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Aim/Purpose This paper presents findings on a curricular intervention aimed at integrating computer programming with reading and writing in early elementary school. The purpose of this research was to explore the relation between students' varying literacy levels and their level of success in mastering an introductory programming language. Methodology This curricular intervention study was implemented in a single school district in southeastern Virginia. Of the district's 33 elementary schools, eight schools received an external grant from the U.S. Department of Defense to introduce computer science in early elementary education. Standardized literacy test scores were correlated with internally developed, and age appropriate programming assessment scores from N = 132 second grade students. Contribution This study is the first of its kind to look at how students at varying literacy levels succeed in mastering an introductory programming language when introduced through a literacy lens. Findings The findings indicated that there was strong evidence for a weak, positive correlation between students' literacy levels, as determined by the PALS assessment, and their programming mastery, as determined by the curricular programming assessments. The positive correlation suggests that there may indeed be underlying constructs that overlap between literacy and programming. Recommendations for Practitioners Consider integrating computer programming as a foundational component of the literacy curriculum, especially in the early grades, where the two skill sets can mutually support one another. Recommendations for Researchers Additional research is necessary, using a variety of literacy and programming measures, to continue to understand the relationship between emerging literacy and emerging computer programming skills. Impact on Society Reimagining computer programming as a language has significant implications for how we teach programming in schools and how students then use programming out in the workforce. Future Research Future work will repeat this curricular intervention with younger students: the district's first grade and kindergarten classrooms. Introducing programming through the Coding as Literacy (CAL) approach even earlier in students' literacy trajectories, we believe, will allow the positive impact of programming knowledge to influence students' literacy development. In this next phase of our research agenda, we will collect pre and post literacy scores, both standardized and internally developed, to see the myriad ways that programming knowledge impacts literacy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim/Purpose Effective e-learning systems need to incorporate student characteristics such as learning style and knowledge level in order to provide a more personalized and adaptive learning experience. However, there is a need to investigate how and when to provide adaptivity based on student characteristics, and more importantly, to evaluate its value in learning enhancement. This study aims to bridge that gap by examining the effect of different modes of learning material adaptation and their sequences to the learning style and knowledge level of students in e-learning systems. Background E-learning systems aim to provide acceptability and interactivity between students, instructors, and learning content anytime and anywhere. However, traditional systems are typically designed for generic students irrespective of individual requirements. Successful e-learning systems usually consider student characteristics such as learning style and knowledge level to provide more personalized and adaptive student-system interaction. Methodology A controlled experiment was conducted in a learning context with 174 subjects to evaluate the learning effectiveness of adaptivity in e-learning systems. Contribution The main contributions of the paper are threefold. First, a novel adaptive approach is proposed based on a specific learning style model and knowledge level. Second, the approach is implemented in an e-learning system to teach computer security, the application domain. Third, a rigorous experimental evaluation of the learning effect of the adaptive approach is offered. Findings The results indicate that adaptation according to the combination of learning style and knowledge level produces significantly better learning gains, both in the short-term and medium-term, than adaptation according to either trait individually. Recommendations for Practitioners Practitioners should consider the combination of learning style and knowledge level when delivering and presenting learning material to their students. Recommendation for Researchers Researchers should consider sound educational models when designing adaptive e-learning systems. Also, rigorous and carful experimental design evaluations should be taken into account. Impact on Society Universities and e-learning industries can benefit from the proposed adaptive approach and the findings in designing and developing more personalized and adaptive e-learning systems. The incorporation of student characteristics, especially learning style and knowledge level, may be used to enhance learning. Future Research The experiment might be duplicated with a focus on longer-term learning gains by including more subjects and more learning resources. Also, the study might be expanded to application domains other than computer security. Moreover, other variables such as student satisfaction, motivation, and affective state might be explored to further the understanding of the effect of adaptivity on learning gains. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The most common course delivery model is based on teacher (knowledge provider) - student (knowledge receiver) relationship. The most visible symptom of this situation is over-reliance on textbook's tutorials. This traditional model of delivery reduces teacher flexibility, causes lack of interest among students, and often makes classes boring. Especially this is visible when teaching Computer Literacy courses. Instead, authors of this paper suggest a new active model which is based on MS Office simulation. The proposed model was discussed within the framework of three activities: guided software simulation, instructor-led activities, and self-directed learning activities. The model proposed in the paper of active teaching based on software simulation was proven as more effective than traditional. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Faculty teaching computer courses go through repeated updates of their classes in order to keep their programs current. The updates may include more than changing textbooks or adding a new volume. Instead, the changes may require the installation of new software, hardware, troubleshooting and solving complicated technology related problems. The faculty requesting these changes may need the expertise of technical staff in updating these technology courses and in solving emerging problems. In such cases, coordination and collaboration between the faculty and technical staff will be necessary in order to assure course updates. This paper reports on the collaboration between a faculty and technical staff at Eberly College of Business and Information Technology (ECOBIT) -- Indiana University of Pennsylvania (IUP). Both faculty and technical staff have been working cooperatively at different levels to address course and programmatic changes for their computer curriculum. The details of this cooperation between the faculty and the technical staff are explained in this paper. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Enrollment in computer science programs has been facing a steady decline for a number of years. Although more recent trend has shown a slight upward trend in enrollment, but the number of admitted students into computer science programs falls far short of what they have been before and in meeting employment demands. Numerous reasons have contributed to this decline and various steps have been taken by departments to counter this decline and to bring more students into their programs. This paper examines steps taken to understand the causes and improvements to the availability of computer science graduates. Specifically, the Computer Science (COSC) program at Indiana University of Pennsylvania (IUP) has been proactively taking different steps in order to attract more students into their program and to improve retention among their enrolled students. The result of these efforts has been mixed and it is helpful to analyze these factors and delve into some aspects of the program to understand the extent of the steps taken so far. Thus the experience of the computer science program at IUP and their efforts to reverse enrollment decline is discussed in this paper. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Students often find that learning to program is hard. Introductory programming courses have high drop-out rates and students do not learn to program well. This paper presents experiences from three educational institutions where introductory programming courses were improved by adopting Python as the first programming language and roles of variables as an aid in understanding program behavior. As a result of these changes, students were able to write working code from the very beginning, they found programming easy and interesting, they passed exams with good grades, and drop-out rates were low. Students became interested in programming and some of them even changed their personal study plan to include more of programming and computer science. The high abstraction level and complexity of the concepts to be learned in current elementary programming courses is a serious impediment to students. Python is a simple but powerful programming language that supports both procedural and object-oriented programming. It makes short programs straightforward to write while at the same time facilitating rapid development of powerful applications. Python has been found to make programming more fun and thus attract students. Some of the common arguments against Python include concerns about using an interpreted language, the different syntax from C++ and Java, the use of whitespace to represent code blocks, and the lack of static type checking. However, these concerns have not caused any significant problems in practice, though it may take some effort to adapt to the syntax of other languages. Roles of variables are stereotyped patterns of usage of a variable. For example, in the role of a stepper, a variable is assigned a succession of values that is predictable and usually known in advance as soon as the succession starts. Roles provide students with programming knowledge in a compact form, which they can then apply in authoring and understanding programs independently of the programming language used. In a classroom experiment, explicit teaching of roles has been found to result in better programming skills. This paper also discusses the applicability of the roles to Python and notes some changes in the interpretation of individual roles required by some peculiarities of Python. In general, roles apply to Python well. However, the lack of constants in Python calls for a new role, and the use of lists in for-loops suggests a new interpretation for the stepper role. Finally, the difference between the two data structure roles, organizer and container, is smaller in Python than in other languages making their separation needless. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Data Structure is an important and mandatory course in Computer Science and Information Technology curricula. The topics of the course require detailed view of the algorithm behavior with the implementation part by a programming language. This paper introduces a visualized learning environment and assesses the effectiveness of using this system in order to enhance the education in computer science and information technology concerning data structure course. Whether the use of the system will produce remarkable enough affects to encourage the developers to enhance such systems. The system uses embedded visualizer rather than external visualizer to produce the animation. The significant result of the experiment indicates that combining Algorithm and Program Animation is an effective way to enhance students' performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This research examines the frameworks used by Computer Science students at the conclusion of two semesters of study in Software Engineering. A questionnaire listing 64 Software Engineering concepts was given to students at three universities upon completion of their second-semester course. To identify which topics were most important, students were asked to rate each concept on a ten-point scale. From their responses, we calculated the average perceived importance for each concept. This paper analyzes the results of the survey. We also compare these concept ratings to similar ratings obtained earlier from a sample of first-semester Software Engineering students. Using both data sets, we describe how Software Engineering perceptions evolve as students progress through a two-semester course sequence. This knowledge can be valuable to Software Engineering instructors as they decide which concepts to emphasize and how to unite these concepts into a consistent, meaningful framework. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The main goal of the research presented in the paper is to study the Electrical Engineering (EE) and Computer Engineering (CE) curriculum in order to improve its coverage, with the goal of better preparing graduates to pursue a wider range of professional careers. The research deals with the differences in studying subjects related to computer architecture by two groups of students having different prior knowledge: EE students and CE students. This research establishes the implications of hands-on studies and considers the gap in knowledge, and whether these studies reduce the gaps. This research was conducted for the same "Microprocessors practicum" course. The first group (CE students) acquired a large body of knowledge in computer architecture, while the second group (EE students) acquired knowledge mainly in "Introduction to programming" prior to the practicum course, and this fact was reflected in a pretest conducted for the two groups. The official test that was taken at the end of the semester, which examined the knowledge that was acquired during the course's lectures, revealed no difference between the two groups. However, a posttest, specifically arranged for the purpose of this study, strongly indicated that the Computer Engineering students have an advantage over the Electrical Engineering students. Regarding the objective that the lab should provide students with an understanding of computing processes, it seems that lack of prior knowledge hinders it. The lab is meaningful provided that the students are exposed to prior studies, in which case, the lab serves to reinforce the subject matter. At the university in which the research took place, suitable changes in the curriculum have already been made. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Computer science (CS) curricula are composed of various study modules, each of which focuses on particular contents, concepts, principles, and associated problem-solving methods. Developers of CS curricula recommend that students become acquainted with different programming paradigms in order to acquire alternative ways of computational thinking and various approaches for problem solving. In this paper, we illuminate two different though related paradigms: object-oriented programming and logic programming. We present and discuss the findings of a comparative study aimed at revealing similarities and dissimilarities between object oriented programming and logic programming in the context of problem-solving approaches and conclude with guidelines for instructional design of a study track that combines both paradigms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The rapid evolvement of the computing domain has posed challenges in attempting to bridge the gap between school and the contemporary world of computing, which is related to content, learning culture, and professional norms. We believe that the interaction of high-school students who major in computer science or software engineering with leading representatives of the computing community of practice may motivate them to pursue their studies further or pursue a career in the field. Accordingly, our program aims at exposing talented high-school students "directly by leading experts" to state-of-the-art computing research, advanced technologies, software engineering methodologies, and professional norms. The interaction between the students and the experts, who actually become role models for the students, occurs at two levels: (a) during enrichment plenary meetings, and (b) through one-to-one interaction in which students develop software projects under the apprenticeship-based supervision of professionals from the computing community of practice. In the last four years, six hundred students participated in enrichment activities; 86 of these students accomplished high-level software projects under the supervision of experts. A long-term formative evaluation of the program has been conducted regarding: (1) students' attitudes towards the "different-from-school" style of learning that characterizes the program, and (2) students' performance in developing projects. In this paper, we specifically discuss the contribution of resources that students used for various phases of the project development activity. We found that the following categories of resources were employed by the students: self-learning, mentors, bibliographic resources (the Web, professional articles, professional books), school resources (a school teacher, school learning, and materials), and other human resources (i.e., a classmate the student's age, a family member, a grown-up acquaintance). Importantly, the findings indicated that during the entire development process the students exhibited self-efficacy, since they relied more on themselves than on other resources. Interestingly, during the entire development process, the web was perceived as the most significant bibliographic resource. Specifically, regarding the need to achieve adequate acquaintance with the theoretical knowledge that was required, self-studying and the web were perceived as the most significant resources, which may imply that the mentors' guidance inspired the students' self-inquiry and self-study. However, during the problem-solving activities, students relied more on the mentors than on bibliographic resources. Based on the study findings, we concluded that professional experts who supervise students in project development may motivate them to acquire in-depth knowledge in computing, promote creativity, as well as enhance self-learning and inquiry ability. In addition, the interaction with role models may contribute to establishing professional norms. We hope that further implementation of the program, along with recruitment of more representative experts from academia and hi-tech industry, will promote a culture of learning and work befitting the dynamic world of industrial computing, thus providing the students with an entry point into the computing community of practice. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Courses on Operating Systems (OS) are essential in computer science education. The topic provides the students with an excellent opportunity to experience the interplay between theory and practice. Specifically, a project-based-learning (PBL) instructional design for an OS course can provide the students with opportunities to engage in practical projects. The PBL approach enables students to take part in learning activities which are essential for grasping underlying theoretical concepts, linking theory, practice and system-level perception. In this paper we present our experience in teaching an operating systems course with a continuing evolving project using a PBL approach. The findings of a preliminary assessment indicated a highly positive attitude on the part of the students towards the PBL approach used in the course as well as towards the qualitative evaluation method that was used to assess their achievements. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Roles of variables, which describe stereotypic usages of variables, can be exploited to facilitate teaching introductory programming. This paper describes the evaluation of visual metaphors for roles used in a role-based program animator. The evaluation is based on several criteria: properties of the images, metaphor recognition and grading, and effects on learning. The study demonstrates that as a whole the role metaphors facilitate learning. The results also identify ideas for further elaboration of the individual metaphors. Furthermore, the study suggests that the evaluation of animated metaphors may require special measures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]