Programming pedagogy in the age of accessible artificial intelligence

In recent years, new teaching opportunities have emerged as artificial intelligence has gained increasing attention in computational thinking education. However, to design effective pedagogy based on the present research landscape, the technology solution must be tailored to a learning environment through a collaboration between human-computer interaction and human-artificial intelligence interaction research. The thesis aims to enhance programming experiences and increase accessibility to programming resources for students in remote schools and post-secondary graduate settings using human-computer interaction and human-artificial intelligence interaction techniques. It addresses the limited computational thinking education resources and the potential of artificial intelligence-assisted coding in a self-learning method suitable for remote Northwestern First Nation communities in Canada. This thesis proposes methods to cater to students’ learning styles in two different learning environments using human-computer interaction for kindergarten to grade 12 students and human-artificial intelligence interaction for university students. Incorporating these research principles can help novice programmers overcome cognitive overload and poor user experience and achieve an optimal user experience. The thesis begins with bibliometric analysis and provides a holistic perspective of computational thinking and artificial intelligence trending strategies. It then presents an empirical study on human-computer interaction, investigating computational thinking in remote kindergarten to grade 12 schools with blended learning environments. It also presents another empirical study on human-artificial intelligence interaction to experiment with a self-learning style for artificial intelligence coding assistants for university students using massive open online courses. [...

Interacting with Presence. HCI and the Sense of Presence in Computer-mediated Environments

The experience of using and interacting with the newest Virtual Reality and computing technologies is profoundly affected by the extent to which we feel ourselves to be really ‘present’ in computer-generated and -mediated augmented worlds. This feeling of 'Presence’, of “being inside the mediated world”, is key to understanding developments in applications such as interactive entertainment, gaming, psychotherapy, education, scientific visualisation, sports training and rehabilitation, and many more. This edited volume, featuring contributions from internationally renowned scholars, provides a comprehensive introduction to and overview of the topic of mediated presence - or ‘tele-presence’ - and of the emerging field of presence research. It is intended for researchers and graduate students in human-computer interaction, cognitive science, psychology, cyberpsychology and computer science, as well as for experienced professionals from the ICT industry. The editors are all well-known professional researchers in the field: Professor Giuseppe Riva from the Catholic University of Milan, Italy; Professor John Waterworth from Umeå University, Sweden; Dianne Murray, an HCI Consultant and editor of the journal “Interacting with Computers”

Multinational perspectives on information technology from academia and industry

As the term \u27information technology\u27 has many meanings for various stakeholders and continues to evolve, this work presents a comprehensive approach for developing curriculum guidelines for rigorous, high quality, bachelor\u27s degree programs in information technology (IT) to prepare successful graduates for a future global technological society. The aim is to address three research questions in the context of IT concerning (1) the educational frameworks relevant for academics and students of IT, (2) the pathways into IT programs, and (3) graduates\u27 preparation for meeting future technologies. The analysis of current trends comes from survey data of IT faculty members and professional IT industry leaders. With these analyses, the IT Model Curricula of CC2005, IT2008, IT2017, extensive literature review, and the multinational insights of the authors into the status of IT, this paper presents a comprehensive overview and discussion of future directions of global IT education toward 2025

Designing for Design Activity

The area of graphic design has expanded since digital media was introduced, and it requires new creative thinking skills in the design process. This paper proposes a design process for a graphic design graduate class using activity theory as a theoretical background. This design process consists of three phases to solve the design problems within diverse design projects. Each phase was examined in terms of how the elements of activity theory could apply to the design process. As a research method, Engeström’s activity system model was adapted and explored in the design processes. A case study is presented to see how the proposed design process applied to a design project. Keywords: Graphic Design Project, Design Process, Activity Theory, Prototyping</p

From ‘hands up’ to ‘hands on’: harnessing the kinaesthetic potential of educational gaming

Traditional approaches to distance learning and the student learning journey have focused on closing the gap between the experience of off-campus students and their on-campus peers. While many initiatives have sought to embed a sense of community, create virtual learning environments and even build collaborative spaces for team-based assessment and presentations, they are limited by technological innovation in terms of the types of learning styles they support and develop. Mainstream gaming development – such as with the Xbox Kinect and Nintendo Wii – have a strong element of kinaesthetic learning from early attempts to simulate impact, recoil, velocity and other environmental factors to the more sophisticated movement-based games which create a sense of almost total immersion and allow untethered (in a technical sense) interaction with the games’ objects, characters and other players. Likewise, gamification of learning has become a critical focus for the engagement of learners and its commercialisation, especially through products such as the Wii Fit. As this technology matures, there are strong opportunities for universities to utilise gaming consoles to embed levels of kinaesthetic learning into the student experience – a learning style which has been largely neglected in the distance education sector. This paper will explore the potential impact of these technologies, to broadly imagine the possibilities for future innovation in higher education

Raising Academic Standards and Vocational Concentrators: Are They Better Off Or Worse Off?

This paper measures the impacts of tougher graduation requirements on course taking patterns, learning, college attendance and post high school labor market outcomes for vocational concentrators and non-concentrators. Our main goal was to assess whether vocational education students were specifically affected (positively or negatively) by the policies heavy emphasis on the academic part of the high school curriculum. Our results show how requiring higher number of academic credits to graduate and introducing a Minimum Competency Exams help high school graduates to be more successful in the labor market, but reduce their chances of obtaining a college degree. Vocational concentrators are better off in MCE states. The positive signal they sent to employers reinforces the occupational skills vocational concentrators possess

Research and Education in Computational Science and Engineering

Over the past two decades the field of computational science and engineering (CSE) has penetrated both basic and applied research in academia, industry, and laboratories to advance discovery, optimize systems, support decision-makers, and educate the scientific and engineering workforce. Informed by centuries of theory and experiment, CSE performs computational experiments to answer questions that neither theory nor experiment alone is equipped to answer. CSE provides scientists and engineers of all persuasions with algorithmic inventions and software systems that transcend disciplines and scales. Carried on a wave of digital technology, CSE brings the power of parallelism to bear on troves of data. Mathematics-based advanced computing has become a prevalent means of discovery and innovation in essentially all areas of science, engineering, technology, and society; and the CSE community is at the core of this transformation. However, a combination of disruptive developments---including the architectural complexity of extreme-scale computing, the data revolution that engulfs the planet, and the specialization required to follow the applications to new frontiers---is redefining the scope and reach of the CSE endeavor. This report describes the rapid expansion of CSE and the challenges to sustaining its bold advances. The report also presents strategies and directions for CSE research and education for the next decade.Comment: Major revision, to appear in SIAM Revie

Designerly Tools

An assumption behind this paper is that research aimed at improving interaction design practice is not as successful as it could be. We will argue that one reason for this is that the understanding of what constitutes designerly tools is not enough recognized among those who propose new tools for interaction design. We define designerly tools as methods, tools, techniques, and approaches that support design activity in way that is appreciated by practicing interaction designers. Based on a two empirical studies, we have developed a framework and a way of studying designers and their tools. We discuss some insights about what characterizes designerly tools and what kind of implications these insights might have for the further development of tools aimed at supporting design practice. Keywords: Design, Tools, Interaction Design, Activities, Support For Design</p