CAMP

This research shows an audience of fellow computer science teachers that there is benefit in testing college student's scientific reasoning skills and that the students increase their logical thinking skills in computer science classes when they are presented with real world problems, engaged in group activities, and given hands-on experiments.Students' scientific reasoning skills from several different computer science courses are analyzed and tested before and after taking the computer science course to measure their improvement in logical thinking. The higher order thinking skills test results are compared, and the overall class and individual student improvement between the classes that use different teaching strategies are analyzed. Also, the test results are compared with students' ability to perform adequately in a computer science course. This information is valuable to advisors when placing students in computer science courses.In the assessments of students' entering knowledge and evaluations of students' thinking improvement, the students' individual higher order thinking skills as well as their overall level of cognitive development are analyzed. Through the analysis of their individual skills and level of thinking, one can expand conclusions about the students' and teacher's performance over time.

This paper describes our experiences using Active Learning in four first-year computer science and industrial engineering courses at the School of Engineering of the Universidad Católica de la Santísima Concepción, Chile. This work corresponds to the implementation stage of the curriculum reform using a CDIO-based approach currently underway at the School of Engineering. Before this reform, students had only one introductory course to their field of study, meeting one hour a week. After the reform, computer science students take an Introduction to Computer Science course and a Programming Laboratory. Similarly, the industrial engineering program now includes an Introduction to Industrial Engineering and an Engineering Communication course. These courses have been designed using CDIO standards 1, 4 and 8 as guidelines and have been formulated to include active learning in its many forms such as project-based learning, problem-based learning, case studies, small group discussions, oral presentations and reflective memos. The redesign impact was assessed via anonymous student surveys and reflective memos. Our results show improved student understanding of their professional endeavour and increased student motivation for their engineering programs. Student surveys registered high degrees of satisfaction with active learning techniques, working in teams, and receiving immediate feedback from instructors and peers.

We live in exceptional times in which the entire world is witnessing the exponential spread of a pandemic, which requires to adopt new habits of mind and behaviors. In this paper, I introduce the term exponential competence, which encompasses these cognitive and social skills, and describe a course for computer science and software engineering students in which emphasis is placed on exponential competence. I argue that exponential competence is especially important for computer science and software engineering students, since many of them will, most likely, be required to deal with exponential phenomena in their future professional development.

Despite great effort in research and teaching as well as in raising women’s quotas in the public sector and in enterprises, a gender gap in computer science can still be observed. The reasons are manifold, including the lack of interest of girls because of existing stereotypes of male nerds, misconceptions in the field of computer science, and concrete differences in students’ self-concept and performance. Girls do not choose schools or studies in the field of computer science because working on computers or coding is unattractive to them. Research shows poorer performance, missing interest, and lower self-concept for girls in secondary computing education as well as a high dropout rate of female students in computer science courses at the bachelor’s level. Software development exams contribute to those high dropout rates, and women often choose a different subject or even stop their university education altogether. This leads to fewer female employees in the field of computer science, and this situation calls for special measures at several levels. The current paper provides an overview of the initiatives of our university that aim to address several aspects of the gender gap. The programs offered aim to (1) increase interest in computer science and recruit (highly) gifted girls for our talent programs, (2) recruit and support female bachelor’s and master’s students in computer science, and (3) redesign programming courses and teaching materials to reduce the gender gap in performance and support, especially for female students. This study also describes a cyber tutoring program in which highly gifted girls between 13 and 16 years collaborate with and are supervised by female role models in higher positions in STEM. The evaluation results gained in the first year of this case study are promising and suggest that the extension and further development of the program would be advantageous.

Aim/Purpose: The purpose of this study is to identify how Advanced level Mathematics and Mathematics course units offered at university level do impact on the academic performance of theoretical Computer Science course units. Background: In Sri Lankan state universities, students have been enrolled only from the Physical Science stream to do a degree program in Computer Science. In addition to that, universities have been offering some course units in Mathematics to provide the required mathematical maturity to Computer Science undergraduates. Despite of this it is observed that the failure rates in fundamental theoretical Computer Science course units are much higher than other course units offered in the general degree program every year. Methodology : Academic records comprised of all 459 undergraduates from three consecutive batches admitted to the degree program in Computer Science from a university were considered for this study. Contribution: This study helps academics in identifying suitable curricula for Mathematics course units to improve students’ performance in theoretical Computer Science courses. Findings: Advanced level Mathematics does not have any significant effect on the academic performance of theoretical Computer Science course units. Even though all Mathematics course units offered were significantly correlated with academic performance of every theoretical Computer Science course unit, only the Discrete Mathematics course unit highly impacted on the academic performance of all three theoretical Computer Science course units. Further this study indicates that the academic performance of female undergraduates is better than males in all theoretical Computer Science and Mathematics course units. Future Research: Identifying other critical success factors contributing to the students’ academic performance of the theoretical Computer Science through empirical studies

The reach of algebraic curves in cryptography goes far beyond elliptic curve or public key cryptography yet these other application areas have not been systematically covered in the literature. Addressing this gap, Algebraic Curves in Cryptography explores the rich uses of algebraic curves in a range of cryptographic applications, such as secret sh

This book is a clear and self-contained introduction to discrete mathematics, and in particular to combinatorics and graph theory. Aimed at undergraduates and early graduate students in mathematics and computer science, it is written with the goal of stimulating interest in mathematics and encourages an active, problem-solving approach to the material. The reader is led to an understanding of the basic principles and methods of actually doing mathematics. It is more narrowly focused than many discrete mathematics textbooks and treats selected topics in unusual depth and from several points of view. The book reflects the conviction of the authors, active and internationally renowned mathematicians, that the most important gain from studying mathematics is the cultivation of clear and logical thinking and habits, invariably useful for attacking new problems. More than 400 exercises, ranging widely in difficulty, and many accompanied by hints for solution, support this approach to teaching. Readers will appreciate the lively and informal style of the text, accompanied by more than 200 drawings and diagrams. Specialists in various parts of science ( with a basic mathematical education) wishing to apply discrete mathematics in their field will find the book a useful source, and even experts in combinatorics may occasionally learn from pointers to research literature or from the presentation of recent results. Invitation to Discrete Mathematics should make delightful reading both for beginners and mathematical professionals.

Students enrolled in introductory computer science courses tend towards individual work because of pedagogical practices discouraging collaboration and a focus on individual assignments. This can discourage new computer science students and may negatively affect persistence in computer science. In contrast, social learning theory research suggests a connection between student success and their level of involvement with peers, instructors, and in the greater learning community. Motivated by these contrasting conclusions, the research presented in this paper puts forth a framework based on social learning theories and teaching and learning methodologies to leverage social computing as a learning tool. This framework’s primary objective is use as the foundation for the development and testing of tools used to stimulate social interaction in problem-solving environments for introductory programming students and, as a result, building stronger social networks within learning communities. Following the implications of social learning theory, this paper theorizes that use of tools using this framework will not only result in a stronger, more connected, social network but will also contribute to greater success in student learning outcomes. The research presented in this paper follows a mixed-methods approach with meta-analysis used to develop the framework and an iterative, user- and learner-centered design approach to develop the software tools. User-centered design is the base of our design approach, but learner-centered design helps maintain focus on the important questions we must keep in mind in the design and assessment of this tool: how can we make people more effective learners, adopt our tools (for students and instructors), and promote peer collaboration? How should learning opportunities be scaffolded in a social computing environment? How should we motivate learners to remain engaged and form connections? The framework presented in this paper emphasizes the following requirements for tools to stimulate social interaction in a learning environment. 1) Motivation generating techniques to increase user interaction with the software tools. 2) Scaffolded activities to structure and stimulate community engagement to encourage interaction with the tool and the community. 3) Focused social interaction and gamification features to foster learner success by encouraging competition and community building. Meeting these requirements should promote higher levels of interaction and may lead to improved learning outcomes, attitudes, and social connectedness. In essence, tools founded on this framework will be the focus of a social hub for learning activity and build on the social computing experience. The chosen platform and delivery for this universal tool, as presented in this research, is via a Visual Studio Code extension due to its wide adoption and cross-platform support. Tools built from this framework are based on the necessity of a universal tool focused on encouraging and building a social learning environment; one that supports collaboration and problem solving, provides support for instructor guidance and constraints, and are structured to support many problems new computer science students face in the classroom. Further, the framework developed in this paper sets the foundation for future research testing the efficacy of interventions built around a social computing hub where problem solving takes place.

Computer science (CS) is a field of practical and scientific approach on computation and applications. Consequently, the CS students should be able to adjust to develop different types of software applications. However, even though video games are one type of software, they also impose additional requirements for the developers. In this paper we present the results of our qualitative studies on how prepared CS students are to function as game developers. The paper assesses the knowledge gaps between students majoring in computer science and game developer needs in two ways; a longitudinal study on a game development course and a focused case study on developing a game. Based on our results there are differences in communication and planning approaches between the CS students and game developers, and skill needs for game development content on a traditional computer science course curricula.

In this paper we discuss the difficulties of designing and running a final year project course for computer science and information systems students. In particular, we present the design of a research-oriented final year project course, where the aim is to develop the student's critical thinking and research skills. We also discuss the lessons learnt during the seven years that the course has been given.

In this study the authors argue that women situated within a masculine domain like computing can be seen as taking various positions within that domain rather than a position based on a gender-specific pattern. The authors' work is based on a conventional computer science course and students' experiences in a specific unit taken in year one. Through a deconstruction of aspects of this course, the authors analyse the subject positions of some of the women involved and show that the commonality in their relationship to computing is based upon a standpoint grounded in their complex positioning as both insiders and outsiders in that domain. This standpoint enables them to engage with 'the rules' in various ways. A woman tutor takes a position committed to providing access to students by attempting to integrate practice and abstraction, and the women students develop alternatives to the given rules, i.e. approaches to programming which work for them.

NOTE: The first page of text has been automatically extracted and included below in lieu of an abstract Main Menu Session 1526 Event-Driven Computing Projects for Software Engineering Education Marjorie Skubic and James Laffey Computer Engineering and Computer Science Department / School of Information Science and Learning Technologies University of Missouri-Columbia skubicm@missouri.edu / laffeyj@missouri.edu Abstract There is a growing need in the software industry for the development of systems with a dynamic, event-driven behavior, such as interactive human-computer interfaces, client-server architectures, and embedded systems. Developing successful, event-driven software requires a paradigm shift from traditional program development, and new curriculum approaches are needed to help computer science and engineering students develop competencies. In this paper, we describe an effort to address this problem through hands-on projects that provide experience in developing dynamic, event-driven systems and let the students physically see the results of their efforts. We describe our project testbed and exercises, based on the smart home theme, and report our experiences with using the testbed in an actual course setting. Although the proof of concept is being evaluated in a software engineering course, the project theme and testbed could be used in other computer-related courses, such as object-oriented programming, embedded systems, or even a first level computer science course. Introduction There is a growing need in the software industry for the development of systems with a dynamic, event-driven behavior, e.g., interactive human-computer interfaces, client-server architectures, and embedded systems1. Developing successful, event-driven software requires a paradigm shift from the traditional, sequential program development. Unlike sequential programs, event-driven software must work correctly in an environment with concurrent processes, uncertainties, and dynamic, external entities; indeed, the program may execute differently each time because of these outside effects. New curriculum approaches are needed to develop programming competencies for event- driven software 2. Students do not typically get significant experience in studying or developing event-driven software development. As a result, they have difficulties learning behavioral models for dynamic software systems and understanding the concepts necessary to design, program, and test such systems. To prepare students for their future careers as software engineers, they need experience in realistic projects that develop event-driven software 3. Proceedings of the 2002 American Society for Engineering Education Annual Conference & Exposition. Copyright © 2002, American Society for Engineering Education Main Menu

In the context of higher education strongly transforming itself under the impact of technology, Artificial Intelligence (AI) has become an important support tool in the learning process, especially for Computer Science (CS) students. Integrating a structured literature review and conceptual analysis, this paper evaluates the role of AI as a self-learning assistant, focusing on outstanding benefits such as personalized learning, source code debugging, and explaining complex algorithms, as well as challenges related to academic integrity, ethics, and independent thinking skills of students. Through analysis, the paper proposes a comprehensive recommendation framework, including: (1) an in-depth analysis of the five most effective AI tools; (2) smart strategies for AI-use through Prompt Engineering; (3) new pedagogical approaches for instructors; and (4) support policies from institutions. The results indicate that although AI cannot substitute human instructors completely, it can act as a powerful lever to enhance self-learning capabilities. When applied appropriately, it contributes to elevating the quality of Computer Science education in universities. Keywords: AI-assisted learning, Artificial Intelligence, Computer Science students, higher education, self-learning assistant.

This paper reports on an NSF-grant supported summer workshop that brought music and computer science students together for eight weeks to explore creative projects in digital sound production. The dynamics of the students' collaborations were observed as they crafted experimental projects weaving together music, theatre production, sampled digital audio, and MIDI. Moving among various levels of abstraction, the students found practical and artistic motivations to learn the science of digital sound. The projects they produced suggest ways to revitalize computer science courses by linking science, art, and practice through digital sound, a subject naturally interesting to students.

The number of computer science (CS) courses has been dramatically expanding in U.S. high schools (HS). In comparison with well-established courses in mathematics and science, little is known about how the decisions made by HS CS teachers regarding how and what to teach impact student performance later in introductory college CS courses. Drawing on a large sample of 2,871 introductory college CS students at 115 U.S. institutions who had taken a CS course in HS, we examined the topic coverage and prevailing instructional methods in the HS course and investigated how these experiences influenced student performance in college CS. Controlling for differences in student background, we find two predictors of higher grades in college CS: greater frequency of coding-related activities in HS (programming, debugging, studying algorithms) and lower frequency of “non-coding” computer use (e.g., data analysis, computer security). Interaction models revealed a more complex story. Coding-related activity more heavily benefited students who did not have coding help available at home. In the 28% of college CS courses in which instructors employed innovative pedagogies, students with higher ACT or SAT mathematics scores had a greater advantage than in traditionally taught courses. Finally, in the innovative college courses, students whose HS CS exams had typically included testing on vocabulary did worse than students whose exams had not included such tests.