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The first year of an undergraduate major is a challenge for most students in the University of Brasilia. Of course, this challenge applies not only to them but to most first-year students at Brazilian and worldwide universities. This issue often leads the students to drop out of their majors. In this context, this paper presents the Program offered by the Department of Computer Science at the University of Brasilia to welcome new students to the major in a more friendly way. The program was carried out in its first edition in the first semester of 2020, and its methodology and lessons learned are presented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The main theme of this article centers on the international contests in Informatics. The article details the key events preceding the initiation and organization of the First International Olympiad in Informatics (IOI), held in Bulgaria in 1989, and provides supporting documentation. The path, leading to this Olympiad and the events between the First National Olympiad in Informatics (NOI) and the First IOI are discussed as well. An outline of the international contests in informatics held in Sofia (1987), Bratislava (1987), Varna (1988), and Nova Gorica (1988) is offered. In the beginning of 1989, in Netherlands, UNESCO held a consultative meeting to discuss various issues related to international Olympiads. The invited participants were the leaders of the well-established International Olympiads in Mathematics, Physics, and Chemistry. The author was invited to introduce the Olympiads in Informatics and to present the plan for the organization and inauguration of the First IOI in Bulgaria. Next the paper discusses the progress of our talented students, winners of the Bulgarian NOIs. Subsequently, a few, as university students, participated in the world’s most reputable completion -the ACM International Collegiate Contest (ACM ICPC). There is a brief presentation of the student team from Sofia University “St. Kl. Ohridski”, which participated in this contest in 1996 and placed first in Europe and fourth overall, among the 1001 teams from universities around the world. Due to its factual nature, the article contains an extensive list of references, including text excerpts, citations, photos, and other relevant materials, supporting the historical facts related to the competitions in Informatics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Students tend to procrastinate. In particular, Computer Science students tend to reduce the number of hours devoted to study concepts after class. In this paper, a case study on the use of Blended Learning to encourage Computer Science students to study is described. Furthermore, an experiment in which the reaction of 131 Computer Science university students to the proposal is analyzed. The material for the preparation of an exam was produced both in electronic and paper formats. 64 students were asked to study using a free-text scoring system, and 67 students were asked to study with printed documentation in the same class. The students' reactions, the results of a pre-post-test and the answers to a voluntary and anonymous satisfaction questionnaire were registered. After that, students were given the option to keep studying with the scoring system or with the printed documentation. 99% of the students chose to study with the computer, and a higher frequency of study was registered during the previous month to the exam. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To be successful university learners, students need to develop skills in self-directed learning. This encompasses a range of cognitive and meta-cognitive skills including generating one’s own learning goals, planning how to tackle a problem, evaluating whether learning goals have been met, and re-planning based on this evaluation. The educational affordances of blogs offer opportunities for students to become self-directed learners in a supportive social environment. Based on qualitative analysis of design diaries written by 113 computer science students about a creative project, this paper presents a framework of the ways in which blogging activities can assist groups of students and their teachers in the development of a range of cognitive, social and self-directed learning skills. Although the students in this study used the commenting feature of blogs effectively for the purpose of praising and encouraging their peers, and giving hints and tips for solving problems, they did not coach each other on higher order skills. The paper discusses how this could be achieved in order to extend the educational value of blogging within a university learning community. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Over the past few years Australian universities have sought to establish generic graduate attributes statements to meet the demands of external stakeholders. Within the area of information and communication technology (ICT), for example, professional organizations and employers want new ICT graduates to be able to talk with clients, create persuasive arguments and present work confidently. To meet such requirements, Australian ICT educators have explored a variety of methods to implement graduate attributes. The selection and content of delivery models, however, vary according to university policies and departmental cultures. In this paper we critically examine the dedicated, infused, and embedded approaches to the delivery of generic graduate attributes. To do this, we first trace the development of graduate attributes. Secondly, we present three diverse approaches by two ICT departments within the same university and discuss factors that lead to sustainable generic graduate attribute programmes. We conclude our paper with issues to consider when adopting implementation models and map out suggestions for further research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper describes an efficient method of teaching impulse voltage testing of power transformers to undergraduate students of power system groups in electrical engineering departments, as a part of a high-voltage course for senior undergraduate students. The paper shows how to simulate the power transformer and impulse generator to teach students the basics of impulse voltage testing of power transformers and to practice analyzing the test results. In the first part of the paper, the effect of wave shaping of the voltage waveform is simulated to teach the behavior of the impulse generator, and in the second part, impulse voltage testing of a transformer is simulated. Evaluation of the simulation over several semesters with more than 80 students is very positive in terms of their developing confidence in an understanding of this test. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To report and document well, scientific and engineering professionals systematically collect, evaluate and synthesize the work of their peers with their own. The product of such effort is a technical report or scientific paper that reviews the existing body of knowledge, presenting it in a logical and ordered manner where claims are supported by evidence and referenced by citation. It is also usual in the scientific community that peer review then precedes the publication of such papers. This paper reports on a trial of introducing Computer Science students to the task of technical and scientific writing including the process of peer review. Upon completion of the trial, the students were surveyed anonymously. An overwhelming majority of respondents claimed to have initial reservations about participating. However, upon completion of the exercise, the majority reported that the entire process was intellectually simulating to complete and that it had enhanced their knowledge of subject matter. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Most technical terms in the field of Computer Science are English loanwords. English words are frequently preferred to Spanish terms because of different reasons, for instance, because of linguistic economy. In this paper, we reveal the results of an empirical study about the frequency of use of pure anglicisms. It has been carried out among students of Translating and Interpreting at the University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria (Spain). The scope of use of lexical anglicisms by individuals in the analysed sample seems to be relatively high, but slightly lower than that of Computer Science students who participated in another preliminary partial study. Those students who provided more words for definitions also suggested more synonyms for the terms, and also used more English terms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Embedded systems are increasingly pervasive, and the creation of reliable controlling software offers unique challenges. Embedded software must interact directly with hardware, it must respond to events in a time-critical fashion, and it typically employs concurrency to meet response time requirements. This paper describes an innovative course that gives students in-depth exposure to the challenges of writing reliable, time-critical, concurrent code. Students design and implement a real-time operating system (RTOS), and they write application code that uses the RTOS they construct. Code development and debugging take place in a simulation environment that offers visibility into the system and strictly repeatable execution while maintaining hardware compatibility. We describe the structure of the class, the custom tools used, and the laboratory sequence that results in a functional RTOS. We discuss the development of the class and its impact on our students. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Less than one half of one percent of all processors manufactured today end up in computers. The rest are embedded in other devices such as automobiles, airplanes, trains, satellites, and nearly every modern electronic device. Developing software for embedded systems requires a greater knowledge of hardware than developing for a typical desktop application. Despite the great demand for people to develop real-time embedded system software, few universities devote class time to giving students the necessary skills. In this paper I describe a course and stimulating environment for introducing students to this important domain. I make arguments for using real devices rather than simulations and for using a computer-controlled model railroad. I describe the computing and railroad hardware, laboratory assignments, and course project used in my course. Finally, I present a summary of the effectiveness of programming language choice based on an analysis of 13 years of data. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In a Finnish study of four different academic disciplines, Ylijoki (2000) found that in Computer Science there was a disparity between the conceptions held by undergraduate students and staff about their discipline; students viewed it as being far more pragmatic and results focused than did their instructors. Not surprisingly, here at our Australian university where the undergraduate Computer Science program emphasizes programming and problem solving skills, the authors had noticed a similar inconsistency between staff and student beliefs. This paper reports on an effort to realign these conceptions and broaden student experience using an assessment task. Centered on solutions to the popular 'Sudoku' puzzle (Sudoku, 2005), the task was designed and introduced into an Intelligent Systems course, a final year elective of a Computer Science degree. The goal was to expose students to some of the 'pure' rather than applied aspects of the Computer Science discipline (Becher & Trowler, 2001), by using assessment to encourage experimental learning (Kolb & Fry, 1975). The assessment specification instructed students to design and conduct several 'in silica' Computer Science experiments to solve and/or create Sudoku puzzles. Importantly, students were asked to keep a Research Diary documenting their thoughts, attempts, backtracking and progresses as they attempted the assignment. Most unique from a student's perspective was that 'failure' to solve the given problem by experimentation was a viable option; their efforts would be rewarded given they conducted themselves 'scientifically' in their attempt. The inclusion of a Research Diary as part of the assessment proved beneficial to both students and staff, particularly as the Diaries focused students on the doing, rather than on the results achieved. For staff, these journals allowed the privilege of seeing what students were thinking and doing as they engaged in the problem. An early analysis of Diary entries shows evidences of students 'thinking scientifically', that is, understanding and thinking about the problem before formalizing an approach to a solution. In addition, Diary entries also show evidences of students 'behaving scientifically' as they reported conducting experiments and analyzing their results, before concluding about their experiences. For students, regardless of whether they able to complete the task, the Research Diaries were valuable testaments to their efforts and experimentations. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Teaching future knowledge engineers, the necessary skills for designing and implementing intelligent software solutions required by business, industry and research today, is a very tall order. These skills are not easily taught in traditional undergraduate computer science lectures; nor are the practical experiences easily reinforced in laboratory sessions. In an attempt to address this issue, a software development project, designed to take students through a complete process of knowledge engineering, was introduced in an undergraduate Intelligent Systems subject. In this project, students were required to act as domain experts, knowledge engineers, programmers, end users and project manager in the production of a game-playing expert system. The paper describes the project, its objectives and development, as well as some of the benefits. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Traditionally, students attending university have received support for their assignment writing within a face-to-face framework. Academic writing support delivered via the Internet needs to be rendered in very subject-specific terms for the resource to be perceived as valuable. This paper reports on a project involving writing support staff and a computer science subject leader to develop and evaluate a Web-based academic skills tutorial. The tutorial sought to provide online learning support for interpreting an information technology (IT) assignment topic, extracting information from sources, and integrating the material into a report with the support of online lexical tools. The evaluation sought to determine whether the students found the resource helpful, if improvements were still required, and what implications there were for integrating the resource with subject teaching. Students perceived most value in those sections of the resource that provided them with examples and models, and least in those that required them to engage in interactive activity. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]