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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]

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]

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]

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]

An algorithm learning tool was developed for an introductory computer science class in a specialized science and technology high school in Japan. The tool presents lessons and simple visualizations that aim to facilitate teaching and learning of fundamental algorithms. Written tests and an evaluation questionnaire were designed and implemented along with the learning tool among the participants. The tool's effect on the learning performance of the students was examined. The differences of the two types of visualizations offered by the tool, one with more input and control options and the other with fewer options, were analyzed. Based on the evaluation questionnaire, the scales with which the tool can be assessed according to its usability and pedagogical effectiveness were identified. After using the algorithm learning tool there was an increase in the post-test scores of the students, and those who used the visualization with more input and control options had higher scores compared to those who used the one with limited options. The learning objectives used to evaluate the tool correlated with the test performance of the students. Properties comprised of learning objectives, algorithm visualization characteristics, and interface assessment are proposed to be incorporated in evaluating an algorithm learning tool for novice learners. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Information Technology (IT) Department of the Golisano College of Computing and Information Sciences (GCCIS) at Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT) offers core courses in four threads. These threads cover various subject areas of Information Technology. Increasingly, students enter the IT program with prior programming experience from high school or college courses, work, or from other activities. Several studies, including the authors' own have indicated that students, who have prior experience, often perform better in the first programming course. Our earlier study verified that using 2002 data and found that after the first course, the experience did not have a significant impact on student performance in subsequent programming courses. In this study, we reexamined the results of our first study with data from 2003 and looked at beginning courses in other core threads to see if the prior experience had a significant impact on those courses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Teachers at universities are facing an increasing disparity in students' prior IT knowledge and, at the same time, experience a growing disengagement of the students with regard to involvement in study activities. As computer science teachers in a joint programme in computer science and business administration, we made a number of similar observations. We also noted increasing difficulties with mathematics and see a growing number of students with previous knowledge in computer science, while others have little or no expertise in this area. These observations cause problems and present a major challenge for teachers. To get a better understanding and as a prerequisite for reforming the programme we posed four research questions: What are the students' motives and expectations with regard to the chosen study programme? To what extent are the students engaged in non-academic work activities? What prior knowledge do the students have about IT and computer science? What off campus access do the students have to IT facilities? Our findings provide a number of interesting indications. The results regarding motives and expectations suggest that there ought to be a good basis for the students to improve their efforts in computer science. However, as the majority does not know what kind of work to carry out in the future, better information about the programme and relevant jobs should be provided. Concerning the students' disengagement and its possible relation to their external workload, no conclusions can be drawn and this issue has to be researched further. The same is true about the students' expertise in mathematics. The students' previous knowledge seems to be so comprehensive that it should be considered in the teaching and inform the whole curriculum design. As there are still a substantial number of students who arrive at the programme with no previous knowledge, it is however necessary to design a syllabus and organise the course programme to accommodate... [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]