A Framework for Student Projects in Computer Networks

This paper describes the delivery of a computer networks course with accompanying materials and software. The course is offered at the fourth-year undergraduate level, and has few formal pre-requisites, other than general programming skills. There is a substantial architectural and coding component to any practical course on networks, and it is important to challenge the experienced and knowledgeable students without making the material too difficult for the inexperienced students who have minimal experience in programming practical applications. Some students have an industrial background and are expecting to build practical working applications. At the other extreme are students with no exposure to operating system principles, and therefore lacking pertinent knowledge, such as concurrency concepts. Our programming framework provides an event-polling approach to avoid the complexity of more general concurrency techniques. Protocol layers are implemented with data types and use a finite state machine model to control their behaviors. The resulting course offers code structure and support to students with minimal background, without sacrificing pertinent concepts, and provides the ability to construct elaborate network applications using the coding structures introduced in the course.     

On-line/on-site education: the EDIT course for the educational use of telematics

Abstract

The applications of network technology to pre-service and in-service teacher training are wide in scope but may nevertheless be grouped into two broad categories: the network as a source of assistance (or self-help) for teachers during the classroom transfer of knowledge which they have gained on an on-site training course; and the network as an environment where the training process actually takes place. This article describes the study of a mixed on-site/on-line approach adopted for a training course called EDIT (EDucating with Internet and Telematics); the topic of the course itself was the use of the Internet to support teaching. The distinguishing feature of the approach used is the alternation between complementary on-site training and on-line activities.     

A blended learning approach for teaching computer programming: design for large classes in Sub-Saharan Africa

The challenge of teaching programming in higher education is complicated by problems associated with large class teaching, a prevalent situation in many developing countries. This paper reports on an investigation into the use of a blended learning approach to teaching and learning of programming in a class of more than 200 students. A course and learning environment was designed by integrating constructivist learning models of Constructive Alignment, Conversational Framework and the Three-Stage Learning Model. Design science research is used for the course redesign and development of the learning environment, and action research is integrated to undertake participatory evaluation of the intervention. The action research involved the Students’ Approach to Learning survey, a comparative analysis of students’ performance, and qualitative data analysis of data gathered from various sources. The paper makes a theoretical contribution in presenting a design of a blended learning solution for large class teaching of programming grounded in constructivist learning theory and use of free and open source technologies.     

Programming Pluralism: Using Learning Analytics to Detect Patterns in the Learning of Computer Programming

New high-frequency, automated data collection and analysis algorithms could offer new insights into complex learning processes, especially for tasks in which students have opportunities to generate unique open-ended artifacts such as computer programs. These approaches should be particularly useful because the need for scalable project-based and student-centered learning is growing considerably. In this article, we present studies focused on how students learn computer programming, based on data drawn from 154,000 code snapshots of computer programs under development by approximately 370 students enrolled in an introductory undergraduate programming course. We use methods from machine learning to discover patterns in the data and try to predict final exam grades. We begin with a set of exploratory experiments that use fully automated techniques to investigate how much students change their programming behavior throughout all assignments in the course. The results show that students’ change in programming patterns is only weakly predictive of course performance. We subsequently hone in on 1 single assignment, trying to map students’ learning process and trajectories and automatically identify productive and unproductive (sink) states within these trajectories. Results show that our process-based metric has better predictive power for final exams than the midterm grades. We conclude with recommendations about the use of such methods for assessment, real-time feedback, and course improvement.     

Teaching Psychological and Social Gerontology to Millennial Undergraduates

Matters of development and generation may create barriers in teaching millennial undergraduates psychological and social gerontology. We introduce strategy to mitigate these barriers by teaching psychological and social gerontology as undergraduate honors courses, augmented with the use of social networking tools. We detail honors programming, critical analysis of extant literature, ethnographic fieldwork to observe the “other” and build rapport, visual image analysis, and use of social networking tools to enhance intellectual and personal engagement. Reflection on our own modifications in course construction and pedagogy in analysis of four years of student evaluation feedback guides suggestions for replication.     

Exploring a complex gender wage gap dataset: an introductory activity in identifying issues and data visualization

In this paper, we provide instructors with an approach for a classroom activity for students in an introductory data science or statistics course who have little or no statistical programming experience. We designed this activity to help students improve their statistical literacy while exploring a social justice problem-the gender wage gap. To minimize the challenges of developing statistical literacy in students who lack programming skills, we developed a web-based data visualization application that does not require users to have any prior programming knowledge. The data in this visualization application comes from the March 2018 Current Population Uniform Extracts detailed by the Center for Economic Policy Research. Students can use the visualization application to create tables and plots to explore data on factors such as earnings and gender. Instructors can also use the application for other wage-related variables, such as race, occupation and family size.     

The Software Engineering Apprentice

The Software Engineering Apprentice is a model of programming instruction that focuses on “programming in the large.” We have developed a set of innovative laboratory programming exercises that can be used in a Fundamentals of Computer Science course sequence. The exercises revolve around a series of sophisticated “case studies”: complete software applications that we developed to exemplify good software engineering methods. In addition to functioning source code, the case studies include other software development artifacts: specifications, test plans, and design documents. As an alternative to the “build it from scratch then throw it away” mentality of most assignments in a first course, the Software Engineering Apprentice approach demands that students build upon large pre-existing software applications. Instead of the “language feature of the week” program assignments that are typical in these courses, the exercises we developed are modelled after tasks found in a real software development environment—testing, code comprehension, maintenance, modification, and enhancement.     

语篇分析在大学英语精读课教学中的应用

本文首先简单介绍了语篇、语篇分析及语篇分析教学模式的概念,然后主要就语篇分析教学模式所采用的几种策略进行简单分析,并结合实例就其中的“交互作用”策略在大学英语精读课教学中的应用做了初步探讨。     

Using a Social Work Professor's Autobiography as a Teaching Tool in Human Behavior and the Social Environment

Abstract

Social work, like other disciplines, has long used case studies as a (1) methodological approach to communicating a body of knowledge, and (2) as a tangible means to acquaint students with archetypical applications of realistic conditions. In social work, one required course sequence enhanced by case study assessments is Human Behavior and the Social Environment (HBSE). This paper describes the author's use of another social work professor's controversial and sensitive autobiography, To Ascend into the Shining World Againto instruct graduate students in HBSE courses. In his non-fictional account, the social work professor recalls the time when, during his own youth, he killed a teenager in 1967. The author recounts the way in which she incorporated the professor's story as a focus for analysis at The Ohio State University and how it was similarly examined in a course at the University of Louisville.     

Teaching Linked Lists: Influence of Language on Instruction

Basic to any data structures course is the introduction of linked lists, their applications and implementations. In this paper we trace the evolution of the exposition of linked lists, as influenced by the language of instruction. We found that while the node pool implementation of linked lists was originally prominently discussed, the current trend is to present only the pointer-based implementation. We feel that the shift toward object-oriented programming should not preclude a presentation of various implementations. We present our own approach to introducing linked list implementations, in which the pointer-based implementation is used to motivate the node pool approach, using pointers to implement the node pool.     

探究式教学法在高校计算机课程中的应用研究

在对探究式教学法理解认识的基础上,结合具体的《VB程序设计》课程,构建了一种适合计算机编程类课程的"大项目、小案例、任务驱动不断"的探究教学方法,以具体的教学行动研究,从教学目标分析、教学设计、实施方法、教学效果分析等方面初步探析了"大项目、小案例、任务驱动不断"的探究教学法在计算机课程教学中的应用,并进行了教学反思.     

The (Non)Importance of a Programming Language in a Software Engineering Course

Our catchy title is intended to be controversial, provoking thought upon the impact (or lack of any) that a programming language has on the curriculum for a software engineering course. Our view on the subject is from both directions, as indicated by the title. As educators, we argue that the language issues are secondary to the fundamental concern of understanding software engineering concepts, specifically object‐oriented concepts. However, we appreciate that expertise in a widely accepted object‐oriented language may be essential towards the more practical aspect of building a critical mass of software engineers versed in object‐oriented techniques. This reflects upon the maturing nature of computer science and engineering as a science, which is evolving its fundamental principles, while at the same time recognizing its impact as an engineering discipline sensitive to practical applications. The evolution of our primary software engineering course, CS250 Introduction to Software Engineering, has been influenced by our own reflections on the state of software engineering in the 1990s, industrial requirements for expertise by our graduates, and the needs of accreditation. We present the internal and external factors that have guided our course design. This process reflects our own experiences in academia and industry. We present this process as a representative model of a sound approach, but make no claims that it is the optimal approach.     

高师专科化学仪器分析课程设置探讨

根据仪器分析课程及专科学生的特点，提出了专科学校仪器分析课程的理论和实验内容设置、教学计划，并用于教学实践中，教学效果良好。     

《数值分析》课程教学改革的几点思考

数值分析课程在计算机科学与技术学科中占有非常重要的地位,它已成为计算机专业教学改革的重要内容之一.本文论述了该课程在理论与实践相结合、重视思维方式的培养、编程与软件运用并重、选择适宜教材和考核方式改革等几个方面进行改革的思路.     

Active Learning through Modeling: Introduction to Software Development in the Business Curriculum*

Modern software practices call for the active involvement of business people in the software process. Therefore, programming has become an indispensable part of the information systems component of the core curriculum at business schools. In this paper, we present a model‐based approach to teaching introduction to programming to general business students. The theoretical underpinnings of the new approach are metaphor, abstraction, modeling, Bloom's classification of cognitive skills, and active learning. We employ models to introduce the basic programming constructs and their semantics. To this end, we use statecharts to model object's state and the environment model of evaluation as a virtual machine interpreting the programs written in JavaScript. The adoption of this approach helps learners build a sound mental model of the notion of computation process. Scholastic performance, student evaluations, our experiential observations, and a multiple regression statistical test prove that the proposed ideas improve the course significantly.     

Java程序设计课程的教学实践与探索

文章围绕程序设计能力培养目标,分析Java程序设计课程教学现状及存在的问题,结合课程特点对教学模式及内容体系展开了研究。以工程应用能力培养为目标对教学内容进行重组优化,在理论教学过程中针对不同的教学内容设计了讲演练结合、启发式、案例驱动等教学方法,同时实验教学层次化,融入企业项目和创新研究课题,并采用多元的考核方式,加强学习过程性的评价。实践证明,这种改变有效提高了学生学习主动性,在深入理解理论知识的同时,学生的动手实践能力和创新能力也得到了增强。     

“工程数值计算与有限元”课程建设

“工程数值计算与有限元”是一门理论—应用结合紧密的工科研究生课程,与其他研究生课程相比,该课程有如下特点:首先,该课程与本科课程高等数学、矩阵论、弹性力学、现代数值计算、程序设计等存在关联,需要一定的知识广度,部分知识点理论性强,也要求一定的知识深度;其次,该课程为研究生后续掌握有限元软件操作、分析工程案例甚至开发软件奠定良好的基础,可以帮助学生“知其所以然”,体现出了应用性与可扩展性。从工科人才培养角度看,课程有着重要的承上启下作用,日益受到学界与科研界重视。该作者基于自己的海外课程经历,结合过去数年的教学经验,在文中提出了“工程数值计算与有限元”课程的一般建设思路,结合了理论授课与案例教学模式,并讨论了课程未来发展方向。     

民族院校英汉双语教学问题分析

近年来中国高等学校纷纷采取用英汉双语授课的模式,这一举措的导因是人才的国际化、社会的信息化及全球经济一体化。英汉双语教学的主要目的是使学生能够运用英汉两种语言作为工具来获取知识和技能。民族院校经过近年来的发展,师资力量和生源质量有所提高,基本具备开展英汉双语教学的基础。开展英汉双语教学应采取制定双语教学规划、加强师资培训、成立课程小组、排除母语干扰等十个方面的措施,稳步推行。