Embedding Computational Thinking into Authentic Technology Practice

This paper presents the findings from a pilot study aimed to investigate how the computational thinking aspect of digital technologies can be embedded authentically into students’ technological practice. The project explored teaching and learning computational thinking in context and particularly focus on technological needs and practice for young Māori learners. There is recognition internationally about the need for digital technologies within the curriculum. Computational thinking is a critical component of this and is defined as an approach to problem-solving, designing computer systems, and understanding related human behaviours, while drawing on fundamental ideas of computing. Therefore, it is critical that all students acquire computational thinking skills. Technology practice is most successful when embedded within authentic contexts, thus this paper presents a study that facilitated the learning of two concepts of computational thinking: sequencing and orientation within culturally embedded technology practice. The study’s vision is to assist mainstream Māori learners from low socio-economic backgrounds to develop an understanding of related concepts of computational thinking. The research design drew on Māori values and practice that situates learning within authentic Māori contexts. Kaupapa Māori pedagogies were used in our design-based intervention programme to achieve the research goal. The focus of the project was to improve digital technologies learning outcomes to ensure Māori tamariki (children) see themselves as comfortably situated in a digital world

Part 1 - Overview and tools

The embedded systems (ES) formation require a broader set of knowledge, abilities and skills including informatics and electronics concepts in order to develop highly creative and imaginative applications based in analytical studies. Moreover, in an effort to improve the education quality it needs to be followed with intense hands-on laboratories. This paper presents a new approach for embedded systems courses appropriate for both high school and undergraduate classrooms, that has been conceived and designed to accomplish these goals, while motivating and equipping this next generation of engineers to rise to future challenges. The course structure was defined in order to be easy to understand and provide a logical flow along the topics, as it mostly progresses from simple topics to more advanced ones. The developed materials include slides for class room teaching, explanatory documents for student and educators future reference, laboratories, tests, programs and application examples after each chapter. Each module is dedicated to a specific aspect of the MSP430 device, including the description of a range of peripherals. This is the first part of the paper presenting the outline of the course. Particularly, this paper identifies the course need, presents its structure, and the initial subjects covering an introductory overview in logic design and embedded processors and a description of the available software and hardware development tools for the MSP430.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Unpacking capabilities underlying design (thinking) process

Engineering graduates must know how to frame and solve non-routine problems. While design classes explicitly teach problem framing and solving, it is lacking throughout much of the rest of the engineering curriculum and is often relegated to capstone classes at the end of the students’ educational experience. This paper explores problem framing and solving through the lens of experiential learning theory. It captures core problem framing and solving approaches from critical, design and systems thinking and concludes with a table of learning outcomes that might be drawn upon in designing an engineering curriculum that more fully develops the problem framing and solving capabilities of its students

A conceptual architecture for interactive educational multimedia

Learning is more than knowledge acquisition; it often involves the active participation of the learner in a variety of knowledge- and skills-based learning and training activities. Interactive multimedia technology can support the variety of interaction channels and languages required to facilitate interactive learning and teaching. A conceptual architecture for interactive educational multimedia can support the development of such multimedia systems. Such an architecture needs to embed multimedia technology into a coherent educational context. A framework based on an integrated interaction model is needed to capture learning and training activities in an online setting from an educational perspective, to describe them in the human-computer context, and to integrate them with mechanisms and principles of multimedia interaction

Trends in LN-embedding practices at Waikato Institute of Technology (Wintec) in 2019

In this report, we describe the trends in literacy-embedding practices of level-2 and level-3 tutors who worked in vocational contexts at Waikato Institute of Technology (Wintec), and who completed the New Zealand Certificate in Adult Literacy and Numeracy Education (NZCALNE[Voc]) in 2019. We analysed 19 observations, following constructivist grounded theory methodology (Charmaz, 2014), to produce 1302 descriptive labels that highlight literacy and numeracy practices integrated into tutors’ teaching intentionally pursued in a collaborative and mentored training process. Of the initial 12 categories, we conflated the mapping of LN course demands and identifying learners’ LN needs to arrive at a final 11. We then used these categories in an axial analysis (Saldaňa, 2013), categorising the 1302 labels as binaries (i.e. if the label was related to the category, 1 was coded; if not 0 [zero]). The matrix of 14322 ratings of 1s and 0s was then analysed. We calculated the frequency of 1s by category. We argued that the axial analysis allowed us to develop a more holistic perspective which showed how the 1302 labels were configured in relation to the 11 categories of analysis. We concluded that the 11 categories represented key aspects of vocational teaching and training emphasising that LN-embedding practices have to be seamlessly integrated into general pedagogical approaches. A key construct for new tutors is to shape their understanding of seamlessly integrated versus bolted-on LN practices. Our recommendations remain within the whole-of-organisation perspective proposed in the 2017-2018 report (Greyling, 2019)

A tool-mediated cognitive apprenticeship approach for a computer engineering course

Teaching database engineers involves a variety of learning activities. A strong focus is on practical problems that go beyond the acquisition of knowledge. Skills and experience are equally important. We propose a virtual apprenticeship model for the knowledge- and skillsoriented Web-based education of database students. We adapt the classical cognitive apprenticeship theory to the Web context utilising scaffolding and activity theory. The choice of educational media and the forms of student interaction with the media are central success criteria

Teaching telecommunication standards: bridging the gap between theory and practice

©2017 IEEE. Personal use of this material is permitted. Permission from IEEE must be obtained for all other uses, in any current or future media, including reprinting/republishing this material for advertising or promotional purposes, creating new collective works, for resale or redistribution to servers or lists, or reuse of any copyrighted component of this work in other works.Telecommunication standards have become a reliable mechanism to strengthen collaboration between industry and research institutions to accelerate the evolution of communications systems. Standards are needed to enable cooperation while promoting competition. Within the framework of a standard, the companies involved in the standardization process contribute and agree on appropriate technical specifications to ensure diversity and compatibility, and facilitate worldwide commercial deployment and evolution. Those parts of the system that can create competitive advantages are intentionally left open in the specifications. Such specifications are extensive, complex, and minimalistic. This makes telecommunication standards education a difficult endeavor, but it is much demanded by industry and governments to spur economic growth. This article describes a methodology for teaching wireless communications standards. We define our methodology around six learning stages that assimilate the standardization process and identify key learning objectives for each. Enabled by software-defined radio technology, we describe a practical learning environment that facilitates developing many of the needed technical and soft skills without the inherent difficulty and cost associated with radio frequency components and regulation. Using only open source software and commercial of-the-shelf computers, this environment is portable and can easily be recreated at other educational institutions and adapted to their educational needs and constraints. We discuss our and our students' experiences when employing the proposed methodology to 4G LTE standard education at Barcelona Tech.Peer ReviewedPostprint (author's final draft

Designing postgraduate pedagogies: connecting internal and external leaders

Learning is the new resource driving the knowledge economy. Now everyone is expected to make themselves available to learn : un-learn : re-learn. Much has been written about new modes of learning, as well the new technologies that promise to deliver information 24/7. Paradoxically, however, in the field of educational sociology there has been little systematic theorisation of the pedagogies designed to facilitate learning in the knowledge economy. Nor have there been systematic efforts to connect macro economic, technological and social changes to state official policies and institutional pedagogic practices. The Bernsteinian theoretical corpus models the power and control relations generating pedagogic discourses, practices and identities from the macro level of policy formation to the micro level of pedagogic interactions. It is therefore useful in examining the new pedagogies designed to generate the learning resources of the knowledge economy. In this paper, we draw on and extend Bernstein's theory of pedagogic discourse and identities to analyse the design and implementation of a postgraduate unit in educational research. This unit aimed to be: rigorous in disciplinary knowledge, technologically innovative, cost efficient; and responsive to diverse student needs and market contingencies