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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.

In computer science education at school, computational thinking has been an emerging topic over the last decade. Even though, computational thinking is interpreted and integrated in classrooms in different ways, an identification process about what computational thinking is about has been in progress among computer science school-teachers and computer science education researchers since Wing's initial paper on the characteristics of computational thinking. On the other hand, the constructionist learning theory by Papert, based on constructivism and Piaget, has a long tradition in computer science education for describing the students' learning process by hands-on activities. Our contribution, in this paper, is to present a new mapping tool which can be used to review classroom activities in terms of both computational thinking and constructionist learning. For the tool, we have reused existing definitions of computer science concepts and computational thinking concepts and combined these with our new constructionism matrix. The matrix's most notable feature is its scale of learners' autonomy. This scale represents the degree of choices learners have at each stage of development of their artefact. To develop the scale definitions, we trialed the mapping tool, coding twenty-one popular international computing activities for pupils aged 5 to 11 (K-5). From our trial, we have shown that we can use the mapping tool, with a moderate to high degree of reliability across coders, to analyse classroom activities with regard to computational thinking and constructionism, however, further validation is needed to establish its usefulness. Despite a small number of activities (n = 21) being analysed with our mapping tool, our preliminary results showed several interesting findings. Firstly, that learner autonomy was low for defining the problem and developing their own design. Secondly that the activity type (such as lesson plan rather than online activity) or artefact created (such as physical artefact rather than onscreen activity or unplugged activity), rather than the computational thinking or computer science concept being taught was related to learner autonomy. This provides some tentative evidence, which may seem obvious, that the learning context rather than the learning content is related to degree of constructionism of an activity and that computational thinking per se may not be related to constructionism. However, further work is needed on a larger number of activities to verify and validate this suggestion.

With the increasing demand for STEM professionals, together with many of the current STEM professionals approaching or already gone over retiring age, there is a current shortfall which is now an urgent requirement to be addressed by Western countries as so much of activities and life in general is increasingly technology dependent. Actions that are currently being taken to address this shortfall in the UK by academic establishments, organizations and professional bodies are considered in this paper. Some of these include those actions that are directed at encouraging a better gender balance in the future as well as those involving actions to attract students to be aware of STEM from an early age to supporting women returning to the STEM profession. Parts of our research examines the learning and studying approaches adopted by some of the learners, their levels of attainment and attitude to learning to use technology and using technology to improve their learning. The paper reports on the developments and improvements from some of these initiatives and activities implemented. Some of these actions include details of competitions from primary to postgraduate students, women only training sessions, online support groups for STEM women, ranging from technical to career and social issues, and details of CAS (Computing At School) support for teachers, both face to face and online, currently with over 30,000 CAS participants. In conclusion the paper reflects on a roll out of some of these activities and potential impact on enhancing interest and uptake of STEM subjects by both the young and older learners and across diverse levels of education.

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.

This paper examines the impact of a novel assessment technique that has been used to improve the feedback given to second year Computer Science students at the University of Nottingham. Criteria for effective, high quality feedback are discussed. An automated marking system (The Marker's Apprentice--TMA) produces instant feedback in synergy with the highlighted best practises. This paper investigates improvements in the work submitted by students after receiving this type of feedback. It draws upon surveys, as well as comparisons to previous cohorts for validating the positive impact of these techniques. It was found that the cohort (141 students) made 35% fewer common mistakes on a subsequent exercise than the previous cohort. 100% of students surveyed (35) claimed to have read the feedback, and 91% agreed it clearly identified areas for improvement. 68% agreed the feedback is useful for their learning, which is backed up by the improvements seen on the last exercise. Supported by these results, this paper concludes that following feedback best practises can have a substantial impact on learning, and that automated assessment can play a key role in providing this instant, high quality feedback. The results and similar techniques can be applied to other disciplines.

This paper presents a case study based on the experiences surrounding a distance-learning module in the area of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) that includes a creative multimedia component as an integral part of its teaching and assessment. The module requires that students engage in multimedia production to articulate their ideas and understanding of technology-related concepts, in contrast with the text-based assessment practices that are more commonplace in technological subjects. Open Educational Resources (OER) form an integral part of the module both in its delivery and assessment: whilst open-source software and media are used within the teaching materials, students' multimedia work submitted for assessment has the potential to become resources for their peers. The paper examines the challenges encountered in developing the module and provides a preliminary discussion of views, concerns and potential issues faced by students, drawing upon the experiences of the module development team and the first cohort of students enrolled in the module. Whilst providing an overview of these experiences, the text explores issues pertaining to the integration of creative work into a domain where creativity has not been traditionally seen to play an explicit role. The module sits within an undergraduate ICT degree offered by the UK Open University (UKOU). (Contains 3 videos.)

The development of on-line research practice across international boundaries is now a viable proposition using available asynchronous technologies such as computer conferencing. As has been reported in previous papers (Grodzinsky, et al, 2002; Griffin, et al, 2002) such use has proved to be extremely valuable for supporting the teaching of computing and ethics. However, asynchronous computer conferencing not only offers new opportunities for teaching and for supporting students, it also offers a valuable resource to researchers. Taking advantage of such opportunity must, of course, address a number of issues. Prime amongst these are concerns as to how to overcome the variety of barriers that are likely to be encountered in establishing effective research collaboration within a text-based virtual environment. This paper will, therefore, outline how such research collaboration was initiated across international boundaries as well as providing an overview of the activity undertaken. The primary goal of this paper is, therefore, to illustrate both the challenges and benefits of undertaking on-line research collaboration.

Computer science has been a discipline for some years, and its position in the school curriculum has been contested differently in several countries. This paper looks at its role in three countries to illustrate these differences. A reconsideration of computer science as a separate subject both in primary and secondary education is suggested. At EDUsummIT 2015 it was argued that the major rationales for including computer science as a subject in the K-12 curriculum are economic, social and cultural. The paper explores these three rationales and also a beneficence matrix to assist curriculum designers. It also argues computer science is rapidly becoming critical for generating new knowledge, and should be taught as a distinct subject or content area, especially in secondary schools. The paper concludes by looking at some of the key questions to be considered when implementing computer science in the school curriculum, and at ways its role might change in the future.

Corpus linguistics, or the gathering together of language into a body for analysis and development of materials, is claimed to be an assured, established method (or field) that valuably informs pedagogical materials and knowledge of language (e.g. Ädel 2010; Gardner & Nesi, 2013). The fundamental validity of corpus linguistics is rarely, if ever, critiqued. In this empirical paper we critically consider the foundations of corpus linguistics as being based on an abstract objectivist view of language. We critique this foundation through the lens of an individual subjectivist view of language. Our introduction outlines abstract objectivist and individual subjectivist views of language described by Voloshinov (1973). We then present what is claimed regarding corpus linguistics, and consider contemporary critiques of these claims . We then critique the foundations of corpus linguistics from an individual subjectivist view of language. We illustrate this critique by drawing on data from interviews and focus groups with content material lecturers and students in the subject areas of "Business"; "Nursing"; "Design" and "Computing". These data question the fundamental assumption about how corpus linguistics operates: that what is counted is indeed countable. The data show how ostensibly similar words are understood in very different ways with very different underpinning psychological elements. We argue that corpus linguistics thus informs pedagogical materials with a merely passive understanding of the language. This view can only gain access to the inert crust of previous language, because it removes language from its individual subjective context. This context is fundamental to giving language the conscious and psychological elements that underpin its use. We argue the language should be taught through dialogue in this subject context and not removed from it.

The design of any robotic system requires input from engineers from a variety of technical fields. This paper describes a project-based module, "Biologically-Inspired Robotics," that is offered to Electronics and Computer Science students at the University of Southampton, U.K. The overall objective of the module is for student groups to investigate the interface between robotics and biology and develop a system (either hardware or software) to illustrate biological principles. This paper discusses the details of the implementation and delivery of the module, together with evaluation feedback. A number of the robotic systems developed by project groups are presented in order to illustrate the diversity and quality of the systems that have been developed.

This paper describes the integration of robotics education into an undergraduate Computer Science curriculum. The proposed approach delivers mobile robotics as well as covering the closely related field of Computer Vision and is directly linked to the research conducted at the authors' institution. The paper describes the most relevant details of the module content and assessment strategy, paying particular attention to the practical sessions using Rovio mobile robots. The specific choices are discussed that were made with regard to the mobile platform, software libraries, and lab environment. The paper also presents a detailed qualitative and quantitative analysis of student results, including the correlation between student engagement and performance, and discusses the outcomes of this experience.

This paper focuses on the difficulties of assessing multi-year team projects, in which a team of students drawn from all three years of a full-time degree course works on a problem with and for a real-life organization. Although potential solutions to the problem of assessing team projects may be context-dependent, we believe that discussing these in our paper will allow readers to relate to their teaching cases and increase the general appreciation of team project related work. Findings discussed in this paper are based on the first cycle of action research in relation to an existing multi-year team project scheme. Based on the interpretivist perspective, this work draws on data from staff and student focus groups, semi structured interviews and surveys. Team project clients were also asked to comment on their experiences and the way they would like team projects to be improved in the future. Since issues affecting the success of team projects are quite closely inter-related, a systemic view is adopted rather than analysis of a single issue in isolation. Overall there is a feeling that multi-year team projects are a good idea in theory but can be challenging to implement in practice. It is argued that the main areas of concern are the assessment process, the dilemmas and tensions that it can introduce, and the related inconsistencies in stakeholder involvement, which can compromise the learning experience if not handled well. We believe that the assessment process holds the key to a successful learning experience in team project work. (Contains 2 tables and 2 figures.)

There is a need for outreach programs to attract a diverse range of students to the computing discipline. The lack of qualified computing graduates to fill the growing number of computing vacancies is of concern to government and industry and there are few female students entering the computing pipeline at high school level. This paper presents three outreach programs that have the underlying assumption that students need to be reminded about the creativity and potential of computing so that it remains on the radar of their future career options. Each program instigated social and cultural change through a paradigm shift where girls moved from being ICT consumers to ICT creators. By exposing students to a wide variety of ICT activities and careers during secondary schooling, they were more likely to consider studying information systems, computer science or any other computing course at the university level. Results are presented showing student attitudinal changes as well as observed increases in enrolments at secondary school and university courses.

This article reports an investigation into undergraduate student experiences and views of a visual or "blocks" based programming language and its environment. An additional and central aspect of this enquiry is to substantiate the perceived degree of transferability of programming skills learnt within the visual environment to a typical mainstream textual language. Undergraduate students were given programming activities and examples covering four basic programming concepts based on the Sense programming language which is intended to simplify programming. Sense programming statements are represented by blocks which only fit together in ways that produce a meaningful syntactic outcome, which may lower the cognitive barrier to learning. Students were also presented with concepts represented using an equivalent textual construct and asked to consider their understanding of these based on the graphical cases. They were finally asked to complete a short online survey. This paper presents the programming activities, the survey and an analysis of the results.

This paper offers a critical analysis of the UK coalition Government's educational computing policies. It argues that such policies must be viewed in relation to the broader ideological intent underpinning their development and the neo liberal orientation that seeks to further privatise and marketise education. In examining the related justificatory discourse, it is argued that the ideological origins of policy direction are masked through the use of selective and questionable "evidence," which facilitates the further encroachment of vested industry interests. Furthermore, the symbolic re-presentation and repositioning of technology in schools through the disapplication of ICT Programmes of Study and a new emphasis on the teaching of computer science, not only diverts the purpose of education and educational technology further toward the needs of industry but may also lead to computer science being constructed as an elitist and selective subject. This is likely to have profound implications in terms of equality, with schools, individuals and groups who have less economic, social and cultural capitals being most at risk of a new form of digital exclusion. Similarly, in Higher Education, policy changes are in danger of excluding disadvantaged groups. Here too, technology is becoming an increasingly central tenet in the drive toward new forms of privatisation and marketisation. Educational technology therefore is an important site of struggle, where there is both the need and opportunities to challenge the increasingly prevalent profit and loss motives of business, and to also promote wider values associated with equality and social justice.

This paper considers the problem of source code plagiarism by students within the computing disciplines and reports the results of a survey of students in Computing departments in 18 institutions in the U.K. This survey was designed to investigate how well students understand the concept of source code plagiarism and to discover what, if any, specific aspects might cause particular confusion. An analysis of the results was carried out to assess understanding by topic and to discover whether various demographic factors may have an influence on that understanding. Within the survey sample, it appeared that the demographic factors tested did not generally affect students' understanding of source code plagiarism. However, analysis of the data for specific topics revealed that there are several areas of activity where the boundary between acceptable and unacceptable behavior is not clearly understood. These findings have implications for plagiarism education programs. (Contains 2 tables and 1 figure.)

This paper explores a relatively new area in the design and development of assessment procedures for the evaluation of coursework and student performance on computer and video games degrees. Emphasis is placed on an assessment which involves the development of and interaction in a virtual world, where lecturers and students are represented as virtual characters. The establishment of a new assessment framework for games degrees is outlined, followed by the findings from in depth interviews with students and lecturers concerning its implementation. The results provide a self reflective but critical insight on how existing assessment techniques may be adapted for the growing demands and popularity of games courses, as well as issues surrounding the appraisal of undergraduate work within virtual environments. Recommendations are provided on how similar assessments may be conducted in the future. (Contains 2 tables and 7 figures.)

This paper discusses our experiences in moving to student centred learning. It describes the action research approach and the context for the module at Masters level in systems analysis and design. It discusses the learning materials provided as an alternative to lectures, including a book, a set of videos, courseware and a web site. The initial teaching approach dictated a pace to the students. This evolved towards students working through the material at their own pace. As the teaching approach reached a steady state, there was a discernible improvement in students' minimum marks and pass rates. Student feedback by questionnaire is analysed, concentrating on the learning materials, the teaching approach and the advantages and dis-advantages. In general, students preferred the teaching approach, particularly the autonomy it provided them. Staff reflections and lessons learnt are also considered. In general, staff recognised that their time with students was more productive and that students became more self-reliant. Conclusions are drawn and general issues that emerged from the work identified. (Contains 3 tables and 4 figures.)

Research has shown that e-learning games do not have the same level of appeal to girls, as they do to boys; particularly in the crucial 11-14 age group. In the United Kingdom, this is typically when they start to make subject choices that impact their future studies and careers. Given the shortage of females who choose computer science as a career, this study explores how e-learning games can be designed to be motivationally appealing to young learners. It further explores the role of game representations and its appeal to this age group. This empirical study addresses the research question: "Can we develop e-learning games which appeal and motivate girls of age 11-14 to study computer science concepts?" Two e-learning games were developed: one included game representations such as game colour, graphics, character, age appropriateness, storyline, number of players, violence, identified as appealing to young females and the other game included antithetical or neutral representations. The two developed prototypes were used to explore key e-learning game representations as used to teach computer science concepts. A total of 304 participants, comprising of 152 girls and 152 boys from a combination of same sex and mixed secondary schools in Southeast England, engaged with both experimental games. The experiment also elicited information on how learners interact with these games and the resulting game appeal, motivation and learning. The insight gained from the analysis of data captured during the experiments, provide the evidence to demonstrate that inclusive e-learning games which motivate and appeal to girls of age 11-14 can be developed. This can have a positive influence on their willingness to use such games to learn computer science concepts. This implies that the study found positive outcomes related to e-learning game appeal, motivation and the learning of girls of this age group. A follow-up longitudinal study could investigate the impact of significant e-learning game representations that appeal to the target group. This could provide additional evidence on the changes in the appeal of the investigated significant game representations over time, due to the influence of other factors such as socio-economic and socio-cultural differences. This understanding can further enhance inclusive e-learning strategies to improve diversity in computer science education and consequently the career pipeline. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]