Do Robots Dream of Virtual Sheep: Rediscovering the "Karel the Robot" Paradigm for the "Plug&Play Generation"

We introduce ”C-Sheep”, an educational system designed to teach students the fundamentals of computer programming in a novel and exciting way. Recent studies suggest that computer science education is fast approaching a crisis - application numbers for degree courses in the area of computer programming are down, and potential candidates are put off the subject which they do not fully understand. We address this problem with our system by providing the visually rich virtual environment of ”The Meadow”, where the user writes programs to control the behaviour of a sheep using our ”CSheep” programming language. This combination of the ”Karel the Robot” paradigm with modern 3D computer graphics techniques, more commonly found in computer games, aims to help students to realise that computer programming can be an enjoyable and rewarding experience and intends to help educators with the teaching of computer science fundamentals. Our mini-language-like system for computer science education uses a state of the art rendering engine offering features more commonly found in entertainment systems. The scope of the mini-language is designed to fit in with the curriculum for the first term of an introductory computer program ming course (using the C programming language)

Sustainable ICT education ecosystem

ICT education at Tertiary level in Australia is currently faced with the crisis of low student enrolments despite strong demand from the industry. This has resulted in financial sustainability issues for many university schools/departments offering ICT education. We have seen a large number of Schools or Departments known as e-Commerce, Software Engineering, Information Systems, and Computer Science in Australian Universities have shut down or merged with other Engineering or Business faculties in the last 6 years. This paper examines some findings of this crisis and proposes a framework of a sustainable ICT education ecosystem at tertiary level that may be the model to address the current crisis. The framework is inspired by the foundation of the sustainable ecological ecosystems in nature and we provide conceptual mapping of the ICT education ecosystems to the sustainable ecological ecosystem

Critters in the Classroom: A 3D Computer-Game-Like Tool for Teaching Programming to Computer Animation Students

The brewing crisis threatening computer science education is a well documented fact. To counter this and to increase enrolment and retention in computer science related degrees, it has been suggested to make programming "more fun" and to offer "multidisciplinary and cross-disciplinary programs" [Carter 2006]. The Computer Visualisation and Animation undergraduate degree at the National Centre for Computer Animation (Bournemouth University) is such a programme. Computer programming forms an integral part of the curriculum of this technical arts degree, and as educators we constantly face the challenge of having to encourage our students to engage with the subject. We intend to address this with our C-Sheep system, a reimagination of the "Karel the Robot" teaching tool [Pattis 1981], using modern 3D computer game graphics that today's students are familiar with. This provides a game-like setting for writing computer programs, using a task-specific set of instructions which allow users to take control of virtual entities acting within a micro world, effectively providing a graphical representation of the algorithms used. Whereas two decades ago, students would be intrigued by a 2D top-down representation of the micro world, the lack of the visual gimmickry found in modern computer games for representing the virtual world now makes it extremely difficult to maintain the interest of students from today's "Plug&Play generation". It is therefore especially important to aim for a 3D game-like representation which is "attractive and highly motivating to today's generation of media-conscious students" [Moskal et al. 2004]. Our system uses a modern, platform independent games engine, capable of presenting a visually rich virtual environment using a state of the art rendering engine of a type usually found in entertainment systems. Our aim is to entice students to spend more time programming, by providing them with an enjoyable experience. This paper provides a discussion of the 3D computer game technology employed in our system and presents examples of how this can be exploited to provide engaging exercises to create a rewarding learning experience for our students

Philosophy of Computational Social Science

Computational social science is an emerging field at the intersection of statistics, computer science, and the social sciences. This paper addresses the philosophical foundations of this new field. Kant and Peirce provide an understanding of scientific objectivity as intersubjective validity. Modern mathematics, and especially the mathematics of algorithms and statistics, get their objectivity from the intersubjective validity of formal proof. Algorithms implementing statistical inference, or scientific algorithms, are what distinguish computational social science epistemically from other social sciences. This gives computational social science an objective validity that other social sciences do not have. Objections to the scientific realism of this philosophy from the positions of anti-instrumentalism, postmodern interpretivism, and situated epistemology are considered and either incorporated into this philosophy of computational social science or refuted. Speculative predictions for the field of computational social science are offered in conclusion: computational social science will bring about an end of narrative in the social sciences, contract the field of social scientific knowledge into a narrower, more hierarchical field of expertise, and create a democratic crisis that will only be resolved through universal education in computational statistics

The Challenges of STEM Education

In the 1990s the National Science Foundation moved to identify critical subject areas which most directly impacted the economic development in our nation. Science, math, engineering, and technology were recognized and combined to form the acronym - SMET; unfortunately, SMET sounded too much like smut, so the NSF wisely decided to find a better acronym, and STEM was born. So since inception it would seem, STEM has struggled with its identity. As a result, the first and most pressing challenge of STEM Education is recognizing what STEM is and what it is not. STEM’s identity crisis is evidenced by its many variations: There is STEM, STEMC – because computer science and coding are really important for our future technological development; there is STEAM – add an ‘A’ for the arts because no great products were ever created without artistic sensibilities, just ask Apple; STREAM – add the ‘R’ for reading because no one can be successful without knowing how to read. It would seem that everything in the curriculum is important and wants to be included, but the problem is when everything is important, essentially nothing is

Crisis! what crisis?

Abstract There is a crisis discussed in the discipline of Information Systems. Those who perceive such a crisis to exist are by no means agreed, as to its nature and origins. Our inquiry shows that there are a three distinct “crises” being debated. The first of these relates to the Substance and boundaries of the discipline itself and if it is even a discipline at all. Another “crisis” relates to higher education and a fall in demand for IS courses from new students. Commentators perceive this to threaten the existence of IS departments in Universities, and to have potentially serious consequences for both research strategies and career paths of academics. Thirdly, there is perception of a crisis in the wider world, characterised by fewer vacancies in IS-relevant occupations whilst, at the same time, employers complain of a shortage of suitably skilled applicants for the vacancies available. This paper examines evidence for the three “crises,” real or imagined, suggested above, in the Information Systems field

Got Women? Hiring and Retaining Female Information Technology Professionals Through Effective Human Resource Marketing

The current pipeline for information technology (IT) professionals is dismal, with increasing jobs and decreasing applicants. We propose that one solution to this problem is encouraging women to pursue careers in IT. Today, women are underrepresented, and as a result, they comprise an untapped market segment. After discussing the current state of the industry, we propose that HR professionals should take a proactive, marketing approach to the recruitment and retention of women in the IT field. Lastly, we provide specific recommendations and discuss approaches taken by several companies to address this dilemma

Between the Information Economy and Student Recruitment: Present Conjuncture and Future Prospects

In university programs and curricula, in general we react to the need to meet market needs. We respond to market stimulus, or at least try to do so. Consider now an inverted view. Consider our data and perspectives in university programs as reflecting and indeed presaging economic trends. In this article I pursue this line of thinking. I show how various past events fit very well into this new view. I provide explanation for why some technology trends happened as they did, and why some current developments are important now.Comment: 18 pages, 4 figure