Innopolis University - From Zero to Hero

This open access book describes the development of Innopolis, a young Russian university established in 2012 to focus on teaching excellence in computer science, engineering, and robotics. It reports on the problems that were faced in the first decade of its development, and the adopted solutions. It shows how the key aspects for the development of the faculty, the curricula, the university structure, and the challenge of internationalization have been successfully addressed by the university management and professors, and how the solutions are scalable for other newly founded research organizations. The book is divided in five parts: “The Beginning” describes the very early days in general, from the foundation and start-up of the university with the related processes. “The People” reports on the initial hiring of the faculty members, the selection of students, and the curriculum development. “The Activities” provide information about the creation of the single research institutions and labs, and their relation to industry. “The Future” gives an outlook on the planned internationalization and faculty strategy. Eventually, “A Visual Journey” shows a selection of photographs illustrating highlights of the whole process and the current achievements. The processes and the components described built the basis for the development of Innopolis, and many of them still have a big impact on its present and its future. The fewer mistakes are made at the beginning, the higher the probability to fully achieve the initial goals

The 'Dark Continent' goes north: an exploration of intercultural theatre practice through Handspring and Sogolon Puppet Companies' production of Tall Horse

This essay explores the complexities of intercultural interaction, specifically in the context of globalization. These interactions involve not only contact with, but also negotiation of cultural representations. The debates about the processes involved in such encounters are complex and highlight tensions among aesthetics, ideology, the ethics of production, voice, and authorship. The essay begins by outlining some of the key debates and issues specifically for theatre; in particular, it looks at the tension between Brook’s transcultural approach to intercultural theatre and Rustom Bharucha’s insistence on contextualized and historicized interactions. These theoretical positions are explored against the specific example of Tall Horse (2005), an intercultural production by the South African Handspring Puppet Company, the Malian Sogolon Puppet Company, a choreographer from Benin, and a scriptwriter from New York. The essay examines both the ideological issues raised in the text and the practical issues of cross-cultural collaboration and interaction to suggest an approach that may mediate between binaries that seem to dominate cultural interaction

Expressions, Summer 2014

College of Humanities and the Arts Newsletter, Volume

Faculty Exchanges as a Way to Increase Globalization in the IS Curriculum

Companies are becoming more and more global, in large part because of the impact of Information Systems (IS). IS faculty exchanges can be a way for IS faculty to broaden their experiences and education in this flat world. This article presents the views of four scholars on faculty exchanges and experiences. These views are based on their faculty exchange experiences and were presented during a panel session at the America’s Conference on Information Systems (AMCIS) 2010 in Lima, Peru. The panelists described their individual exchanges, how they impacted their areas of research and teaching, and their lives

CRT-based dialogs: Theory and design

CRT (cathode ray tube) based, direct selection dialogs for computing machines and systems were apparently a cure for issues like ease of learning and ease of use. But unforeseen ~ and probably unforeseeable problems arose as increasingly sophisticated systems and dialogs were developed. This paper describes some of the emerging problems in CRT-based dialog design, develops theories about why they occur, and discusses potential solutions for them as a basis for future research. This investigation also provides a survey of the research into what makes programming and programming languages difficult, and what makes them simple

Attitudes of Pre-service Teachers Toward Computational Thinking in Education

The purpose of the study was to examine the attitudes of pre-service teachers toward computational thinking, before and after an intervention, to convey the importance of integrating computational thinking into K-12 curricula. The two-week, course-embedded intervention introduced pre-service teachers, with varying academic specialties, to computational thinking practices and their utility. The intervention employed the Scratch programming language tool including Scratch flashcards, everyday and interdisciplinary examples of computational thinking, and unplugged activities. The findings indicated that the intervention was an effective new way to convey the value of computational thinking to all sampled pre-service teachers, no matter their academic specialties or GPAs. Further research is recommended to investigate potential increases in pre-service teachers’ own computational thinking skills following from the intervention

Offrir une éducation de guérison par l’écriture et l’art : une résidence en atelier à Paris

We are two Canadian arts-based educational researchers who collaborated during a studio residency in Paris, France, during May 2015, for ten days. Our residency curriculum included study of feminist poet-thinker Hélène Cixous, taking walks in Paris locales, viewing women’s art, and engaging arts-based inquiry methods such as journaling, life writing and creative embodied practices, as a way to pay attention to and document our daily experiences. We practiced what we call companion pedagogy, with a feminist focus on mothering and gifting relations. We find that arts-based, restorative practices strengthen our wellbeing and resiliency as educators, and also support our desire for a more nurturing, mothering humanity to come forward for gifting a healing education. Healing education begs the question of how to address the resiliency of educators over time through what are increasingly challenging and depleting conditions of institutional cultures and economies. We thus offer creative practices such as studio residencies for collective care and gifting that can nurture a restorative pacing of life, while supporting the resiliency of educators to gift their energies towards creative curriculum visioning and enacting of social change.Nous sommes deux chercheurs canadiens en éducation, spécialistes des Arts qui avons collaboré lors d’une résidence en studio de 10 jours à Paris, en France, en mai 2015. Notre programme de résidence traitait de l’étude de la penseuse et poétesse féministe Hélène Cixous, ainsi que de ballades dans les avenues parisiennes, de la contemplation de l’art de femmes, en se servant de méthodes d’enquête artistiques comme la journalisation, la biographie et des pratiques incarnées créatives, comme moyen de prêter attention et de documenter nos expériences quotidiennes. Nous avons pratiqué ce que nous appelons la pédagogie d’accompagnement, avec un angle féministe sur les relations maternelles et de don. Nous avons constaté que les pratiques restauratrices basées sur les arts, renforcent le bien-être et la résilience en tant qu’éducateurs, et confirment également notre souci pour une humanité plus maternelle et nourricière afin d’obtenir une éducation par la guérison. L’éducation par la guérison soulève la question de savoir comment aborder la résilience des éducateurs au fil du temps dans les conditions de plus en plus difficiles et épuisantes des cultures et des économies institutionnelles. Nous offrons ainsi des pratiques créatives comme les résidences en studio pour une prise en charge et des dons collectifs pouvant contribuer à un rythme restaurateur de vie en appuyant la résilience des éducateurs à orienter leurs énergies vers des programmes créatifs de vision et de mise en œuvre du changement social

Understanding the Value of a Study Abroad Experience and Closing the Gender Gap

This thesis works to explore the benefits that a study abroad experience can have on undergraduate students. After providing the benefits and a history of US study abroad programming, it works to understand why more students do not take advantage of such opportunities. Specifically, the gender gap in study abroad is examined in order to attempt to understand why male undergraduate students do not study abroad as much as female undergraduate students. Three explanations for the gender gap are proposed. First, study abroad is seen as being a girl thing. Second, the more involved a male student is on campus, the less likely they are to go abroad. Third, male students often have misinformation about study abroad. With each explanation, solutions are put forth in an attempt to create ways to close the gender gap in study abroad. The conclusion looks at why study abroad is a relevant and crucial experience for all undergraduate students; additionally, it looks at how to broaden the range of students that partake in study abroad

High School Study Abroad: What do World History Students Really Learn?

Study abroad is recognized as a means to teach global citizenship to students, but little empirical research exists to support the notion.  This qualitative research study detailed how a large, urban, public high school implemented a study abroad program to enrich its Advanced Placement World History course.  The diverse school collaborated with a local community college to allow students to participate in a weeklong European study abroad exploring art, architecture and historic sites.  Student interviews demonstrated that study abroad, as a global education enrichment, extended comprehension and enriched classroom learning and could be integrated into many disciplines.  Further, the study revealed the value of the program in meeting the needs of 21st century learners and their self-perceptions as members of the global society.  The study gave insight for school leaders, study abroad coordinators and teachers and suggests future research and study abroad implications for the field of global citizenship