The other art of computer programming: A visual alternative to communicate computational thinking

The thesis will explore the implications of teaching computer science through visual communication. This study aims to define a framework for using pictures within learning computer science. Visual communication materials for teaching computer science were created and tested with Year 8 students. Along with a recent commercial and political focus on the introduction of coding to adolescents, it appears that the computer industry has a large shortfall of programmers. Accompanying this shortfall is a rise among adolescents in the preference for visual communication (Brumberger, 2011; Coats, 2006; Oblinger et al., 2005; Prensky, 2001; Tapscott, 1998) while textual communication currently dominates the teaching materials in the computing discipline. This study looks at the learning process and utilises the ideas of Gibson, Dewey and Piaget to consider the role of visual design in teaching programming. According to Piagetian theory Year 8 is the time a child begins to understand abstract thought. This research investigated through co-creation and prototyping how to creatively support cognition within the learning process. Visual communication theories, comprising the fields of graphic and information design, were employed to communicate computer science to approximately 60 junior high school students across eight schools. Literature in a range of visual communication fields is reviewed along with the psychology of perception and cognition to help create a prototype lesson plan for the target audience of Year 8 students. The history of computer science is reviewed to illustrate the mental imagery within the discipline and also to explore computational thinking concepts. These concepts are . . . the metaphors and structures that underlie all areas of science and engineering (Guzdial, 2008). The participants’ attitudes increased toward learning programming through visual communication. Quantitative questionnaires were used to gather data on cognition and measure the effectiveness of the learning process. Thirteen hypotheses were established concerning learning programming through pictures from the quantitative data. Focus groups further triangulated data gathered in the quantitative stage. Approximately seventy percent of the participants understood seventy percent of the information within the instrumentation. Models of intent to learn programming through pictures were established using structural equation modelling (SEM). Outcomes of the exegesis are a framework for using pictures that demonstrates computational thinking and explains the research

Writing About Comics and Copyright

Academics who research and write about the visual world often complain about the way in which copyright law can hinder their scholarly endeavours, and with good reason. Writing about visual work without reproducing that work is an impoverished exercise, for both writer and reader. But, reproducing visual material can trigger concerns on the part of the conscientious author or – more often – demands on the part of the publisher about the need to secure copyright permission. In this respect, comics scholarship is no different from any other field of visual or cultural studies. Clearing rights for publication can be frustrating and time-consuming, and academic publishers often manage the business of copyright clearance by making their authors responsible for securing permissions. European Comic Art provides a good example. When an article is accepted for publication, authors are ‘required to submit copyright agreements and all necessary permission letters for reprinting or modifying copyrighted materials, both textual and graphic’, and are ‘responsible for obtaining all permissions and clearing any associated fees.’ Not all publishers, however, adhere to such a black and white position. The Journal of Graphic Novels and Comics is published by Taylor & Francis. In the ‘Authors Services’ section of their website, the publisher acknowledges that reproducing short extracts of text and other types of material ‘for the purposes of criticism may be possible without formal permission’. To better understand when permission is needed, the publisher directs its authors to the Publishers Association’s Permissions Guidelines. To better understand what rights need to be cleared, authors are directed to the publisher’s own FAQs about using third-party material in an academic article. Thirteen of the publisher’s FAQs expressly relate to the reproduction of visual material, and of those only two concede the possibility of reproducing work without permission (they relate to, respectively, the use of ‘screenshots or grabs of film or video’ and the use of ‘very old paintings’). What is not clear from the FAQs document is whether the publisher is purporting to accurately represent the law in this area. If so – as we shall see – the FAQs document is clearly deficient. If, however, Taylor & Francis is simply using the FAQs document to set out the parameters of its own editorial policy on the reproduction of copyright-protected third-party material, then so be it: the publisher is perfectly entitled to adopt such editorial guidelines as it sees fit. I would suggest, though, that in cleaving to an editorial policy that fails to take full advantage of the scope which the copyright regime allows for the lawful reproduction of copyright-protected material without need for permission, the publisher is missing an opportunity to enable and encourage its contributors to augment and enrich comics scholarship as a discipline. It is in this respect that The Comics Grid is more ambitious and forward-thinking: it actively promotes the lawful use of copyright-protected content for the purposes of academic scholarship. The journal’s copyright policy sets out that third-party images are reproduced on the basis of ‘educational fair use’, with readers and contributors directed to Columbia University Libraries’ Fair Use Checklist for further information. This is a checklist that has been developed to help academics and other scholars make a reasonable and balanced determination about whether their use of copyright-protected work is permissible under s.107 of the US Copyright Act 1976: the fair use provision. Obviously, The Comics Grid locates its copyright advice within the context of US copyright law. But, as a Glasgow-based academic, with an interest in both the history and the current state of the UK copyright regime, my particular focus within this comic concerns the extent to which academics – or indeed anyone interested in writing about comics – can rely upon UK copyright law to reproduce extracts and excerpts from published comics and graphic novels without having to ask the copyright owner for permission. To address that issue we must consider three key questions. What constitutes ‘a work’ protected by copyright within the context of comics publishing? What does it mean to speak of ‘insubstantial copying’ from a copyright-protected comic? And what can be copied lawfully from a comic for the purpose of criticism and review

Who says personas can't dance?:The use of comic strips to design information security personas

This paper presents comic strips as an approach to align personas and narrative scenarios; the resulting visual artifact was tested with information security practitioners, who often struggle with wider engagement. It offers ways in which different professional roles can work together to share understanding of complex topics such as information security. It also offers user-centered design practitioners a way to reflect on, and participate with, user research data

Exploring Research through Design in Animal-Computer Interaction

This paper explores Research through Design (RtD) as a potential methodology for developing new interactive experiences for animals. We present an example study from an on-going project and examine whether RtD offers an appropriate framework for developing knowledge in the context of Animal-Computer Interaction, as well as considering how best to document such work. We discuss the design journey we undertook to develop interactive systems for captive elephants and the extent to which RtD has enabled us to explore concept development and documentation of research. As a result of our explorations, we propose that particular aspects of RtD can help ACI researchers gain fresh perspectives on the design of technology-enabled devices for non-human animals. We argue that these methods of working can support the investigation of particular and complex situations where no idiomatic interactions yet exist, where collaborative practice is desirable and where the designed objects themselves offer a conceptual window for future research and development

ToonNote: Improving Communication in Computational Notebooks Using Interactive Data Comics

Computational notebooks help data analysts analyze and visualize datasets, and share analysis procedures and outputs. However, notebooks typically combine code (e.g., Python scripts), notes, and outputs (e.g., tables, graphs). The combination of disparate materials is known to hinder the comprehension of notebooks, making it difficult for analysts to collaborate with other analysts unfamiliar with the dataset. To mitigate this problem, we introduce ToonNote, a JupyterLab extension that enables the conversion of notebooks into “data comics.” ToonNote provides a simplified view of a Jupyter notebook, highlighting the most important results while supporting interactive and free exploration of the dataset. This paper presents the results of a formative study that motivated the system, its implementation, and an evaluation with 12 users, demonstrating the effectiveness of the produced comics. We discuss how our findings inform the future design of interfaces for computational notebooks and features to support diverse collaborators

‘Writing’ through design, an active practice

Stemming from a collaborative research project ‘designing, writing’, this article outlines preliminary findings to the various ways that design practices and design processes contextualize and explicate an intellectual proposition, i.e. how design contributes to advancing knowledge. The overall aim of the research investigation is to disseminate current understanding and best practice on the relationships between designing and writing and their mutual interest in speculation, expression and research. While most discussions around this topic adopt one of two (often polarized) distinct positions – the written text as sole authority and a design object’s capacity to be read as a cultural artefact – our investigation looks at various media of design articulation directly linked to design as a system of inquiry including but not limited to diaries, diagrams and choreographic notation and comics. These media expose a potential to ‘write’ through design and expand design research as non-linear, theoretical and yet practical tools

MEANING-MAKING OF INTERNET MEMES TO CREATE HUMOROUS SENSE: FUNCTIONS AS SPEECH ACTS

This research explored how the memes were created with multimodal elements that could make meaning to create a humorous sense and function as speech acts. With the complexity of meaning-making, nowadays, it had become a trend that people could communicate online through Memes. Semiotics provides how the combination of modes, media, and potential meanings, that were applied to make meaning in memes. At the same time, pragmatics proposes details on how memes can function as speech acts. This research adopted a qualitative method using multimodal analysis by Leeuwen (2005) and speech acts theory by Bach and Harnish (1980) that were employed as the theoretical framework. A total of 16 memes were retrieved and captured as JPG files from social media and other internet websites; therefore, documentation was the only technique used in this research. The results of the study showed that (1) the integration of semiotic resources such as mode, media, and meaning potentials in memes aided the readers to understand the background knowledge of memes (2) two types of communicative illocutionary acts were found in the memes: constative and directive illocutionary acts which function to express the emotion or opinions and question something (3) the effects of using internet memes could be seen through verbal and non-verbal perlocutionary acts which showed an agreement and had the same feeling as in the memes. Finally, the memes containing multimodal components composed of semiotic resources interacted creatively to make humorous sense, and it could aid the readers to communicate online.

A Non-Custodial Wallet for CBDC: Design Challenges and Opportunities

Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) is a novel form of money that could be issued and regulated by central banks, offering benefits such as programmability, security, and privacy. However, the design of a CBDC system presents numerous technical and social challenges. This paper presents the design and prototype of a non-custodial wallet, a device that enables users to store and spend CBDC in various contexts. To address the challenges of designing a CBDC system, we conducted a series of workshops with internal and external stakeholders, using methods such as storytelling, metaphors, and provotypes to communicate CBDC concepts, elicit user feedback and critique, and incorporate normative values into the technical design. We derived basic guidelines for designing CBDC systems that balance technical and social aspects, and reflect user needs and values. Our paper contributes to the CBDC discourse by demonstrating a practical example of how CBDC could be used in everyday life and by highlighting the importance of a user-centred approach.Comment: 25 pages, 12 figure