Abstract: This paper reports on the thirteenth and final BRACElet workshop. In this paper we provide a brief retrospective review of the workshops and the findings that have resulted from this multi-institutional multinational... more
Abstract: This paper reports on the thirteenth and final BRACElet workshop. In this paper we provide a brief retrospective review of the workshops and the findings that have resulted from this multi-institutional multinational investigation into the teaching and learning of novice programmers. Subsequently we report on the work undertaken during the final workshop and then discuss future avenues for research that have evolved as a result of the BRACElet project.
Publication Date: 2011
Publication Name: Journal of Applied Computing and Information Technology
ABSTRACT During the past two years, Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) have created wide interest in the academic world raising both enthusiasm for new opportunities for universities and many concerns for the future of university... more
ABSTRACT During the past two years, Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) have created wide interest in the academic world raising both enthusiasm for new opportunities for universities and many concerns for the future of university education. The discussion has mainly appeared in non-scientific forums, such as magazine articles, columns and blogs, making it difficult to judge wider opinions within academia. To collect more rigorous data we surveyed teachers, researchers, and academic managers on their opinions and experiences of MOOCs. In this paper, we present our analysis of responses from the computer science academic community (n=137). Their feelings about MOOCs are highly mixed. Content analysis of open-ended questions revealed that the most often mentioned positive aspects included affordances of MOOCs, freedom of time and location for studying, and the possibility to experience teaching from top-level international teachers/experts. The most common negative aspects included concerns about pedagogical designs of MOOCs, assessment practices, and lack of interaction with the teacher. About half the respondents claimed they had not changed their teaching as a result of MOOCs, a small number used MOOCs as learning resources and very few were engaging with MOOCs in any significant way.
Publisher: ACM Press
Publication Date: 2014
Publication Name: Proceedings of the 2014 conference on Innovation & technology in computer science education - ITiCSE '14
'Threshold concepts' are concepts that, among other things, transform the way a student looks at a discipline. Although the term... more
'Threshold concepts' are concepts that, among other things, transform the way a student looks at a discipline. Although the term 'threshold'might suggest that the transformation occurs at a specific point in time, an 'aha'moment, it seems more common (at least in ...
To accommodate an increasing interest in phenomenography among the computing education research community, the authors of this paper have organised two workshops, or intensive courses, in phenomenography, intended for researchers in... more
To accommodate an increasing interest in phenomenography among the computing education research community, the authors of this paper have organised two workshops, or intensive courses, in phenomenography, intended for researchers in computing education at a university level. Although the workshop programs contained lectures and smaller exercises, the emphasis was on preparing one joint publication from each of the workshops. The publication from the first workshop discussed the experience ...
ABSTRACT Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) have recently become a hot topic in the academic world, launching a wide ranging discussion on a number of issues. In this research, we surveyed academics' awareness, attitudes,... more
ABSTRACT Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) have recently become a hot topic in the academic world, launching a wide ranging discussion on a number of issues. In this research, we surveyed academics' awareness, attitudes, perceptions, and experiences of MOOCs. We received responses from 236 academics from 23 countries, who were working in different roles such as teachers, researchers, managers, and pedagogical developers. Participants were invited to answer questions concerning their awareness and attitudes towards MOOCs. For participants with some knowledge of MOOCs, we requested their experiences and their observations of the impact of MOOCS on their students, teaching colleagues, and within their institutions. We found the most common reaction to MOOCs amongst the academics was concern but many were positive about the phenomenon. The academics claimed their students could be motivated to take MOOCs because of flexibility and no cost involved. While many academics were not aware of their students taking a MOOC and had not observed any changes to teaching programs at their institutions because of MOOCs, there was evidence of some activity and future plans for engagement in MOOCs.
Publication Date: 2014
Publication Name: Proceedings of the 14th Koli Calling International Conference on Computing Education Research - Koli Calling '14
ABSTRACT During the past two years, Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) have created wide interest in the academic world raising both enthusiasm for new opportunities for universities and many concerns for the future of university... more
ABSTRACT During the past two years, Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) have created wide interest in the academic world raising both enthusiasm for new opportunities for universities and many concerns for the future of university education. The discussion has mainly appeared in non-scientific forums, such as magazine articles, columns and blogs, making it difficult to judge wider opinions within academia. To collect more rigorous data we surveyed teachers, researchers, and academic managers on their opinions and experiences of MOOCs. In this paper, we present our analysis of responses from the computer science academic community (n=137). Their feelings about MOOCs are highly mixed. Content analysis of open-ended questions revealed that the most often mentioned positive aspects included affordances of MOOCs, freedom of time and location for studying, and the possibility to experience teaching from top-level international teachers/experts. The most common negative aspects included concerns about pedagogical designs of MOOCs, assessment practices, and lack of interaction with the teacher. About half the respondents claimed they had not changed their teaching as a result of MOOCs, a small number used MOOCs as learning resources and very few were engaging with MOOCs in any significant way.
ABSTRACT Previous research in STEM education demonstrates that students are engaged in a continuous process of identity development, trying to integrate their educational experiences with their perception of who they are, and who they... more
ABSTRACT Previous research in STEM education demonstrates that students are engaged in a continuous process of identity development, trying to integrate their educational experiences with their perception of who they are, and who they wish to become. It appears increasingly apparent from this body of research that students are not well supported in this process by the education they currently receive. The goal of this paper is to analyse a specific aspect of the student experience, participation, in order to gain a better understanding of how computer science (CS) and information technology (IT) students engage with CS prior to and during their studies. Drawing on student interview data we describe and discuss students' qualitatively different ways of experiencing participation in CS and IT. The notion of participation applied here is inspired by Wenger's notion of participation in his social theory of learning. A phenomenographic analysis identifies a spectrum of qualitatively distinct ways in which the students experience participation in CS and IT, ranging from "using", to participation as "continuous development", and "creating new knowledge".
Publication Date: 2014
Publication Name: 2014 International Conference on Teaching and Learning in Computing and Engineering
This paper opens the classroom door to provide insight into factors that shape tertiary computer science teachers' experience of (and engagement with) student learning success and failure. This topic is explored through... more
This paper opens the classroom door to provide insight into factors that shape tertiary computer science teachers' experience of (and engagement with) student learning success and failure. This topic is explored through phenomenographic analysis of teacher narratives dealing with frustration and success in facilitating learning for their students. Three themes related to learning are explored which highlight different aspects of
Abstract: This paper reports on the thirteenth and final BRACElet workshop. In this paper we provide a brief retrospective review of the workshops and the findings that have resulted from this multi-institutional multinational... more
Abstract: This paper reports on the thirteenth and final BRACElet workshop. In this paper we provide a brief retrospective review of the workshops and the findings that have resulted from this multi-institutional multinational investigation into the teaching and learning of novice programmers. Subsequently we report on the work undertaken during the final workshop and then discuss future avenues for research that have evolved as a result of the BRACElet project.
Publication Date: 2011
Publication Name: Journal of Applied Computing and Information Technology
ABSTRACT What is 'programming thinking'? In a study, first year students were interviewed on their understanding of what learning to program means. Many students talked about learning to program in terms of learning a special... more
ABSTRACT What is 'programming thinking'? In a study, first year students were interviewed on their understanding of what learning to program means. Many students talked about learning to program in terms of learning a special way to think, different from other subjects ...
Publication Date: 2005
Publication Name: Proceedings of the 2005 international workshop on Computing education research - ICER '05
... Phenomenography and variation theory are applied to empirical data from a study of students' conceptions of computer programming. ... Phenomenography and variation theory are applied to empirical data from a study of... more
... Phenomenography and variation theory are applied to empirical data from a study of students' conceptions of computer programming. ... Phenomenography and variation theory are applied to empirical data from a study of students' conceptions of computer programming. ...
Publication Date: 2009
Publication Name: European Journal of Engineering Education
ABSTRACT In this paper we propose a way to analyse the enacted object of learning in written instructions for lab assignments in programming. Moreover, we apply the proposed kind of analysis to empirical data. The data stem from a small... more
ABSTRACT In this paper we propose a way to analyse the enacted object of learning in written instructions for lab assignments in programming. Moreover, we apply the proposed kind of analysis to empirical data. The data stem from a small pilot study where we studied instruction material for one specific lab session, concerning non-void methods in Java. The larger framework for the results presented here is a research project aimed at better understanding the relation between how novice students learn theory and how they learn practice in the computer lab.
Publication Date: 2013
Publication Name: 2013 Learning and Teaching in Computing and Engineering
