Shards: a system for systems

Operating system construction is often focused on the internal operation and architecture of a general purpose system. This thesis instead focuses on systems built in response to a specific purpose, design intent, application load and platform. These are referred to as custom systems in the thesis. These focused systems have known demands, constraints and requirements that provide a target for system design and optimisation. These systems can perform valuable and demanding tasks which may encourage optimisation effort. The first challenge is discovering and capturing these attributes in an encoding that can be machine manipulated. The second challenge was to use this information in a way which makes custom system construction economical, thereby widening the range of systems for which such efforts are appropriate. A bespoke and manual system construction is too expensive for the more narrowly deployed systems being considered. The operating systems field generally assumes a long lived and widely deployed general system which can afford significant design effort up-front which is not applicable in this case. The proposed solution was to balance the advantages of modular functionality with automated configuration, construction and tailoring based on the captured demands of the proposed system. Effectively the operating system is compiled as an integrated part of the system. In such an approach new inputs not relevant to general systems, such as application code and design intent, are known in advance and can inform the system generation process. This leads to an operating system structure that is determined by and optimised to the needs of the proposed system. A clean architecture is often a design goal for system construction. In this case the ideal is an operating system so integrated into the overall system there is no clearly identifiable run time structure. The Operating System could become part of the hardware, system operation or applications of the system. The final goal was to build a foundation in which construction work or advances can be captured and reused. Building a complete "system of systems" in a single project would be an impractical undertaking. The effort was to build an approach and framework which could grow as a side effect of its use and application. This allowed the lessons learnt and work done in one project to potentially enrich both this approach and the domain of operating systems

OnCreate and the virtual teammate: an analysis of online creative processes and remote collaboration

This paper explores research undertaken by a consortium of 10 universities from across Europe as part of an EU Erasmus Strategic Partnership project called OnCreate. Recent research and experiences prove the importance of the design and implementation of online courses that are learner-centred, include collaboration and integrate rich use of media in authentic environments. The OnCreate project explores the specific challenges of creative processes in such environments. The first research phase comprises a comparative qualitative analysis of collaboration practices in design-related study programmes at the ten participating universities. A key outcome of this research was in identifying the shortcomings of the hierarchical role models of established Learning Management Systems (such as Moodle or Blackboard) and the tendency towards evolving 'mash-up' environments to support creative online collaboration

Understanding conceptual transfer in students learning a new programming language

There is a large literature from at least as early as 1985 on the difficulties encountered in learning programming languages, and in particular additional programming languages. This thesis concentrates on how students transfer their knowledge from their first programming language to their second. The central idea is to adapt and use theories from linguistics of how people learn second natural languages to illuminate the problems of learning second programming languages. The major claim of this thesis is that: Semantic transfer based on syntax similarities plays a role in relative novices’ conceptual transfer between programming languages; the implementation of deliberate semantic transfer interventions during relative novices’ second language learning can lead to improved conceptual transfer and understanding in learning a second programming language. This thesis uses mixed methods to investigate how students transition from procedural Python to object-oriented (OO) Java. It includes a sequence of nine research studies building on each other. First, an exploratory qualitative study is carried out on how semantic transfer in natural language applies to programming language transfer; secondly, a Model of Programming Language Transfer (MPLT) is developed based on the first study’s findings; thirdly, four quantitative studies are carried out to validate the model; fourthly, a study that collects school teachers’ views and experiences on second language learning is carried out; fifthly, a study is conducted to explore transfer interventions with students; and the last study builds and investigates a pedagogy for transfer deriving from the MPLT. The findings support the thesis claim that semantic transfer based on syntax similarities plays a role in relative novices’ conceptual transfer between programming languages. The transfer can be positive when the first programming language (PL1) and the second programming language (PL2) share similar syntax and semantics, negative when PL1 and PL2 share similar syntax but have different semantics, and there is little or no transfer when PL1 and PL2 have different syntax but share similar semantics. The results also reveal that transfer teaching interventions based on the MPLT could improve conceptual transfer and understanding in students learning a second PL. The contribution of this thesis is two-fold: First, a validated model of programming language transfer that has three categories that reflect the types of potential transfer students encounter when learning a second programming language. The model provides a unified way to measure transfer in second language learning. Second, a validated unified pedagogical guideline for promoting transfer in programming languages derived from the MPLT. Researchers, educators and curriculum designers can use these instruments to advance research, teach, and design teaching materials. First, the researchers can use the instruments to further programming language transfer research by adopting them in other programming language contexts. Second, educators can use the instruments as a guideline for improving second and subsequent programming language teaching. Lastly, Computer Science (CS) curricular designers can draw on these instruments as guidance to design teaching material that promotes transfer as students transition to new programming languages. They can also use them for teacher professional development

XXIII Congreso Argentino de Ciencias de la Computación - CACIC 2017 : Libro de actas

Trabajos presentados en el XXIII Congreso Argentino de Ciencias de la Computación (CACIC), celebrado en la ciudad de La Plata los días 9 al 13 de octubre de 2017, organizado por la Red de Universidades con Carreras en Informática (RedUNCI) y la Facultad de Informática de la Universidad Nacional de La Plata (UNLP).Red de Universidades con Carreras en Informática (RedUNCI