanities Shaped the Twentieth Century

What have the humanities brought us during the last century? Once the pinnacle of intellectual fulfillment, today the humanities suffer from an image problem. Disciplines like philology, art history, linguistics and musicology are seen as a luxury pastime which is of little use to society and less to the economy. Arguments in favour of the humanities emphasize their importance for critical thinking, historical responsibility and for creating competent democratic citizens. While these arguments may all be true, humanities scholars seem to overlook the possibility that the very assumption behind the image problem is wrong. Many scholars stress that the humanities do not solve concrete problems and that their value lies elsewhere. Yet a closer look at the history of the humanities shows a rather different picture. In my talk I will focus on the comparative history of the humanities during the long twentieth century. I will show how ideas and concepts from linguistics have led to the development of high-level programming languages in computer science. I will argue that methods from philology were incorporated by biology to analyze DNA sequences. And I will describe how the method of historical source criticism found its way into other disciplines for critically evaluating sources: from forensic science to evidence-based medicine and jurisprudence

Reading Habits of the College Students across Discipline

From last century, many researchers have devoted efforts to examine reading habits of students. The present study is a step forward in the process which aims to identify the reading preferences and tastes of the college students across disciplines. The scope of the study is limited to the degree college students of Kashmir covering the faculties of General Science, Business/ Commerce, Computer Science, Social Sciences and Humanities. The sample was selected through statistical sampling formula and stratified random sampling technique was used to select students. The questionnaire was used as a data collection tool. The results reveal that students of all faculties have positive attitudes towards reading in which General Science students enjoy the most and Social Sciences & Humanities students the least. The General Science students also rank first on spending time on reading. The college students, irrespective of subject differences, mostly prefer to read in English. In comparison, the Computer Science students read in English more than other faculties whereas Social Sciences & Humanities students lead in Urdu. The students of General Science and Social Sciences & Humanities mostly read for education whereas majority of Business & Commerce and Computer Science students read for information. The students of all faculties mostly like to read about their own discipline. In comparison, the students of Social Sciences & Humanities read literature, politics, religion more than others; General Science students lead in science & technology reading followed by Computer Science students and the students of Business & Commerce lead in business and games/sports. The students of all faculties mostly read print sources compared to electronic. However, the Computer Science students rank first in exploiting electronic sources followed by Business & Commerce students. The study concludes that the subject background is one of the factors responsible influencing the reading habits of students