A review into the factors affecting declines in undergraduate Computer Science enrolments and approaches for solving this problem

There has been a noticeable drop in enrolments in Computer Science (CS) courses and interest in CS careers in recent years while demand for CS skills is increasing dramatically. Not only are such skills useful for CS jobs but for all forms of business and to some extent personal lives as Information Technology (IT) is becoming ubiquitous and essential for most aspects of modern life. Therefore it is essential to address this lack of interest and skills to not only fill the demand for CS employees but to provide students with the CS skills they need for modern life especially for improving their employability and skills for further study. This report looks at possible reasons for the lack of interest in CS and different approaches used to enhance CS education and improve the appeal of CS

Introductory programming: a systematic literature review

As computing becomes a mainstream discipline embedded in the school curriculum and acts as an enabler for an increasing range of academic disciplines in higher education, the literature on introductory programming is growing. Although there have been several reviews that focus on specific aspects of introductory programming, there has been no broad overview of the literature exploring recent trends across the breadth of introductory programming. This paper is the report of an ITiCSE working group that conducted a systematic review in order to gain an overview of the introductory programming literature. Partitioning the literature into papers addressing the student, teaching, the curriculum, and assessment, we explore trends, highlight advances in knowledge over the past 15 years, and indicate possible directions for future research

Public Debate Format for the Development of Soft Skill Competency in Computer Science Curricula

We present a method for incorporating soft skill development into a traditional computer science curriculum through the use of a public debate format. The debate format forces participants to practice public speaking, active listening, teamwork, research and preparation, and critical thinking, as well as having the less obvious benefit of contextualizing the material taught in the classroom by introducing contemporary, real-world debate topics. This work presents an example of the incorporation of public debates in an upper-level human-computer interaction class, including a discussion of student feedback, and suggestions for adopting the debate format to other upper-level courses and its perceived benefits

PUBLIC DEBATE FORMAT FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF SOFT SKILL COMPETENCY IN COMPUTER SCIENCE CURRICULA

We present a method for incorporating soft skill development into a traditional computer science curriculum through the use of a public debate format. The debate format forces participants to practice public speaking, active listening, teamwork, research and preparation, and critical thinking, as well as having the less obvious benefit of contextualizing the material taught in the classroom by introducing contemporary, real-world debate topics. This work presents an example of the incorporation of public debates in an upper-level human-computer interaction class, including a discussion of student feedback, and suggestions for adopting the debate format to other upper-level courses and its perceived benefits

\u3cem\u3eLearning to Code Music\u3c/em\u3e: Development of a Supplemental Unit for High School Computer Science

Learning to Code Music is a supplemental unit developed for high school computer science. This unit was developed after researching the effects of biases in curriculum, effective teaching, and incorporating the arts into coding. This supplemental unit is intended to be used with one of the Computer Science Principles curriculum approved by the College Board and explained in the literature review. It is my goal to have other teachers and myself to use this supplemental unit in their high school computer science courses. All supplemental unit material can be found at https://sites.google.com/notusschools.org/earsketch-csp/hom

Incorporating the NSF/TCPP Curriculum Recommendations in a Liberal Arts Setting

This paper examines the integration of the NSF/TCPP Core Curriculum Recommendations in a liberal arts undergraduate setting. We examine how parallel and distributed computing concepts can be incorporated across the breadth of the undergraduate curriculum. As a model of such an integration, changes are proposed to Data Structures and Design and Analysis of Algorithms. These changes were implemented in Design and Analysis of Algorithms and the results were compared to previous iterations of that course taught by the same instructor. The student feedback received shows that the introduction of these topics made the course more engaging and conveyed an adequate introduction to this material

A gentle transition from Java programming to Web Services using XML-RPC

Exposing students to leading edge vocational areas of relevance such as Web Services can be difficult. We show a lightweight approach by embedding a key component of Web Services within a Level 3 BSc module in Distributed Computing. We present a ready to use collection of lecture slides and student activities based on XML-RPC. In addition we show that this material addresses the central topics in the context of web services as identified by Draganova (2003)

Capturing organisational knowledge from educational enhancement: identifying patterns for curriculum innovation

On-line and blended learning is much fêted, particularly by university management as part of the solution to many issues currently facing higher education. However, experienced academics lack examples of suitable pedagogically engaging on-line activities, and remain sceptical or resistant to change. This paper describes a case study of an initiative taken by a newly formed centre with responsibility for introducing such change within a university. It uses a single module to demonstrate a range of on-line activities blended with conventional face-to-face approaches which may then be presented to staff as reusable patterns with generic applicability. At the same time we show how these approaches can meet the requirements of the university management

Mobile App Development to Increase Student Engagement and Problem Solving Skills

This paper describes a project designed to promote problem solving and critical thinking skills in a general education, computing course at an open access institution. A visual programming tool, GameSalad, was used to enable students to create educational apps for mobile platforms. The students worked on a game development project for the entire semester, incorporating various skills learned throughout the semester. Pre and post quiz analysis showed a significant improvement in students’ ability to design comprehensive solutions to a given problem. Survey results also showed increased student engagement, high interest in computing and a “better” understanding of information technology