Flexible learning in computer science

This paper outlines the concept of Flexible Pedagogy and how it can assist in addressing some of the issues facing STEM disciplines in general, and Computer Science in particular. The paper considers what flexible pedagogy is and how technologies developed by Computer Science can enable flexibility. It then describes some of the issues facing STEM education, with a particular focus on Computer Science education in Higher Education. Finally, it considers how flexible approaches to teaching and learning are particularly pertinent to the issues faced in Computer Science and future opportunities

Connecting Undergraduate Students as Partners in Computer Science Teaching and Research

Connecting undergraduate students as partners can lead to the enhancement of the undergraduate experience and allow students to see the different sides of the university. Such holistic perspectives may better inform academic career choices and postgraduate study. Furthermore, student involvement in course development has many potential benefits. This paper outlines a framework for connecting research and teaching within Computer Science- though this is applicable across other disciplines. Three case studies are considered to illustrate the approach. The first case study involves students in their honours’ stage (level 6, typically 3rd year) project, the second an undergraduate intern between stages 5 and 6, and finally, a MSc (level 7) project. All three case studies have actively involved students in core parts of the University’s teaching and research activities, producing usable software systems to support these efforts. We consider this as a continuing engagement process to enhance the undergraduate learning experience within Computer Science

Approaches to Measuring Attendance and Engagement

In this paper, we argue that, where we measure student attendance, this creates an extrinsic motivator in the form of a reward for (apparent) engagement and can thus lead to undesirable behaviour and outcomes. We go on to consider a number of other mechanisms to assess or encourage student engagement – such as interactions with a learning environment – and whether these are more benign in their impact on student behaviour i.e. they encourage the desired impact as they are not considered threatening, unlike the penalties associated with non-attendance. We consider a case study in Computer Science to investigate student behaviour, assessing different metrics for student engagement, such as the use of source control commits and how this measure of engagement differs from attendance

The United Nations Sustainable Development Goals: a setting for Professional and Research skills

This paper considers the use of the United Nations global goals to provide a framework for the teaching of professional and related skills. The main example and case study considered in this paper is from computing; however, much of the approach and many of the issues are applicable to a wide range of subjects, especially in science. Alongside the specific skills attached to sustainability, the paper also considers the broader development of some of the investigative and analytical skills that underpin university research and reflect the need for a research informed curriculum, and the so-called teaching-research nexus. The paper also considers other aspects of the context for graduate skills, including accreditation requirements and employers' expectations; such expectations of graduates frequently include the requirement that students are able to understand and demonstrate a range of non-technical specific issues, topics and skills and issues. This paper describes the use of global challenges to motivate the delivery and engagement with a case study

Connecting Undergraduate Students as Partners in Computer Science Teaching and Research

Connecting undergraduate students as partners can lead to the enhancement of the undergraduate experience and allow students to see the different sides of the university. Such holistic perspectives may better inform academic career choices and postgraduate study. Furthermore, student involvement in course development has many potential benefits. This paper outlines a framework for connecting research and teaching within Computer Science- though this is applicable across other disciplines. Three case studies are considered to illustrate the approach. The first case study involves students in their honours’ stage (level 6, typically 3rd year) project, the second an undergraduate intern between stages 5 and 6, and finally, a MSc (level 7) project. All three case studies have actively involved students in core parts of the University’s teaching and research activities, producing usable software systems to support these efforts. We consider this as a continuing engagement process to enhance the undergraduate learning experience within Computer Science.Keywords:  Enquiry Based Learning; Computing Education; Research Inspired Education

Characterisation and control of coupled optical springs for future gravitational wave detectors

The detection of gravitational waves in the years to come will be the result of decades of work by institutions around the world to design and construct instruments to probe the characteristic strain of space-time on the smallest scales. Once detected, an entirely new field of study will be open to astronomy, allowing probing of the interior structure of massive celestial objects and insight into the very beginning of the universe. However, this will by no means signal the end of this work. Efforts will continue to push the sensitivity limits of detectors ever lower, at the same time widening our gravitational wave horizon to encompass sources at greater distances. Soon, gravitational wave detectors are expected to be operating at the Standard Quantum Limit throughout much of their detection bandwidth. Novel techniques will need to be employed to probe beneath this level. One such method involves the use of opto-mechanical rigidity, or "optical springs". This technique couples the suspended optics of a Fabry-Pérot cavity together using only the radiation pressure force transferred between them, transforming the system into the harmonic oscillator regime and thus increasing sensitivity in a narrow band about the associated resonance. If this technique is to be applied to a large-scale gravitational wave detector, the effect must be well-characterised and robust control methods investigated. Importantly, the optical spring effect is observed to arise in any gravitational wave detector operating with high power, providing further motivation for the study of control systems to cope with them. It has further been suggested that multiple optical springs may be employed in a single system, either for improved optical stability such that electronic feedback may be reduced, or else to favourably re-shape the noise spectrum of the instrument for wider-band sensitivity improvement. We present the design and commissioning of an experiment at the Glasgow 10m Prototype Interferometer Laboratory to investigate characterisation and control methods for coupled optical spring systems. The experimental system consists of two 10m cavities coupled mechanically by a shared end test mass. Each cavity can be detuned to facilitate opto-mechanical coupling, the combined effects of which are studied. The design of this experiment is covered from initial simulations through mechanical design, testing and installation. Robust digital control loops are built, providing techniques for reliable lock-acquisition of high-finesse optical cavities and maintenance of stability in the presence of strong opto-mechanical effects. A number of experiments are performed to examine the interactions between optical springs in both cavities and the control loops which maintain them. We observe marked power stability over significant periods of time to enable precision measurement of optical spring resonant responses in both cavities, and confirm the power-dependence of the optical spring effect. Techniques are described for the maintenance of stable cavity lock in the presence of strong optical springs and anti-springs, and complex responses resulting from couplings of multiple springs to loop gains are characterised. This work will inform the design of future gravitational wave detectors, which are expected to employ optical spring technologies in order to push further beneath the Standard Quantum Limit

RNAseq reveals hydrophobins that are involved in the adaptation of aspergillus nidulans to lignocellulose

Background Sugarcane is one of the world’s most profitable crops. Waste steam-exploded sugarcane bagasse (SEB) is a cheap, abundant, and renewable lignocellulosic feedstock for the next-generation biofuels. In nature, fungi seldom exist as planktonic cells, similar to those found in the nutrient-rich environment created within an industrial fermenter. Instead, fungi predominantly form biofilms that allow them to thrive in hostile environments. Results In turn, we adopted an RNA-sequencing approach to interrogate how the model fungus, Aspergillus nidulans, adapts to SEB, revealing the induction of carbon starvation responses and the lignocellulolytic machinery, in addition to morphological adaptations. Genetic analyses showed the importance of hydrophobins for growth on SEB. The major hydrophobin, RodA, was retained within the fungal biofilm on SEB fibres. The StuA transcription factor that regulates fungal morphology was up-regulated during growth on SEB and controlled hydrophobin gene induction. The absence of the RodA or DewC hydrophobins reduced biofilm formation. The loss of a RodA or a functional StuA reduced the retention of the hydrolytic enzymes within the vicinity of the fungus. Hence, hydrophobins promote biofilm formation on SEB, and may enhance lignocellulose utilisation via promoting a compact substrate-enzyme-fungus structure. Conclusion This novel study highlights the importance of hydrophobins to the formation of biofilms and the efficient deconstruction of lignocellulose

"What It Wants Me To Say": Bridging the Abstraction Gap Between End-User Programmers and Code-Generating Large Language Models

Code-generating large language models translate natural language into code. However, only a small portion of the infinite space of naturalistic utterances is effective at guiding code generation. For non-expert end-user programmers, learning this is the challenge of abstraction matching. We examine this challenge in the specific context of data analysis in spreadsheets, in a system that maps the users natural language query to Python code using the Codex generator, executes the code, and shows the result. We propose grounded abstraction matching, which bridges the abstraction gap by translating the code back into a systematic and predictable naturalistic utterance. In a between-subjects, think-aloud study (n=24), we compare grounded abstraction matching to an ungrounded alternative based on previously established query framing principles. We find that the grounded approach improves end-users' understanding of the scope and capabilities of the code-generating model, and the kind of language needed to use it effectively