Formal methods for surviving the jungle of heterogeneous parallelism

pre-printThe parallel programming community will soon be entering the ‘jungle' of heterogeneous hardware and software. Unfortunately, we are not adequately preparing future programmers (today's students) to cope with the many challenges of heterogeneous concurrency, especially in their ability to rigorously specify and verify concurrent systems. Concerted action is urgently needed to create a body of education material supplemented by effective software tools that help gain working knowledge of specification and verification techniques. We suggest funding models and incentives that can help create this material and put them into wide practice

The affordances of virtual world technologies to empower the visualisation of complex theory concepts in computer science: Enhancing success and experience in higher education

Abstract:This research targeted complex abstract concepts in Computer Science and focused on bringing about the visualisation of such concepts using virtual world technologies. The research proposed the use of virtual world elements to support the understanding and learning of six computer science subjects having difficult theory concepts at the Higher Education level.The researcher decided to choose Higher Education as the platform for this research, due to the significant need to understand and learn complex abstract concepts of Computer Science at this level. The framework of the research is Higher Education within Further Education, which was chosen for its challenging nature with regards to students’ background and the level of additional support required for their success.The Second Life virtual world was selected and utilised to build purposely designed and scripted scenarios to empower the visualisation of complex theory concepts of the selected computer science subjects. These scenarios were embedded, in a predetermined order, within the curriculum delivery of a number of selected Computer Science modules from a Foundation Degree and a BSc (Hons) in Computing Programmes in a FE college in England. The research activities were carried out in two academic years, 2012/2013 and 2013/2014, in order to involve more students and obtain additional data to effectively, and more accurately, answer the research questions.The research aimed at identifying the extent to which using virtual world technologies to visualise difficult theory concepts in Computer Science subjects, might enhance students' learning and achievement. The research outcomes provided positive answers to the four research questions, which pursued the extent to which the visualisation of such concepts using Second life virtual world might, 1) facilitate students’ understanding of the complex abstract concepts in their HE Computer Science subjects, 2) increase students’ engagement in their HE Computer Science sessions, 3) enhance affective quality (to include elements such as appeal, enjoyment, interest and appreciation), and 4) improve student’s achievement (i.e. grades) in the targeted modules.In answer to these questions, the research outcomes showed that subject difficulty was reduced by 25% and around three quarters of students acknowledged enhanced learning in the virtual environment. Seventy percent of students acknowledged becoming more engaged in their study sessions that were carried out in virtual worlds, and more than three quarters of students acknowledged enhanced affective quality. Finally, around 85% of the modules covered by the research witnessed improved students’ achievement (i.e. higher grades).The researcher explained potential use, advantages and limitations of employing Second Life in Higher Education in general and HE Computer Science in particular, and provided recommendations to academic institutions that are interested in applying such virtual world technologies to overcome the challenges involved

Proceedings of The Rust-Edu Workshop

The 2022 Rust-Edu Workshop was an experiment. We wanted to gather together as many thought leaders we could attract in the area of Rust education, with an emphasis on academic-facing ideas. We hoped that productive discussions and future collaborations would result. Given the quick preparation and the difficulties of an international remote event, I am very happy to report a grand success. We had more than 27 participants from timezones around the globe. We had eight talks, four refereed papers and statements from 15 participants. Everyone seemed to have a good time, and I can say that I learned a ton. These proceedings are loosely organized: they represent a mere compilation of the excellent submitted work. I hope you’ll find this material as pleasant and useful as I have. Bart Massey 30 August 202

Low empathizing and high systemizing tendencies in Higher Education computing students: The affordances of virtual worlds in their education

Background. The increasing societal reliance on emerging technology is demanding much more of those planning a career in the computing profession than technical ability alone. Many contemporary roles require business contact and therefore soft skills are an essential component of capability. However, the association between those who are inherently drawn to a career in computing and low empathizing, high systemizing (LEHS) tendencies could impair their future performance. Therefore, it is important for higher education to both recognize this need and devise strategies to ensure that the required soft skills are developed as early as possible.Aim. To evaluate the ability of virtual world technology, through its characteristics of immersion, identity and interaction, to foster the soft skills identified as presenting the most difficulty for those with a LEHS disposition as part of their higher education experience.Method. A variety of virtual world activities were introduced to an undergraduate applied computing programme in order to target the following areas: coping with changes in routine, verbal and non-verbal communication, the application of play/imagination and the development of social relationships. The study was guided by the students’ position on the Autism Quotient continuum and a range of quantitative/qualitative methods were applied to assess student performance, as well as their perception of the intervention.Result. It was found that achievement was generally improved for all students in areas that involved virtual world activities. Although the soft skills attainment appeared to be delayed in those with LEHS tendencies, it was seen as being more significant than those below the average AQ threshold, with a noticeable impact in areas of extreme difficulty.Conclusion. The achievement, apparent in all computing students, was expedient in terms of educational practicality. However, the study suggests that VW activities could be used as an engaging device to provide a technical solution to the acquisition of non-technical skills, particularly for those exhibiting LEHS traits

Analysing, visualising and supporting collaborative learning using interactive tabletops

The key contribution of this thesis is a novel approach to design, implement and evaluate the conceptual and technological infrastructure that captures student’s activity at interactive tabletops and analyses these data through Interaction Data Analytics techniques to provide support to teachers by enhancing their awareness of student’s collaboration. To achieve the above, this thesis presents a series of carefully designed user studies to understand how to capture, analyse and distil indicators of collaborative learning. We perform this in three steps: the exploration of the feasibility of the approach, the construction of a novel solution and the execution of the conceptual proposal, both under controlled conditions and in the wild. A total of eight datasets were analysed for the studies that are described in this thesis. This work pioneered in a number of areas including the application of data mining techniques to study collaboration at the tabletop, a plug-in solution to add user-identification to a regular tabletop using a depth sensor and the first multi-tabletop classroom used to run authentic collaborative activities associated with the curricula. In summary, while the mechanisms, interfaces and studies presented in this thesis were mostly explored in the context of interactive tabletops, the findings are likely to be relevant to other forms of groupware and learning scenarios that can be implemented in real classrooms. Through the mechanisms, the studies conducted and our conceptual framework this thesis provides an important research foundation for the ways in which interactive tabletops, along with data mining and visualisation techniques, can be used to provide support to improve teacher’s understanding about student’s collaboration and learning in small groups