Successful Steps in Higher Education to Stop Computer Science Students from Attrition

Currently, the dropout rate is crucial in the field of Computer Science (CS) higher education. In CS education it is usually the mathematically oriented subjects that are blamed for the high dropout rates. Implementing a theoretical framework into practice, we have been able to prevent 28% of our students from dropping out in the last 2 years due to our education reform. The aim of the present study is to analyse the results of the students through the curriculum of the CS program by factor analysis. Nearly 4000 first-year students’ results were analysed. One of the most important steps of the education reform was that all of the lectures became compulsory to attend. Another step was the introduction of a prevention and skills-training program for every first-year student in order to develop their study skills. Our findings highlighted that as a consequence of the education reform, more students stayed until the end of the first and second semesters and try taking exams in the exam period. Analysing the subjects as factors in the CS curriculum could (1) help faculty staff introduce an education reform, and (2) help decision-makers develop prevention and promotion programs in order to develop students’ study skills. The results reveal that we have managed to successfully engage first year students in the academic environments

The impact of the first wave of COVID-19 on students’ attainment, analysed by IRT modelling method

Universities around the world were closed for several months to slow down the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic. During this crisis, a tremendous amount of effort was made to use online education to support the teaching and learning process. The COVID-19 pandemic gave us a profound insight into how online education can radically affect students and how students adapt to new challenges. The question is how switching to online education affected dropout? This study shows the results of a research project clarifying the impact of the transition to online courses on dropouts. The data analysed are from a large public university in Europe where online education was introduced in March 2020. This study compares the academic progress of students newly enroled in 2018 and 2019 using IRT modelling. The results show that (1) this period did not contribute significantly to the increase in dropout, and we managed to retain our students.(2) Subjects became more achievable during online education, and students with less ability were also able to pass their exams. (3) Students who participated in online education reported lower average grade points than those who participated in on-campus education. Consequently, on-campus students could win better scholarships because of better grades than students who participated in online education. Analysing students’ results could help (1) resolve management issues regarding scholarship problems and (2) administrators develop programmes to increase retention in online education

Cosmic-ray induced background intercomparison with actively shielded HPGe detectors at underground locations

The main background above 3\,MeV for in-beam nuclear astrophysics studies with $\gamma$-ray detectors is caused by cosmic-ray induced secondaries. The two commonly used suppression methods, active and passive shielding, against this kind of background were formerly considered only as alternatives in nuclear astrophysics experiments. In this work the study of the effects of active shielding against cosmic-ray induced events at a medium deep location is performed. Background spectra were recorded with two actively shielded HPGe detectors. The experiment was located at 148\,m below the surface of the Earth in the Reiche Zeche mine in Freiberg, Germany. The results are compared to data with the same detectors at the Earth's surface, and at depths of 45\,m and 1400\,m, respectively.Comment: Minor errors corrected; final versio

Determination of gamma-ray widths in 15^{15}N using nuclear resonance fluorescence

The stable nucleus $^{15}$N is the mirror of $^{15}$O, the bottleneck in the hydrogen burning CNO cycle. Most of the $^{15}$N level widths below the proton emission threshold are known from just one nuclear resonance fluorescence (NRF) measurement, with limited precision in some cases. A recent experiment with the AGATA demonstrator array determined level lifetimes using the Doppler Shift Attenuation Method (DSAM) in $^{15}$O. As a reference and for testing the method, level lifetimes in $^{15}$N have also been determined in the same experiment. The latest compilation of $^{15}$N level properties dates back to 1991. The limited precision in some cases in the compilation calls for a new measurement in order to enable a comparison to the AGATA demonstrator data. The widths of several $^{15}$N levels have been studied with the NRF method. The solid nitrogen compounds enriched in $^{15}$N have been irradiated with bremsstrahlung. The $\gamma$-rays following the deexcitation of the excited nuclear levels were detected with four HPGe detectors. Integrated photon-scattering cross sections of ten levels below the proton emission threshold have been measured. Partial gamma-ray widths of ground-state transitions were deduced and compared to the literature. The photon scattering cross sections of two levels above the proton emission threshold, but still below other particle emission energies have also been measured, and proton resonance strengths and proton widths were deduced. Gamma and proton widths consistent with the literature values were obtained, but with greatly improved precision.Comment: Final published version, minor grammar changes, 10 pages, 4 figures, 8 tables; An addendum is published where the last section is revised: T. Sz\"ucs and P. Mohr, Phys. Rev. C 92, 044328 (2015) [arXiv:1510.04956

Commercial Use of WS-PGRADE/gUSE

Although originally an academic and research product, the WS-PGRADE/gUSE framework is increasingly applied by commercial institutions too. Within the SCI-BUS project, several commercial gateways have been developed by various companies. WS-PGRADE/gUSE is also intensively used within another European research project, CloudSME (Cloud-based Simulation Platform for Manufacturing and Engineering). This chapter provides an overview and de-scribes in detail some commercial WS-PGRADE/gUSE based gateway implemen-tations. Two representative case studies from the SCI-BUS project, the Build and Test portal and the eDOX Archiver Gateway are introduced. An overview of WS-PGRADE/gUSE based gateways for running simulation applications in the cloud within the CloudSME project is also provided

Egy felsőoktatási e-learning tananyagfejlesztés értékelése

A COVID–19 miatt bevezetett távolléti/hibrid oktatás első három félévének során tananyagfejlesztést végeztünk a Károli Gáspár Református Egyetem Pszichológiai Intézetében a matematikai statisztika tárgy keretei között. A pszichológus alap- és mesterképzés hallgatói esetében az oktatási keretrendszer folyamatos naplózása lehe-tővé tette, hogy összesített statisztikák segítségével megfigyeléseket tegyünk. Az időszak végén a mesterképzéses hallgatóktól Q-módszertan (Stephenson 1953) szerinti preferenciaértékelést is kértünk, hogy az általuk alkalmazott e-learning stratégiákról képet alkothassunk. Ennek segítségével azonosítani tudtunk három eltérő tanulási stratégiát (önálló tanulás, gyakorlatorientált tanulás erős oktatói támogatással, elmé-letorientált tanulás), melyek a felkínált tartalmakat eltérő módon használták ki. Ez indokolja, hogy ezen anyagok elérését továbbra is biztosítsuk a hallgatók számára