Creative Computation in High School

In this paper we describe the success of bringing Creative Computation via Processing into two very different high schools that span the range of possibilities of grades 9-12 in American education. Creative Computation is an emerging discipline that requires a thorough grounding in both media arts and computing. We report on how contextualized computing that supports integration of media arts, design, and computer science can successfully attract and motivate students to learn foundations of programming and come back for more. The work of two high school teachers with divergent pedagogical styles is presented. They successfully adapted a college-level Creative Computation curriculum to their individual school cultures providing a catalyst for significant increases in total enrollment as well as female participation in high school computer science

Creative Computation in High School

In this paper we describe the success of bringing Creative Computation via Processing into two very different high schools that span the range of possibilities of grades 9-12 in American education. Creative Computation is an emerging discipline that requires a thorough grounding in both media arts and computing. We report on how contextualized computing that supports integration of media arts, design, and computer science can successfully attract and motivate students to learn foundations of programming and come back for more. The work of two high school teachers with divergent pedagogical styles is presented. They successfully adapted a college-level Creative Computation curriculum to their individual school cultures providing a catalyst for significant increases in total enrollment as well as female participation in high school computer science

Creative Computation in High School

In this paper we describe the success of bringing Creative Computation via Processing into two very different high schools that span the range of possibilities of grades 9-12 in American education. Creative Computation is an emerging discipline that requires a thorough grounding in both media arts and computing. We report on how contextualized computing that supports integration of media arts, design, and computer science can successfully attract and motivate students to learn foundations of programming and come back for more. The work of two high school teachers with divergent pedagogical styles is presented. They successfully adapted a college-level Creative Computation curriculum to their individual school cultures providing a catalyst for significant increases in total enrollment as well as female participation in high school computer science

public class Graphic_Design implements Code { // Yes, but how? }: An investigation towards bespoke Creative Coding programming courses in graphic design education

Situated in the intersection of graphic design, computer science, and pedagogy, this dissertation investigates how programming is taught within graphic design education. The research adds to the understanding of the process, practice, and challenges associated with introducing an audience of visually inclined practitioners—who are often guided by instinct—to the formal and unforgiving world of syntax, algorithms, and logic. Motivating the research is a personal desire to contribute towards the development of bespoke contextualized syllabi specifically designed to accommodate how graphic designers learn, understand, and use programming as an integral skill in their vocational practice.The initial literature review identifies a gap needing to be filled to increase both practical and theoretical knowledge within the interdisciplinary field of computational graphic design. This gap concerns a lack of solid, empirically based epistemological frameworks for teaching programming to non-programmers in a visual context, partly caused by a dichotomy in traditional pedagogical practices associated with teaching programming and graphic design, respectively. Based on this gap, the overarching research question posed in this dissertation is: “How should programming ideally be taught to graphic designers to account for how they learn and how they intend to integrate programming into their vocational practice?”A mixed methods approach using both quantitative and qualitative analyses is taken to answer the research questions. The three papers comprising the dissertation are all built on individual hypotheses that are subsequently used to define three specific research questions.Paper 1 performs a quantitative mapping of contemporary, introductory programming courses taught in design schools to establish a broader understanding of their structure and content. The paper concludes that most courses are planned to favor programming concepts rather than graphic design concepts. The paper’s finding can serve as a point of departure for a critical discussion among researchers and educators regarding the integration of programming in graphic design education.Paper 2 quantitatively assesses how the learning style profile of graphic design students compares with that of students in technical disciplines. The paper identifies a number of significant differences that call for a variety of pedagogic and didactic strategies to be employed by educators to effectively teach programming to graphic designers. Based on the results, specific recommendations are given.Paper 3 proposes a hands-on, experiential pedagogic method specifically designed to introduce graphic design students to programming. The method relies on pre-existing commercial graphic design specimens to contextualize programming into a domain familiar to graphic designers. The method was tested on the target audience and observations on its use are reported. Qualitative evaluation of student feedback suggests the method is effective and well-received. Additionally, twenty-four heuristics that elaborate and extend the paper’s findings by interweaving other relevant and influential sources encountered during the research project are provided. Together, the literature review, the three papers, and the heuristics provide comprehensive and valuable theoretical and practical insights to both researchers and educators, regarding key aspects related to introducing programming as a creative practice in graphic design education

The Effects Of 2D And 3D Representations In Second Life On Students’ Perception And Performance In Learning Java Programming In Saudi Arabia

The researcher found that most computer science’s students have a limited understanding of the main concepts of Java and have difficulties in visualizing learning spaces. The researcher aims to study the ability of students to understand the concepts of learning Java when writing codes. This study examined the attitudes, perceptions, motivations, self-efficacies, and achievements of the students in the Teachers’ College, Saudi Arabia by comparing the contributions of a three dimensional (3D) representation to such factors with the contributions of a two dimensional (2D) representation. Pengkaji mendapati bahawa kebanyakan pelajar sains komputer mempunyai pemahaman konsep Java yang terhad dan disebabkan ini, mereka seringkali mengalami kesulitan dalam visualisasi ruang pembelajaran. Justeru itu, pengkaji berharap untuk meningkatkan kebolehan para pelajar agar memahami ketelitian konsep mempelajari Java secara lebih jelas dalam penulisan kod. Kajian ini meneliti aspek sikap, persepsi, motivasi, keupayaan diri dan pencapaian pelajar di Kolej Perguruan, Arab Saudi dan perbandingan dalam penggunaan dua dimensi (2D) dan tiga dimensi (3D) serta faktor-faktor yang terlibat telah dilakukan

Facing Challenges of Covid-19: The Perspective of China and Ethiopia Educational Institutions

Concerning the fast spread of COVID-19, countries all over the world have closed academic institutions to stop the pandemic. It is now apparent that students and teachers require other options that have to be more versatile, easily accessible, and support the current technologies and conditions to face the unpredictable future. From the review, literature disclosed that universities throughout the globe are establishing and implementing electronics learning platforms as a basic need in academic institutions. This manuscript aimed to assess the status of electronics learning in China and Ethiopian educational institutions to counter the challenges of the closure of schools because of the outbreak of the pandemic. The paper highlights concerning e-learning in the sense of China and Ethiopia, e-learning challenges, and successful experiences. This review paper also suggests educators use e-learning and distance learning as a necessity to advance learning, particularly during this pandemic season

Personalised trails and learner profiling within e-learning environments

This deliverable focuses on personalisation and personalised trails. We begin by introducing and defining the concepts of personalisation and personalised trails. Personalisation requires that a user profile be stored, and so we assess currently available standard profile schemas and discuss the requirements for a profile to support personalised learning. We then review techniques for providing personalisation and some systems that implement these techniques, and discuss some of the issues around evaluating personalisation systems. We look especially at the use of learning and cognitive styles to support personalised learning, and also consider personalisation in the field of mobile learning, which has a slightly different take on the subject, and in commercially available systems, where personalisation support is found to currently be only at quite a low level. We conclude with a summary of the lessons to be learned from our review of personalisation and personalised trails

Spatial cognitive processes involved in electronic circuit interpretation and translation: their use as powerful pedagogical tools within an education scenario

While there is much research concerning the interpretation of diagrams such as geographical maps and networks for information systems, there is very little on the diagrams involved in electrical and electronic engineering. Such research is important not only because it supports arguments made for other types of diagrams but also because it informs on the cognitive processes going on while learning electrical and electronic engineering domains, which are generally considered difficult to teach and learn. Such insight is useful to have as a pedagogical tool for teachers. It might also benefit would be self-learners, entrepreneurs, and hobbyists in the field because it can guide self-learning practices. When cognitive practices specific to this knowledge domain are more understood, they might give rise to automated intelligent tutor systems which could be used to augment teaching and learning practices in the education of electrical and electronic engineering. This research analyses the spatial cognitive processes involved in the translation of an electronic circuit schematic diagram into an iconic representation of the same circuit. The work shows that the cognitive affordances of proximity and paths perceived from a circuit schematic diagram have great influence on the design of an iconic diagram, or assembly diagram, representing a topologically equivalent electronic circuit. Such cognitive affordances reflect and affect thought and can be used as powerful pedagogical tools within an educational scenario

Faculty Perspectives on E-Learning Policy in a Canadian University

This qualitative multi-method study investigated faculty member perspectives on e-learning policy, and its influence on their use of e-learning. The research was conducted at one medium sized comprehensive university in Ontario, Canada. Data were collected from interviews with 12 full-time faculty members, eight of whom had taught at least one online undergraduate university course. Data were also collected from institutional and government documents. Respondents noted e-learning increased flexibility and/or convenience with respect to both their engagement with students, and student engagement with course material. E-learning was identified positively for its ability to save time by some respondents, and negatively as being time intensive by others. Increased student and government demand for on-line courses, as well as the opportunity to use technology for instructional purposes, increased respondents’ use of e-learning. Additionally, the university’s pedagogical centre, which provided direct support to respondents, was considered key in supporting their transition to e-learning. Respondents were generally unable to identify specific university policy related to e-learning, and some noted the lack of specific policy had hampered e-learning course development in their departments. The documents reviewed tended to view e-learning in favourable terms, highlighting it as a response to changing political, economic, and societal conditions, and promoting it for its ability to reduce costs to the university, increase student enrolment, and provide more equitable access to university programs, particularly for under-represented groups such as new Canadians, Indigenous peoples, and first-generations students. Whereas government documents tended to focus on mandates (e.g. the intent to change the university system based on each university’s strengths), institutional documents focused on teaching, learning, and e-learning, both in response to government mandates, and in alignment with the University’s strategic direction. Collectively, the documents shared the respondents’ perceptions regarding flexibility, time, and demand. However, while government documents focused on issues of cost, changing conditions, enrolment and equitable access, institutional documents explained e-learning, the differences with face-to-face teaching and learning, and how best to integrate e-learning into practice

Teaching How to Select an Optimal Agile, Plan-Driven, or Hybrid Software Development Approach: Lessons from Enterprise Software Development Leaders

Over 20 years after introducing and popularizing agile software development methods, those methods have proven effective in delivering projects that meet agile assumptions. Those assumptions require that projects be small and simple in scope and utilize small, colocated teams. Given this success, many agile advocates argue that agile should replace plan-driven methods in most or all project contexts, including those projects that deviate significantly from agile assumptions. However, today’s reality is that a diversity of agile, plan-driven, and hybrid approaches continue to be widely used, with many individual organizations using multiple approaches across different projects. Furthermore, while agile advocates argue that the primary barrier to agile adoption is the inertia of traditional organizational cultures, there are, in fact, many rational motivations for utilizing plan-driven and hybrid methods based on individual project characteristics. For information systems students, this creates confusion in two ways: 1) understanding that there is no single best way to develop software in all circumstances but, rather, teams should choose an optimal project approach based on project characteristics, and 2) unpacking and analyzing the wide range of project characteristics – including multiple dimensions in functional requirements, non-functional requirements (NFRs), and team characteristics – that impact that choice. This paper addresses both sources of confusion by utilizing case studies from 22 interviews of enterprise software development leaders. The paper analyzes each case utilizing a “home grounds” model that graphically portrays key project characteristics and their impact on the optimal choice of software development project approach