The R-Cube: reviewing, reinforcing and rewarding after successful module completion

Revisiting material previously presented and successfully assessed can lead to much frustration among teaching staff and students. Despite this, it is often a requirement due to the time lag between the point at which a student begins a module and the time when they successfully passed a prerequisite module. Also, students who successfully pass a module fit into a number of categories, from those who were successful in all components of the assessment to those who displayed the minimum level of competence required for satisfaction of the learning outcomes. We introduce a novel instructional model which we predict will be instrumental in assisting our undergraduate Software Engineers who have displayed medium levels of competence in passing practical modules. The R-CUBE recognizes the importance of three dimensions to revisiting material - review, reinforce and reward. Our initial implementation of instruction using the model employs novel teaching and learning methods closely tied to our experience with service learning projects. We expect to fully evaluate the effectiveness of the model when the first students pass through a project that employs it at the end of this academic year

Student as Teacher: Computing Projects in Local Schools.

Poster displaying computing ininner city Dublin schools.https://arrow.tudublin.ie/civpostbk/1050/thumbnail.jp

A Critique of Singaporean Internal Tertiary Education Programmes offered by Private Colleges: A Brief Comparison with Ireland

Singapore has a similar population to Ireland and gross domestic products (GDPs) for both countries are comparable. However, culturally and in other respects, the two republics are very different. Unemployment in Ireland is six times higher than in Singapore where GDP has almost doubled since 2007 but has fallen by nearly 11% in Ireland in the same time-span. One aspect of life in both countries transcending cultural differences is the importance placed on tertiary education. The Irish and Singaporean people share a deep commitment to education and the imperative of building and maintaining a knowledge economy is central to both societies. Employment in higher education in Singapore is more tenuous than in Ireland and it is common for a lecturer who is considered to have underperformed to not have a contract renewed. Irish higher education adheres closely to European policies and practices, particularly in adoption of quality assurance procedures. Consequently, it is expected that similar bachelor degree programmes in Ireland, for example in Mechanical Engineering or Physics, will be quality assured to a consistent standard across the higher education system. Quality assurance (QA) differs markedly in both states. For instance, QA in the National University of Singapore (NUS) is typically managed by internal committees, augmented by ‘Visiting Committees’. The multitude of courses offered by private colleges in partnership with UK universities are subject to the QA procedures of the respective universities and hence are regulated by the UK Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education (QAA). However, an internal tertiary programme may or may not follow a strict QA procedure. If it does, the QA policies are drafted by the institution’s staff and are based on the requirements of Singapore’s Council of Private Education (CPE). Hence it is possible that the standard set may be inconsistent with the standard demanded by overseas QA regulations. In cases where QA procedures are not implemented, there can be little confidence among stakeholders in respect of the quality of the programme and standards may be arbitrary. Quality assurance of Irish higher education is coordinated through Qualifications and Quality Ireland (QQI), a state body responsible for the review of institutions who usually operate their own quality assurance systems. In some cases, QQI takes direct responsibility for quality assurance within smaller institutions, while also taking direct responsibility in other education sectors, such as the further education sector. There is a widely held perception amongst stakeholders in higher education in Singapore that internal programmes in tertiary education offer lower quality than the external tertiary programmes which are affiliated to well-established, mainly British, universities. Many factors have influenced this view, leading to its reinforcement and wide acceptance. These factors are discussed here and a simple but telling case study is offered. The practices of private colleges running their own internal Diploma and Advanced Diploma programmes are evaluated by observing specific situations. Comparisons are made with similar practices of colleges that run external Diploma and Advanced Diploma programmes under the auspices of UK universities and practices followed in private colleges and institutes of technology in Ireland. In conclusion, the need for uniform quality procedures across the Singaporean higher education system is highlighted and some necessary steps in achieving this requirement are advanced

Assessment of the Accuracy of Cable Sheath Fault Location Device and Enhancement of its Performance

As power system networks are being constantly upgraded and extended, there is a greater importance in the reliable transmission of electrical power and fault finding techniques, especially for cables installed underground. Damage to a cable’s protective sheath can damage a cables life span and also lead to disruption of system operation and loss of supply. This study includes research into the literature and techniques used to locate these faults accurately. Bridge resistance and volt drop measurement techniques are the main methods used by sheath fault location devices to locate faults accurately. This task is made more difficult because such devices are hindered by a limited test current. This study carries out an analysis of the accuracy of a leading cable sheath fault location device, which utilizes the volt drop method. Testing was conducted across a series of circuits and a comparison of accuracy was made between this device and a range of measurement devices. After a thorough analysis of test results was carried out, a new method of sheath fault location was developed and examined with the aim of improving fault location accurac

A Study of First Year Undergraduate Computing Students\u27 Experience of Learning Software Development in the Absence of a Software Development Process

Despite the ever-growing demand for software development graduates, it is recognised that a significant barrier for increasing graduate numbers lies in the inherent difficulty in learning how to develop software. This paper presents a study that is part of a larger research project aimed at addressing the gap in the provision of educational software development processes for freshman, novice undergraduate learners, to improve proficiency levels. As a means of understanding how such learners problem solve in software development in the absence of a formal process, this study examines the experiences and depth of learning acquired by a sample set of novice, freshman university learners. The study finds that without the scaffolding of an appropriate structured development process tailored to novices, students are in danger of failing to engage with the problem solving skills necessary for software development, particularly the skill of designing solutions prior to coding

A Software Development Process for Freshman Undergraduate Students

This conceptual paper presents work which is part of an ongoing research project into the design of a software development process aimed at freshman, undergraduate computing students. The process of how to plan and develop a solution is a topic that is addressed very lightly in many freshman, undergraduate courses which can leave novices open to developing habit-forming, maladaptive cognitive practices. The conceptual software development process described in this paper has a learning process at its core which centres on declarative knowledge (in the form of threshold concepts) and procedural knowledge (in the form of computational thinking skills) scaffolding freshman software development from initial planning through to final solution. The process - known as Computational Analysis and Design Engineered Thinking (CADET) - aims to support the structured development of both software and student self-efficacy

A Conceptual Framework for a Software Development Process based on Computational Thinking

A software development process is a mechanism for problem solving to help software developers plan, design and structure the development of software to solve a problem. Without a process to guide the structured evolution of a solution, it is extremely likely that at least some aspect of the resulting software will be omitted or incorrectly implemented. Even though the importance of utilising a software process for solving problems is accepted in the business and academic communities, it is a topic that is addressed very lightly (if at all) in most freshman undergraduate computing courses with most courses focussing on programming procedures rather than the process of how to develop a solution. A consequence of this is that some students go on to develop maladaptive cognitive practices where they rush to implement solutions to problems with little planning. Typically these maladaptive practices involve surface practices such as coding by rote learning and cutting and pasting code from existing projects. Such practices can be very difficult to unlearn and can result in students lacking skills in planning and designing solutions to problems which can persist to graduation. Despite these issues, little active research has been found on the development of software processes aimed at freshman third level learners and consequently there are few approaches available to help freshman students through all stages of the software process. However, there is a wealth of current research into computational thinking (CT) as a mechanism to help solve computational problems. Even though CT is seen as a key practice of computer science, most of the research into CT (as a named area) is aimed at 1st and 2nd level education with CT being a more implicit part of third level computing courses. This suggests that there is an exciting opportunity to explicitly exploit the affordances and skills of CT into a software process aimed at freshman third level learners. This paper presents work which has been carried out as part of an ongoing research project into this issue in which the key skills associated with computational thinking are incorporated into a conceptual framework which will provide a structure for a software process aimed at freshman undergraduate computing students. This research is not tied to any particular programming paradigm but its use is assumed to be in the context of imperative, commercial programming languages. The framework is centred on declarative knowledge (in the form of threshold concepts) and procedural knowledge (in the form of CT skills) scaffolding freshman software development from initial planning through to final solution. The framework known as Computational Analysis and Design Engineered Thinking (CADET) – once operationalised as a software process with an accompanying support tool - aims to support the structured development of both software and student self-efficacy in the topic

The Design of Student Training Resources to Enhance the Student Voice in Academic Quality Assurance and Quality Enhancement Processes

Without appropriate training and recognition, students – in particular Class Representatives – often struggle to engage fully with a University’s quality assurance and quality enhancement processes. Through the “Our Student Voice” project in Technological University Dublin (TU Dublin), a suite of digital training resources were designed to provide training for students to help develop the requisite knowledge and skills for effective participation there processes, thus strengthening student engagement and enhancing the student voice. The resources are organised into thirteen accessible episodes that each commence with an animated scenario that sets out key messages. The remainder of the episode provides detailed guidance for students and learning activities to help students develop their skillset. Upon completion of the learning activities, and having satisfactorily undertaken one of three specific student role in the quality processes, students can apply for recognition through a digital badge. The training resources and digital badges have been co-designed by a project team comprised of staff and students from across the University guided by best practice internationally. This paper describes the co-design process and presents a set of lessons learned that may assist other higher education institutions in enabling impactful student engagement in their academic quality assurance and quality enhancement processes

LEAF (Learning from and Engaging with Assessment and Feedback) Final project report

The LEAF (Learning from and Engaging with Assessment and Feedback) project was funded under the Teaching Fellowship in TU Dublin, city campus for 18 months beginning in January 2018. The project team comprised 18 academics from across the TU Dublin - City Campus and there are representatives from all colleges. Also included were two further members who represented the student voice: the Director of Student Affairs and the Students’ Union Education Officer. This project sought to address a key issue in third level Teaching and Learning, that of assessment and assessment feedback. Assessment strategies have been shown to have a large impact on shaping how students learn and how they develop key employability skills. Learning from best practice nationally and internationally, and research from staff, students and quality documents, this project has developed a set of recommendations which will enhance practices in, and experiences of, assessments and feedback in TU Dublin