Critical factors influencing secondary school pupil’s decisions to study computing in tertiary education: Gender differences

This paper aims to determine the factors affecting the decisions of both male and female secondary school pupils whether or not to pursue undergraduate studies in Computing. It is based on research conducted in Greece, on a sample of 248 pupils, 135 of whom were female. All were aged 17 and about to decide on their future undergraduate studies. Questionnaires were used, addressing issues in the following four main categories: a) the reasons pupils chose/rejected Computing, b) how family and friends, the media and the school environment contribute to their decision, c) how pupils perceived their future after studying Computing and d) how pupils perceived the profile of a computer professional in terms of gender.

Grading students' programming and soft skills with open badges: A case study

Well-developed programming (technical) skills are very important for software engineers, information systems engineers and programmers in general. However, they must also possess relevant personal skills (soft skills) to be successful at the workplace (eg, collaboration, solving real-world problems and communication). The latter, however, are rarely assessed and acknowledged in regular software engineering courses. This paper describes the results of a small case study involving an extracurricular Java programming course in which, in addition to knowledge and skills in relevant technologies, students' soft skills were also assessed. As part of the assessment, students have been awarded Open Badges. The study was exploratory in nature, aimed at examining Open Badges as a motivational mechanism, students' engagement in attaining soft skills and students' perception of soft skills and Open Badges. The results suggest that Open Badges may not be so effective in motivating students to complete the assignments nor attend the course, although students' perception of Open Badges is generally positive. Soft skills were generally perceived as important as hard skills. Students' engagement in attaining soft skills could be affected by assignment announcement time and its level of difficulty.     

“Why Have You Bought a Black Doll?” How Young Children Talk about Diversity

Abstract

The qualitative Early Childhood research project analyzes how children, aged five to six years, talk about the dimensions of diversity they recognize in their kindergarten and how two kindergartens in Austria deal with diversity. The children talk about age, gender, size, language, religion, different countries of origin, and skin colors. With regard to the kindergarten organization, there is a tendency toward normativity in dealing with some dimensions of diversity. Religious education may contribute to develop safe and brave spaces where differences are allowed and discrimination against children is avoided.     

Learning while playing: Children's Forest School experiences in the UK

Children's outdoor play is declining, despite clear links between play, learning and development. Alternative learning initiatives which provide children with a diversity of play opportunities, including the chance to play outdoors, are therefore needed. One such programme, Forest School, is increasing in popularity in the UK and internationally, yet little is understood about its impact on children's learning, or how alternative approaches are informing learning in mainstream settings. This novel study examined primary school children's experiences of engaging in a Forest School programme in relation to this intersection between formal and informal approaches to learning. It explored how children interpret their experiences when faced with a fusion of learning environments and critically evaluates the benefits children realise, when asked to reflect on their learning engagement in both classroom and outdoor settings. Interviews were conducted with 33 children from two mainstream primary schools in England who had recently completed a 6-week Forest School programme. A rigorous phenomenological thematic analysis revealed three inter-related themes: a break from routine; learning through play; collaboration and teamwork. The findings suggest that the blending of Forest School with mainstream settings contributes to children's social, cognitive, emotional and physical skill development through experiential learning using play. These findings are significant because they not only emphasise the values of social constructivist play-pedagogy which underpin Forest School practice, but also highlight the need for primary schools to consider learning outside of the classroom as an effective pedagogy.     

浅析基于ETL技术和全表扫描哈希对比的数据同步方法

数据同步技术随着企业对各个信息系统之间数据共享的重视而变得越来越重要,数据同步的方法有很多,本文主要介绍基于ETL技术和基于全表扫描及哈希对比两种数据同步方法。基于ETL技术的数据同步是基于中间逻辑表完成数据转换,再通过主键和时间戳的对比而完成数据同步过程。本文以Kettle工具为例进行分析;基于全表扫描及哈希对比的数据同步是基于视图完成数据转换,再通过hash算法扫描对比而完成数据同步过程。     

智能建筑实验室建设现状与方案研究

随着建筑电气与智能化专业开设院校的增加,该专业已经成为新兴的热门专业,实验室的建设也受到了越来越多的关注.通过对一些高校实验室建设现状的调查,总结在选择实验室建设方案时应考虑的主要问题,为相关实验室的建设提供一定的参考.     

教育与可持续发展相结合案例研究——以肯尼亚青年多科技术学院模式为例

引言背景资料在殖民统治时期,教育制度在性质上既是分层性的,也是隔离性的,肯尼亚人同其他非洲人一样只被允许接受关于职业和农业教育,其目的是为殖民者提供廉价的体力劳动者(Sorobea,1992;Sheffield,1971)。这在殖民时期的各种教育报告中被反复提及,包括:弗雷泽,1902年;菲尔普斯斯托克斯,1924年;毕彻,1949年。而学历教育则是     

IPv6: The next generation Internet Protocol

IPv4, the workhorse protocol of the currently popular TCP/ IP protocol suite, is fast becoming obsolete. The exponential growth of the Internet is the main reason that has required the creation of the next generation of Internet Protocol-IPv6. IPv6 is much more flexible and promises to take care of the address space and security issues in the foreseeable future. Part 1 of the paper lays the foundation of the various issues involved in designing the Internet Protocol and motivates the need for an upgraded version of this protocol.