A 2007 Model Curriculum for a Liberal Arts Degree in Computer Science

In 1986, guidelines for a computer science major degree program offered in the context of the liberal arts were developed by the Liberal Arts Computer Science Consortium (LACS) [4]. In 1996 the same group offered a revised curriculum reflecting advances in the discipline, the accompanying technology, and teaching pedagogy [6]. In each case, the LACS models represented, at least in part, a response to the recommendations of the ACM/IEEE-CS [1][2]. Continuing change in the discipline, technology, and pedagogy coupled with the appearance of Computing Curriculum 2001 [3] have led to the 2007 Model Curriculum described here. This report begins by considering just what computer science is and what goals are appropriate for the study of computer science in the landscape of the liberal arts. A curricular model for this setting follows, updating the 1996 revision. As in previous LACS curricula, [4] and [6], the model is practical; that is, students can schedule it, it can be taught with a relatively small size faculty, and it contributes to the foundation of an excellent liberal arts education. Finally, this 2007 Model Curriculum is compared with the recommendations of CC2001 [3]

Model of the methodical center of open education in computer science for the teaching of gifted students

В статті визначено та обґрунтовано переваги запровадження змішаної форми навчання інформатиці обдарованих учнів. Для реалізації змішаного навчання учнів пропонується модель методичного центру відкритої освіти з інформатики в школі. Модель методичного центру відкритої освіти пропонує об’єднати зусилля вчителів інформатики різних навчальних закладів для створення відкритих електронних освітніх ресурсів для обдарованих учнів та організації їх навчання у міжшкільних групах. Досвід запровадження змішаного навчання інформатиці обдарованих учнів в моделі методичного центру відкритої освіти розглянуто на прикладі регіонального експерименту, в якому взяли участь 6 навчальних закладів та методичний центр. У моделі методичного центру відкритої освіти з інформатики для обдарованих учнів знайшли відображення мета і основні задачі, методи і форми та діяльність вчителів і учнів у відкритому інформаційно-освітньому середовищі. Основою відкритої освіти за запропонованою моделлю є цілеспрямована, контрольована, інтенсивна самостійна робота учнів, які можуть навчитись за індивідуальним розкладом в зручному для себе місці, маючи доступ до електронних освітніх ресурсів й погоджену можливість контакту з викладачем з використанням: електронною пошти, чату, вебінару, відеоконференції а також особистого контакту. Результати анкетування учнів і їх батьків ілюструють їх зацікавленість в отриманні ІТ-освіти та готовності до участі у навчанні інформатики за змішаною формою навчання. Розвиток інформаційно-освітнього середовища відкритої освіти забезпечується хмарними сервісами для збереження і виконання завдань, он-лайн консультаціями вчителів, постійним оновленням відеоуроків з html - програмування, комп’ютерної графіки та алгоритмізації. Більшість учнів вказують на важливість співпраці з вчителем, але на рівні взаємодії і консультацій а не контролю. Результати навчання учнів в методичному центрі відкритої освіти підтверджуються збільшенням кількості призерів олімпіад з інформатики та задоволеності учнів від он-лайн навчання.The article defines and substantiates the advantages of introducing a mixed form of computer science education for gifted students. For the implementation of mixed student learning, a model of a methodological center for open education in computer science at school is offered. The model of the methodical center of open education offers to combine the efforts of teachers of informatics of various educational institutions to create open electronic educational resources for gifted students and to organize their training in inter-school groups. The experience of introducing mixed learning in the field of computer science of gifted students in the model of the methodical center of open education is considered on the example of a regional experiment, which was attended by 6 educational institutions and methodological center. In the model of the methodical center of open education in computer science for gifted students, the purpose and the main tasks, methods and forms of activity of teachers and students in the open informational and educational environment were reflected. The basis of open education in the proposed model is the purposeful, controlled, intensive independent work of students who can study according to an individual schedule in a convenient place, having access to electronic educational resources and an agreed opportunity of contact with the teacher using: e-mail, chat, webinar, video conferencing as well as personal contact. The results of the survey of students and their parents illustrate their interest in obtaining IT education and readiness to participate in teaching computer science in a mixed form of study. The development of the informational and educational environment of open education is provided by cloud services for the preservation and execution of tasks, online teacher consultations, constant updating of video tutorials on html-programming, computer graphics and algorithmization. Most students point out the importance of working with a teacher, but at the level of interaction and consultation, and not control. Results of studying students in the methodical center of open education are confirmed by an increase in the number of prizewinners of computer science competitions and students' satisfaction from online learnin

Systems thinking activities used in K-12 for up to two decades

Infusing systems thinking activities in pre-college education (grades K-12) means updating precollege education so it includes a study of many systemic behavior patterns that are ubiquitous in the real world. Systems thinking tools include those using both paper and pencil and the computer and enhance learning in the classroom making it more student-centered, more active, and allowing students to analyze problems that have been heretofore beyond the scope of K-12 classrooms. Students in primary school have used behavior over time graphs to demonstrate dynamics described in story books, like the Lorax, and created stock-flow diagrams to describe what was needed to make a garden flourish. Middle school students have created larger stockflow diagrams to study how composting helps to reduce pollution and have created small simulations to study population dynamics and the spread of epidemics. High school students have created/used numerous computer models to study systemic problems in mathematics, physical science, physics, biology, environmental science, global studies, and history. Some high schools developed modeling courses allowing students to create System Dynamics computer models to study problems of their choice, write technical papers explaining their models, and present their models and model results to an audience. This paper contains explanations of some of the systems thinking lessons that have been used with precollege students, some for just 5–6 years (especially the primary and middle school examples), others (especially the mathematics and system dynamics model courses for high school students) for decades

ACM/IEEE-CS information technology curriculum 2017: A status update

The IT2008 Curriculum Guidelines for Undergraduate Degree Programs in Information Technology has been showing its age, and in 2014, the ACM Education Board agreed to oversee the creation of a revision, now being referred to as IT2017. Much progress has been made, and a version 0.6 will be ready by Oct 2016. All proposed panel members are members of the IT2017 Task Group

Los violadores y los que abusan de niños comparten un bajo nivel de actualización ejecutiva pero no de razonamiento fluido

Research findings suggest that sex offenders show worse performance than the general population in neuropsychological tests. Nevertheless, moderators such as age of the victim, use of antisocial control groups, and characteristics of administered measures have been highlighted. Here, 100 participants completed a battery of cognitive measures tapping fluid reasoning, verbal ability, and three basic executive processes (inhibition, switching, and updating). They were matched by educational level and classified in four groups: controls, non-sex offenders, rapists, and child abusers. The analyses revealed that rapists showed lower fluid reasoning scores than controls and child abusers. Furthermore, rapists and child abusers showed lower executive updating performance than controls and non-sex offenders. Importantly, child abusers did show fluid reasoning scores on a par with controls (controlling for updating differences), but their executive updating performance was equivalent to the one revealed by rapists (controlling for fluid intelligence differences). Implications of these findings for the design of efficient intervention programs are discussedLos datos de investigación empírica sugieren que los delincuentes sexuales presentan un peor desempeño que la población general en las pruebas neuropsicológicas. Aun así, se ha resaltado la influencia de variables moderadoras como la edad de la víctima, el uso de grupos control que incluyan individuos antisociales y las características de las medidas utilizadas. En este estudio cien participantes completaron una batería de pruebas cognitivas que evalúan razonamiento fluido, capacidad verbal y tres funciones ejecutivas básicas (inhibición, cambio y actualización). Los participantes estaban igualados en su nivel educativo y divididos en cuatro grupos: controles, delincuentes no sexuales, agresores sexuales con víctimas adultas y abusadores de menores. Los análisis revelaron que los agresores sexuales con víctimas adultas presentaban puntuaciones menores que los controles y los abusadores de menores en razonamiento fluido. Más aún, los agresores con víctimas adultas y los abusadores tenían peor desempeño que los controles y los delincuentes no sexuales en actualización ejecutiva. Es destacable que los abusadores de menores mostraran puntuaciones en razonamiento fluido equiparables a las de los controles (controlando estadísticamente las diferencias en actualización), pero su desempeño en actualización ejecutiva fue equivalente al mostrado por los agresores con víctimas adultas (controlando estadísticamente las diferencias en inteligencia fluida). Finalmente se discuten las implicaciones de estos resultados para el diseño de programas de intervención efectivo

A novel algorithm for dynamic student profile adaptation based on learning styles

The file attached to this record is the author's final peer reviewed version. The Publisher's final version can be found by following the DOI link.E-learning recommendation systems are used to enhance student performance and knowledge by providing tailor- made services based on the students’ preferences and learning styles, which are typically stored in student profiles. For such systems to remain effective, the profiles need to be able to adapt and reflect the students’ changing behaviour. In this paper, we introduce new algorithms that are designed to track student learning behaviour patterns, capture their learning styles, and maintain dynamic student profiles within a recommendation system (RS). This paper also proposes a new method to extract features that characterise student behaviour to identify students’ learning styles with respect to the Felder-Silverman learning style model (FSLSM). In order to test the efficiency of the proposed algorithm, we present a series of experiments that use a dataset of real students to demonstrate how our proposed algorithm can effectively model a dynamic student profile and adapt to different student learning behaviour. The results revealed that the students could effectively increase their learning efficiency and quality for the courses when the learning styles are identified, and proper recommendations are made by using our method