004 Datenverarbeitung; Informatik
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Institute
Im Bachelor-Studiengang (B. Sc.) IT Security an der Fachhochschule St. Pölten wurde im Wintersemester 2011/12 versuchsweise die Lehrorganisation im ersten Fachsemester verändert: Die Module bzw. Teilmodule wurden nicht mehr alle parallel zueinander unterrichtet, sondern jedes Modul wurde exklusiv über einige Wochen abgehalten. Im Beitrag werden die Auswirkungen und bisherigen Erfahrungen mit dieser Reorganisation der Lehre geschildert: So haben sich die Noten im Mittel um etwa eine Note verbessert, die Zahl derjenigen Studierenden, die durch Prüfungen durchfallen, ist drastisch gesunken. Die Zufriedenheit der Studierenden und Lehrenden ist so groß, dass diese Form der Lehrorganisation im gesamten Bachelor- und auch im Masterstudiengang übernommen wird.
We introduce a simple approach extending the input language of Answer Set Programming (ASP) systems by multi-valued propositions. Our approach is implemented as a (prototypical) preprocessor translating logic programs with multi-valued propositions into logic programs with Boolean propositions only. Our translation is modular and heavily benefits from the expressive input language of ASP. The resulting approach, along with its implementation, allows for solving interesting constraint satisfaction problems in ASP, showing a good performance.
Diversity is a term that is broadly used and challenging for informatics research, development and education. Diversity concerns may relate to unequal participation, knowledge and methodology, curricula, institutional planning etc. For a lot of these areas, measures, guidelines and best practices on diversity awareness exist. A systemic, sustainable impact of diversity measures on informatics is still largely missing. In this paper I explore what working with diversity and gender concepts in informatics entails, what the main challenges are and provide thoughts for improvement. The paper includes definitions of diversity and intersectionality, reflections on the disciplinary basis of informatics and practical implications of integrating diversity in informatics research and development. In the final part, two concepts from the social sciences and the humanities, the notion of “third space”/hybridity and the notion of “feminist ethics of care”, serve as a lens to foster more sustainable ways of working with diversity in informatics.
Die Lehre von wissenschaftlichem Arbeiten stellt einen zentralen Aspekt in forschungsorientierten Studiengängen wie der Informatik dar. Trotz diverser Angebote werden mittel- und langfristig Mängel in der
Arbeitsqualität von Studierenden sichtbar. Dieses Paper analysiert daher das Profil der Studierenden, deren Anwendung des wissenschaftlichen Arbeitens, und das Angebot von Proseminaren zum Thema „Einführung in das wissenschaftliche Arbeiten“ einer deutschen Universität. Die Ergebnisse mehrerer Erhebungen zeigen dabei diverse Probleme bei Studierenden auf, u. a. bei dem Prozessverständnis, dem Zeitmanagement und der Kommunikation.
In this article, we propose a model for an understanding process that learners can use while studying programming. We focus on the “small step” method, in which students learn only a few concepts for one program to avoid having trouble with learning programming. We also analyze the difference in the description order between several C programming textbooks on the basis of the model. We developed a tool to detect “gaps” (a lot of concepts to be learned in a program) in programming textbooks.
Clustering in education is important in identifying groups of objects in order to find linked patterns of correlations in educational datasets. As such, MOOCs provide a rich source of educational datasets which enable a wide selection of options to carry out clustering and an opportunity for cohort analyses. In this experience paper, five research studies on clustering in MOOCs are reviewed, drawing out several reasonings, methods, and students’ clusters that reflect certain kinds of learning behaviours. The collection of the varied clusters shows that each study identifies and defines clusters according to distinctive engagement patterns. Implications and a summary are provided at the end of the paper.
A survey has been carried out in the Computer Science (CS) department at the University of Baghdad to investigate the attitudes of CS students in a female dominant environment, showing the differences between male and female students in different academic years. We also compare the attitudes of the freshman students of two different cultures (University of Baghdad, Iraq, and the University of Potsdam).
The term Linked Data refers to connected information sources comprising structured data about a wide range of topics and for a multitude of applications. In recent years, the conceptional and technical foundations of Linked Data have been formalized and refined. To this end, well-known technologies have been established, such as the Resource Description Framework (RDF) as a Linked Data model or the SPARQL Protocol and RDF Query Language (SPARQL) for retrieving this information. Whereas most research has been conducted in the area of generating and publishing Linked Data, this thesis presents novel approaches for improved management. In particular, we illustrate new methods for analyzing and processing SPARQL queries. Here, we present two algorithms suitable for identifying structural relationships between these queries. Both algorithms are applied to a large number of real-world requests to evaluate the performance of the approaches and the quality of their results. Based on this, we introduce different strategies enabling optimized access of Linked Data sources. We demonstrate how the presented approach facilitates effective utilization of SPARQL endpoints by prefetching results relevant for multiple subsequent requests. Furthermore, we contribute a set of metrics for determining technical characteristics of such knowledge bases. To this end, we devise practical heuristics and validate them through thorough analysis of real-world data sources. We discuss the findings and evaluate their impact on utilizing the endpoints. Moreover, we detail the adoption of a scalable infrastructure for improving Linked Data discovery and consumption. As we outline in an exemplary use case, this platform is eligible both for processing and provisioning the corresponding information.
In this paper we report on our experiments in teaching computer science concepts with a mix of tangible and abstract object manipulations. The goal we set ourselves was to let pupils discover the challenges one has to meet to automatically manipulate formatted text. We worked with a group of 25 secondary school pupils (9-10th grade), and they were actually able to “invent” the concept of mark-up language. From this experiment we distilled a set of activities which will be replicated in other classes (6th grade) under the guidance of maths teachers.
In this talk, I would like to share my experiences gained from participating in four CSP solver competitions and the second ASP solver competition. In particular, I’ll talk about how various programming techniques can make huge differences in solving some of the benchmark problems used in the competitions. These techniques include global constraints, table constraints, and problem-specific propagators and labeling strategies for selecting variables and values. I’ll present these techniques with experimental results from B-Prolog and other CLP(FD) systems.
The goal of this paper is to study the demand factors driving enrollment in massive open online courses. Using course level data from a French MOOC platform, we study the course, teacher and institution related characteristics that influence the enrollment decision of students, in a setting where enrollment is open to all students without administrative barriers. Coverage from social and traditional media done around the course is a key driver. In addition, the language of instruction and the (estimated) amount of work needed to complete the course also have a significant impact. The data also suggests that the presence of same-side externalities is limited. Finally, preferences of national and of international students tend to differ on several dimensions.
A lot has been published about the competencies needed by
students in the 21st century (Ravenscroft et al., 2012). However, equally
important are the competencies needed by educators in the new era
of digital education. We review the key competencies for educators in
light of the new methods of teaching and learning proposed by Massive
Open Online Courses (MOOCs) and their on-campus counterparts,
Small Private Online Courses (SPOCs).
Der Unterricht großer Studierendengruppen im wissenschaftlichen Schreiben birgt vielfältige organisatorische Herausforderungen und eine zeitintensive Betreuung durch die Dozenten. Diese Arbeit stellt ein Lehrkonzept mit Peer-Reviews vor, in dem das Feedback der Peers durch eine automatisierte Analyse ergänzt wird. Die Software Confopy liefert metrik- und strukturbasierte Hinweise für die Verbesserung des wissenschaftlichen Schreibstils. Der Nutzen von Confopy wird an 47 studentischen Arbeiten in Draft- und Final-Version illustriert.
Die Wahl des richtigen Studienfaches und die daran anschließende
Studieneingangsphase sind oft entscheidend für den erfolgreichen Verlauf eines Studiums. Eine große Herausforderung besteht dabei darin, bereits in den ersten Wochen des Studiums bestehende Defizite in vermeintlich einfachen Schlüsselkompetenzen zu erkennen und diese so bald wie möglich zu beheben. Eine zweite, nicht minder wichtige Herausforderung ist es, möglichst frühzeitig für jeden einzelnen Studierenden zu erkennen, ob er bzw. sie das individuell richtige Studienfach gewählt hat, das den jeweiligen persönlichen Neigungen, Interessen und Fähigkeiten entspricht und zur Verwirklichung der eigenen Lebensziele beiträgt. Denn nur dann sind Studierende ausreichend stark und dauerhaft intrinsisch motiviert, um ein anspruchsvolles, komplexes Studium erfolgreich durchzuziehen. In diesem Beitrag fokussieren wir eine Maßnahme, die die Studierenden an einen Prozess zur systematischen Reflexion des eigenen Lernprozesses und der eigenen Ziele heranführt und beides in Relation setzt.
Um für ein Leben in der digitalen Gesellschaft vorbereitet zu sein, braucht jeder heute in verschiedenen Situationen umfangreiche informatische Grundlagen. Die Bedeutung von Informatik nimmt nicht nur in immer mehr
Bereichen unseres täglichen Lebens zu, sondern auch in immer mehr Ausbildungsrichtungen. Um junge Menschen auf ihr zukünftiges Leben und/oder ihre zukünftige berufliche Tätigkeit vorzubereiten, bieten verschiedene Hochschulen Informatikmodule für Studierende anderer Fachrichtungen an. Die Materialien jener Kurse bilden einen umfangreichen Datenpool, um die für Studierende anderer Fächer bedeutenden Aspekte der Informatik mithilfe eines empirischen Ansatzes zu identifizieren. Im Folgenden werden 70 Module zu informatischer Bildung für Studierende anderer Fachrichtungen analysiert. Die Materialien – Publikationen, Syllabi und Stundentafeln – werden zunächst mit einer qualitativen Inhaltsanalyse nach Mayring untersucht und anschließend quantitativ ausgewertet. Basierend auf der Analyse werden Ziele, zentrale Themen und Typen eingesetzter Werkzeuge identifiziert.
Was ist eine kreative Leistung von Studierenden? Dies ist die Ausgangsfrage, wenn Lehre kreativitätsförderlicher als bislang gestaltet werden soll. In diesem Beitrag wird ein Modell zur Förderung von Kreativität in der Hochschullehre vorgestellt und mit einem Beispiel verdeutlicht. Es wird die veränderte Konzeption der Vorlesung Informatik & Gesellschaft illustriert: Studierende hatten die Aufgabe, eine „e-Infrastruktur für die Universität NeuDoBoDu“ zu entwickeln. Hierzu werden die Ergebnisse der Evaluation und Erfahrungen erläutert.
Was ist Data Science?
(2018)
In Zusammenhang mit den Entwicklungen der vergangenen Jahre, insbesondere in den Bereichen Big Data, Datenmanagement und Maschinenlernen, hat sich der Umgang mit Daten und deren Analyse wesentlich weiterentwickelt. Mittlerweile wird die Datenwissenschaft als eigene Disziplin angesehen, die auch immer stärker durch entsprechende Studiengänge an Hochschulen repräsentiert wird. Trotz dieser zunehmenden Bedeutung ist jedoch oft unklar, welche konkreten Inhalte mit ihr in Verbindung stehen, da sie in verschiedensten Ausprägungen auftritt. In diesem Beitrag werden daher die hinter der Data Science stehenden informatischen Inhalte durch eine qualitative Analyse der Modulhandbücher etablierter Studiengänge aus diesem Bereich ermittelt und so ein Beitrag zur Charakterisierung dieser Disziplin geleistet. Am Beispiel der Entwicklung eines Data-Literacy-Kompetenzmodells, die als Ausblick skizziert wird, wird die Bedeutung dieser Charakterisierung für die weitere Forschung expliziert.
Viele Hochschulen nutzen SAP ERP in der Lehre, um den Studierenden einen Einblick in die Funktionsweise und den Aufbau von integrierter Standardsoftware zu ermöglichen. Im Rahmen solcher Schulungen bilden die Studierenden eine Meinung und Bewertung der Software. In diesem Artikel wird untersucht, wie sich klassische Modelle der Nutzungswahrnehmung auf die spezielle Situation von SAP ERP in der Lehre übertragen lassen und welchen Einfluss bestimmte Faktoren haben. Dazu wurden vier Vorher-Nachher-Studien durchgeführt. Die Ergebnisse zeigen, dass die Funktionalität im Laufe der Schulung positiver und die Benutzungsfreundlichkeit als negativer bewertet wird.
Viele Informatikstudierende sammeln bereits vor ihrem Studium berufliche Erfahrungen im Informatikbereich, ohne dass diese inhaltlich und didaktisch im Studium berücksichtigt werden. Dieser Beitrag geht der Frage nach, welche Kompetenzen aus beruflichen Vorqualifikationen bei Informatikstudierenden existieren und wie diese in Bezug zu Anerkennungsoptionen gesetzt werden können. Betrachtet werden: die pauschale Anerkennung, die auf erworbenen Zertifikaten beruht; die individuelle Anerkennung, bei der individuell erworbene Kompetenzen nachgewiesen werden; die Adaption von individuellen Lernwegen, die Teilkompetenzen der Studierenden berücksichtigt. Es wird eine Interviewstudie vorgestellt, in der Kompetenzen für ein Sample von Informatikstudierenden mit Vorqualifikation als Fachinformatiker/in erhoben und eine Zuordnung zu den Anerkennungsoptionen vorgenommen wurde. Für die präzisere Gestaltung von Anerkennungsprozessen und zur kritischen Reflexion der eingesetzten hochschuldidaktischen Konzepte wurde eine empirische Basis geschaffen. Die vorhandenen Konzepte richten sich traditionell an Abiturienten/ innen mit sehr geringem Informatikhintergrund und berücksichtigen die tatsächlich existierende Heterogenität der Studienanfänger/innen nicht angemessen. Die Ergebnisse zeigen, dass die Befragten aus ihrer Vorqualifikation relevante fachliche Kompetenzen mitbringen, die mit den Anerkennungsoptionen korrespondieren und deren Weiterentwicklung dienen können. Darüber hinaus werden aus überfachlichen Kompetenzen wie Selbststeuerungskompetenzen weitere Erkenntnisse zur Studiengestaltung gewonnen.
Vorlesungs-Pflege
(2018)
Ähnlich zu Alterungsprozessen bei Software degenerieren auch Vorlesungen, wenn sie nicht hinreichend gepflegt werden. Die Gründe hierfür werden ebenso beleuchtet wie mögliche Indikatoren und Maßnahmen – der Blick ist dabei immer der eines Informatikers. An drei Vorlesungen wird erläutert, wie der Degeneration von Lehrveranstaltungen
gegengewirkt werden kann. Mangels hinreichend großer empirischer Daten liefert das Paper keine unumstößlichen Wahrheiten. Ein Ziel ist es vielmehr Kollegen, die ähnliche Phänomene beobachten, einen ersten Anker für einen
inneren Diskurs zu bieten. Ein langfristiges Ziel ist die Sammlung eines Katalogs an Maßnahmen zur Pflege von Informatikvorlesungen.
Die Studienanfänger der Informatik haben in Deutschland sehr unterschiedliche Grundkenntnisse in der Programmierung. Dies führt immer wieder zu Schwierigkeiten in der Ausrichtung der Einführungsveranstaltungen. An der TU München wird seit dem Wintersemester 2008/2009 nun eine neue Art von Vorkursen angeboten. In nur 2,5 Tagen erstellen die Teilnehmer ein kleines objektorientiertes Programm. Dabei arbeiten sie weitestgehend alleine, unterstützt von einem studentischen Tutor. In dieser Arbeit sollen nun das Konzept der sogenannten „Vorprojekte“ sowie erste Forschungsansätze vorgestellt werden
For interactive construction of CSG models understanding the layout of a model is essential for its efficient manipulation. To understand position and orientation of aggregated components of a CSG model, we need to realize its visible and occluded parts as a whole. Hence, transparency and enhanced outlines are key techniques to assist comprehension. We present a novel real-time rendering technique for visualizing design and spatial assembly of CSG models. As enabling technology we combine an image-space CSG rendering algorithm with blueprint rendering. Blueprint rendering applies depth peeling for extracting layers of ordered depth from polygonal models and then composes them in sorted order facilitating a clear insight of the models. We develop a solution for implementing depth peeling for CSG models considering their depth complexity. Capturing surface colors of each layer and later combining the results allows for generating order-independent transparency as one major rendering technique for CSG models. We further define visually important edges for CSG models and integrate an image-space edgeenhancement technique for detecting them in each layer. In this way, we extract visually important edges that are directly and not directly visible to outline a model’s layout. Combining edges with transparency rendering, finally, generates edge-enhanced depictions of image-based CSG models and allows us to realize their complex, spatial assembly.
Component based software development (CBSD) and aspectoriented software development (AOSD) are two complementary approaches. However, existing proposals for integrating aspects into component models are direct transposition of object-oriented AOSD techniques to components. In this article, we propose a new approach based on views. Our proposal introduces crosscutting components quite naturally and can be integrated into different component models.
Peer Assessment ist eine Methode, bei der die Teilnehmer eine gestellte Aufgabe nicht nur bearbeiten und einreichen, sondern – in einer zweiten Phase – diese auch gegenseitig überprüfen, kommentieren und bewerten. Durch diese Methode wird, auch in sehr großen Veranstaltungen, das Üben mit individuellen Bewertungen und individuellem Feedback möglich.
Im Wintersemester 2013/14 wurde dieser Ansatz in der Erstsemesterveranstaltung Programmieren an der Technischen Hochschule Nürnberg mit 340 Studierenden als semesterbegleitendes Online-Pflichtpraktikum erprobt. Bei gleichen Leistungsanforderungen wurde bei Studierenden, die erfolgreich am Praktikum teilnahmen, eine Reduzierung der Durchfallquote um durchschnittlich 60 % und eine Verbesserung der Durchschnittsnote um 0,6 – 0,9 Notenstufen erzielt. Zudem lernten die teilnehmenden Studierenden kontinuierlicher, bereiteten Lerninhalte besser nach und gelangten zu einer überwiegend positiven Einschätzung des Praktikums und der Methode. Im E-Learning System Moodle kann Peer Assessment, mit moderatem Umsetzungs- und Betreuungsaufwand, mit der Workshop-Aktivität realisiert werden. Im Beitrag wird auf die Schlüsselelemente des erfolgreichen Einsatzes von Peer Assessment eingegangen.
MOOCs have been produced using a variety of instructional design approaches and frameworks. This paper presents experiences from the instructional approach based on the ADDIE model applied to designing and producing MOOCs in the Erasmus+ strategic partnership on Open Badge Ecosystem for Research Data Management (OBERRED). Specifically, this paper describes the case study of the production of the MOOC “Open Badges for Open Science”, delivered on the European MOOC platform EMMA. The key goal of this MOOC is to help learners develop a capacity to use Open Badges in the field of Research Data Management (RDM). To produce the MOOC, the ADDIE model was applied as a generic instructional design model and a systematic approach to the design and development following the five design phases: Analysis, Design, Development, Implementation, Evaluation. This paper outlines the MOOC production including methods, templates and tools used in this process including the interactive micro-content created with H5P in form of Open Educational Resources and digital credentials created with Open Badges and issued to MOOC participants upon successful completion of MOOC levels. The paper also outlines the results from qualitative evaluation, which applied the cognitive walkthrough methodology to elicit user requirements. The paper ends with conclusions about pros and cons of using the ADDIE model in MOOC production and formulates recommendations for further work in this area.
The challenge is providing teachers with the resources they need to strengthen their instructions and better prepare students for the jobs of the 21st Century. Technology can help meet the challenge. Teachers’ Tryscience is a noncommercial offer, developed by the New York Hall of Science, TeachEngineering, the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards and IBM Citizenship to provide teachers with such resources. The workshop provides deeper insight into this tool and discussion of how to support teaching of informatics in schools.
Scientific writing is an important skill for computer science and computer engineering professionals. In this paper we present a writing concept across the curriculum program directed towards scientific writing. The program is built around a hierarchy of learning outcomes. The hierarchy is constructed through analyzing the learning outcomes in relation to competencies that are needed to fulfill them.
Current curricular trends require teachers in Baden-
Wuerttemberg (Germany) to integrate Computer Science (CS) into
traditional subjects, such as Physical Science. However, concrete guidelines
are missing. To fill this gap, we outline an approach where a
microcontroller is used to perform and evaluate measurements in the
Physical Science classroom.
Using the open-source Arduino platform, we expect students to acquire
and develop both CS and Physical Science competencies by using a
self-programmed microcontroller. In addition to this combined development
of competencies in Physical Science and CS, the subject matter
will be embedded in suitable contexts and learning environments,
such as weather and climate.
Computational thinking is a fundamental skill set that is learned
by studying Informatics and ICT. We argue that its core ideas can
be introduced in an inspiring and integrated way to both teachers and
students using fun and contextually rich cs4fn ‘Computer Science for
Fun’ stories combined with ‘unplugged’ activities including games and
magic tricks. We also argue that understanding people is an important
part of computational thinking. Computational thinking can be fun for
everyone when taught in kinaesthetic ways away from technology.
Universitat Politècnica de València’s Experience with EDX MOOC Initiatives During the Covid Lockdown
(2021)
In March 2020, when massive lockdowns started to be enforced around the world to contain the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic, edX launched two initiatives to help students around the world providing free certificates for its courses, RAP, for member institutions and OCE, for any accredited academic institution. In this paper we analyze how Universitat Poltècnica de València contributed with its courses to both initiatives, providing almost 14,000 free certificate codes in total, and how UPV used the RAP initiative as a customer, describing the mechanism used to distribute more than 22,000 codes for free certificates to more than 7,000 UPV community members, what led to the achievement of more than 5,000 free certificates. We also comment the results of a post initiative survey answered by 1,612 UPV members about 3,241 edX courses, in which they communicated a satisfaction of 4,69 over 5 with the initiative.
User-centered design processes are the first choice when new interactive systems or services are developed to address real customer needs and provide a good user experience. Common tools for collecting user research data, conducting brainstormings, or sketching ideas are whiteboards and sticky notes. They are ubiquitously available, and no technical or domain knowledge is necessary to use them. However, traditional pen and paper tools fall short when saving the content and sharing it with others unable to be in the same location. They are also missing further digital advantages such as searching or sorting content. Although research on digital whiteboard and sticky note applications has been conducted for over 20 years, these tools are not widely adopted in company contexts. While many research prototypes exist, they have not been used for an extended period of time in a real-world context. The goal of this thesis is to investigate what the enablers and obstacles for the adoption of digital whiteboard systems are. As an instrument for different studies, we developed the Tele-Board software system for collaborative creative work. Based on interviews, observations, and findings from former research, we tried to transfer the analog way of working to the digital world. Being a software system, Tele-Board can be used with a variety of hardware and does not depend on special devices. This feature became one of the main factors for adoption on a larger scale. In this thesis, I will present three studies on the use of Tele-Board with different user groups and foci. I will use a combination of research methods (laboratory case studies and data from field research) with the overall goal of finding out when a digital whiteboard system is used and in which cases not. Not surprisingly, the system is used and accepted if a user sees a main benefit that neither analog tools nor other applications can offer. However, I found that these perceived benefits are very different for each user and usage context. If a tool provides possibilities to use in different ways and with different equipment, the chances of its adoption by a larger group increase. Tele-Board has now been in use for over 1.5 years in a global IT company in at least five countries with a constantly growing user base. Its use, advantages, and disadvantages will be described based on 42 interviews and usage statistics from server logs. Through these insights and findings from laboratory case studies, I will present a detailed analysis of digital whiteboard use in different contexts with design implications for future systems.
Berufsbegleitende Studiengänge stehen vor besonderen Schwierigkeiten, für die der Einsatz von Blended Learning-Szenarien sinnvoll sein kann. Welche speziellen Herausforderungen sich dabei ergeben und welche Lösungsansätze dagegen steuern, betrachtet der folgende Artikel anhand eines Praxisberichts aus dem Studiengang M. P. A. Wissenschaftsmanagement an der Universität Speyer.
TransPipe
(2021)
Online learning environments, such as Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs), often rely on videos as a major component to convey knowledge. However, these videos exclude potential participants who do not understand the lecturer’s language, regardless of whether that is due to language unfamiliarity or aural handicaps. Subtitles and/or interactive transcripts solve this issue, ease navigation based on the content, and enable indexing and retrieval by search engines. Although there are several automated speech-to-text converters and translation tools, their quality varies and the process of integrating them can be quite tedious. Thus, in practice, many videos on MOOC platforms only receive subtitles after the course is already finished (if at all) due to a lack of resources. This work describes an approach to tackle this issue by providing a dedicated tool, which is closing this gap between MOOC platforms and transcription and translation tools and offering a simple workflow that can easily be handled by users with a less technical background. The proposed method is designed and evaluated by qualitative interviews with three major MOOC providers.
Different properties of programs, implemented in Constraint Handling Rules (CHR), have already been investigated. Proving these properties in CHR is fairly simpler than proving them in any type of imperative programming language, which triggered the proposal of a methodology to map imperative programs into equivalent CHR. The equivalence of both programs implies that if a property is satisfied for one, then it is satisfied for the other. The mapping methodology could be put to other beneficial uses. One such use is the automatic generation of global constraints, at an attempt to demonstrate the benefits of having a rule-based implementation for constraint solvers.
Because software development is increasingly expensive and timeconsuming, software reuse gains importance. Aspect-oriented software development modularizes crosscutting concerns which enables their systematic reuse. Literature provides a number of AOP patterns and best practices for developing reusable aspects based on compelling examples for concerns like tracing, transactions and persistence. However, such best practices are lacking for systematically reusing invasive aspects. In this paper, we present the ‘callback mismatch problem’. This problem arises in the context of abstraction mismatch, in which the aspect is required to issue a callback to the base application. As a consequence, the composition of invasive aspects is cumbersome to implement, difficult to maintain and impossible to reuse. We motivate this problem in a real-world example, show that it persists in the current state-of-the-art, and outline the need for advanced aspectual composition mechanisms to deal with this.
Information technology and digital solutions as enablers in the tourism sector require continuous development of skills, as digital transformation is characterized by fast change, complexity and uncertainty. This research investigates how a cMOOC concept could support the tourism industry. A consortium of three universities, a tourism association, and a tourist attraction investigates online learning needs and habits of tourism industry stakeholders in the field of digitalization in a cross-border study in the Baltic Sea region. The multi-national survey (n = 244) reveals a high interest in participating in an online learning community, with two-thirds of respondents seeing opportunities to contributing to such community apart from consuming knowledge. The paper demonstrates preferred ways of learning, motivational and hampering aspects as well as types of possible contributions.
Think logarithmically!
(2015)
We discuss here a number of algorithmic topics which we
use in our teaching and in learning of mathematics and informatics to
illustrate and document the power of logarithm in designing very efficient
algorithms and computations – logarithmic thinking is one of the
most important key competencies for solving real world practical problems.
We demonstrate also how to introduce logarithm independently
of mathematical formalism using a conceptual model for reducing a
problem size by at least half. It is quite surprising that the idea, which
leads to logarithm, is present in Euclid’s algorithm described almost
2000 years before John Napier invented logarithm.
Die Möglichkeiten sich zu informieren, am Leben der vielen Anderen teilzunehmen ist durch das Internet mit seinen Tweets, Google-Angeboten und sozialen Netzwerken wie Facebook ins Unermessliche gewachsen. Zugleich fühlen sich viele Nutzer überfordert und meinen, im Meer der Informationen zu ertrinken. So bekennt Frank Schirrmacher in seinem Buch Payback, dass er den geistigen Anforderungen unserer Zeit nicht mehr gewachsen ist. Sein Kopf komme nicht mehr mit. Er sei unkonzentriert, vergesslich und ständig abgelenkt. Das, was vielen zum Problem geworden ist, sehen viele Studierende eher pragmatisch. Der Wissenserwerb in Zeiten von Internet und E-Learning läuft an Hochschulen häufig nach der Helene-Hegemann-Methode ab: Zunächst machen sich die Studierenden, z.B. im Rahmen einer Studien- oder Hausarbeit, bei Wikipedia „schlau“, ein Einstieg ist geschafft. Anschließend wird dieses Wissen mit Google angereichert. Damit ist Überblickswissen vorhanden. Mit geschickter copy-and-paste-Komposition lässt sich daraus schon ein „Werk“ erstellen. Der ein oder andere Studierende gibt sich mit diesem Wissenserwerb zufrieden und bricht seinen Lernprozess hier bereits ab. Nun ist zwar am Ende jeder Studierende für seinen Wissenserwerb selbst verantwortlich. Die erkennbar unbefriedigende Situation sollte die Hochschulen aber herausfordern, das Internet in Vorlesungen und Seminaren auszuprobieren und sinnvolle Anwendungen zu entwickeln. Beispiele gibt es durchaus. Unter der Metapher E-Learning hat sich ein umfangreicher Forschungsschwerpunkt an den Universitäten entwickelt. Einige Beispiele von vielen: So hat der Osnabrücker Informatik-Professor Oliver Vornberger seine Vorlesungen als Video ins Netz gestellt. Per RSS ist es möglich, Sequenzen aufs iPod zu laden. Die übliche Dozentenangst, dann würden sie ja vor leeren Bänken sitzen, scheint unbegründet. Sie werden von den Studierenden vor allem zur Prüfungsvorbereitung genutzt. Wie ist das Internet, das für die junge Generation zu einem alles andere verdrängenden Universalmedium geworden ist, didaktisch in die Hochschullehre einzubinden? Wie also ist konkret mit diesen Herausforderungen umzugehen? Dies soll uns im Folgenden beschäftigen.
The Technology Proficiency Self-Assessment (TPSA) questionnaire
has been used for 15 years in the USA and other nations as a
self-efficacy measure for proficiencies fundamental to effective technology
integration in the classroom learning environment. Internal consistency
reliabilities for each of the five-item scales have typically ranged
from .73 to .88 for preservice or inservice technology-using teachers.
Due to changing technologies used in education, researchers sought to
renovate partially obsolete items and extend self-efficacy assessment to
new areas, such as social media and mobile learning. Analysis of 2014
data gathered on a new, 34 item version of the TPSA indicates that the
four established areas of email, World Wide Web (WWW), integrated
applications, and teaching with technology continue to form consistent
scales with reliabilities ranging from .81 to .93, while the 14 new items
gathered to represent emerging technologies and media separate into
two scales, each with internal consistency reliabilities greater than .9.
The renovated TPSA is deemed to be worthy of continued use in the
teaching with technology context.
The Student Learning Ecology
(2015)
Educational research on social media has showed that
students use it for socialisation, personal communication, and informal
learning. Recent studies have argued that students to some degree use
social media to carry out formal schoolwork. This article gives an
explorative account on how a small sample of Norwegian high school
students use social media to self-organise formal schoolwork. This
user pattern can be called a “student learning ecology”, which is a
user perspective on how participating students gain access to learning
resources.
The COVID-19 pandemic emergency has forced a profound reshape of our lives. Our way of working and studying has been disrupted with the result of an acceleration of the shift to the digital world. To properly adapt to this change, we need to outline and implement new urgent strategies and approaches which put learning at the center, supporting workers and students to further develop “future proof” skills. In the last period, universities and educational institutions have demonstrated that they can play an important role in this context, also leveraging on the potential of Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) which proved to be an important vehicle of flexibility and adaptation in a general context characterised by several constraints. From March 2020 till now, we have witnessed an exponential growth of MOOCs enrollments numbers, with “traditional” students interested in different topics not necessarily integrated to their curricular studies. To support students and faculty development during the spreading of the pandemic, Politecnico di Milano focused on one main dimension: faculty development for a better integration of digital tools and contents in the e-learning experience. The current discussion focuses on how to improve the integration of MOOCs in the in-presence activities to create meaningful learning and teaching experiences, thereby leveraging blended learning approaches to engage both students and external stakeholders to equip them with future job relevance skills.
The traditional purpose of algorithm in education is to prepare students for programming. In our effort to introduce the practically missing computing science into Czech general secondary education, we have revisited this purpose.We propose an approach, which is in better accordance with the goals of general secondary education in Czechia. The importance of programming is diminishing, while recognition of algorithmic procedures and precise (yet concise) communication of algorithms is gaining importance. This includes expressing algorithms in natural language, which is more useful for most of the students than programming. We propose criteria to evaluate such descriptions. Finally, an idea about the limitations is required (inefficient algorithms, unsolvable problems, Turing’s test). We describe these adjusted educational goals and an outline of the resulting course. Our experience with carrying out the proposed intentions is satisfactory, although we did not accomplish all the defined goals.
Ethical issues surrounding modern computing technologies play an increasingly important role in the public debate. Yet, ethics still either doesn’t appear at all or only to a very small extent in computer science degree programs. This paper provides an argument for the value of ethics beyond a pure responsibility perspective and describes the positive value of ethical debate for future computer scientists. It also provides a systematic analysis of the module handbooks of 67 German universities and shows that there is indeed a lack of ethics in computer science education. Finally, we present a principled design of a compulsory course for undergraduate students.
Japan launched the new Course of Study in April 2012, which has been carried out in elementary schools and junior high schools. It will also be implemented in senior high schools from April 2013. This article presents an overview of the information studies education in the new Course of Study for K-12. Besides, the authors point out what role experts of informatics and information studies education should play in the general education centered around information studies that is meant to help people of the nation to lead an active, powerful, and flexible life until the satisfying end.
The MOOC-CEDIA Observatory
(2021)
In the last few years, an important amount of Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCS) has been made available to the worldwide community, mainly by European and North American universities (i.e. United States). Since its emergence, the adoption of these educational resources has been widely studied by several research groups and universities with the aim of understanding their evolution and impact in educational models, through the time. In the case of Latin America, data from the MOOC-UC Observatory (updated until 2018) shows that, the adoption of these courses by universities in the region has been slow and heterogeneous. In the specific case of Ecuador, although some data is available, there is lack of information regarding the construction, publication and/or adoption of such courses by universities in the country. Moreover, there are not updated studies designed to identify and analyze the barriers and factors affecting the adoption of MOOCs in the country. The aim of this work is to present the MOOC-CEDIA Observatory, a web platform that offers interactive visualizations on the adoption of MOOCs in Ecuador. The main results of the study show that: (1) until 2020 there have been 99 MOOCs in Ecuador, (2) the domains of MOOCs are mostly related to applied sciences, social sciences and natural sciences, with the humanities being the least covered, (3) Open edX and Moodle are the most widely used platforms to deploy such courses. It is expected that the conclusions drawn from this analysis, will allow the design of recommendations aimed to promote the creation and use of quality MOOCs in Ecuador and help institutions to chart the route for their adoption, both for internal use by their community but also by society in general.
This article shows a discussion about the key competencies
in informatics and ICT viewed from a philosophical foundation presented
by Martha Nussbaum, which is known as ‘ten central capabilities’.
Firstly, the outline of ‘The Capability Approach’, which has been presented
by Amartya Sen and Nussbaum as a theoretical framework of
assessing the state of social welfare, will be explained. Secondly, the
body of Nussbaum’s ten central capabilities and the reason for being
applied as the basis of discussion will be shown. Thirdly, the relationship
between the concept of ‘capability’ and ‘competency’ is to be
discussed. After that, the author’s assumption of the key competencies
in informatics and ICT led from the examination of Nussbaum’s ten
capabilities will be presented.
The correction of software failures tends to be very cost-intensive because their debugging is an often time-consuming development activity. During this activity, developers largely attempt to understand what causes failures: Starting with a test case that reproduces the observable failure they have to follow failure causes on the infection chain back to the root cause (defect). This idealized procedure requires deep knowledge of the system and its behavior because failures and defects can be far apart from each other. Unfortunately, common debugging tools are inadequate for systematically investigating such infection chains in detail. Thus, developers have to rely primarily on their intuition and the localization of failure causes is not time-efficient. To prevent debugging by disorganized trial and error, experienced developers apply the scientific method and its systematic hypothesis-testing. However, even when using the scientific method, the search for failure causes can still be a laborious task. First, lacking expertise about the system makes it hard to understand incorrect behavior and to create reasonable hypotheses. Second, contemporary debugging approaches provide no or only partial support for the scientific method. In this dissertation, we present test-driven fault navigation as a debugging guide for localizing reproducible failures with the scientific method. Based on the analysis of passing and failing test cases, we reveal anomalies and integrate them into a breadth-first search that leads developers to defects. This systematic search consists of four specific navigation techniques that together support the creation, evaluation, and refinement of failure cause hypotheses for the scientific method. First, structure navigation localizes suspicious system parts and restricts the initial search space. Second, team navigation recommends experienced developers for helping with failures. Third, behavior navigation allows developers to follow emphasized infection chains back to root causes. Fourth, state navigation identifies corrupted state and reveals parts of the infection chain automatically. We implement test-driven fault navigation in our Path Tools framework for the Squeak/Smalltalk development environment and limit its computation cost with the help of our incremental dynamic analysis. This lightweight dynamic analysis ensures an immediate debugging experience with our tools by splitting the run-time overhead over multiple test runs depending on developers’ needs. Hence, our test-driven fault navigation in combination with our incremental dynamic analysis answers important questions in a short time: where to start debugging, who understands failure causes best, what happened before failures, and which state properties are infected.
Development of competence-oriented curricula is still an important theme in informatics education. Unfortunately informatics curricula, which include the domain of logic programming, are still input-orientated or lack detailed competence descriptions. Therefore, the development of competence model and of learning outcomes' descriptions is essential for the learning process in this domain. A prior research developed both. The next research step is to formulate test items to measure the described learning outcomes. This article describes this procedure and exemplifies test items. It also relates a test in school to the items and shows which misconceptions and typical errors are important to discuss in class. The test result can also confirm or disprove the competence model. Therefore, this school test is important for theoretical research as well as for the concrete planning of lessons. Quantitative analysis in school is important for evaluation and improvement of informatics education.
This document presents a formula selection system for classical first order theorem proving based on the relevance of formulae for the proof of a conjecture. It is based on unifiability of predicates and is also able to use a linguistic approach for the selection. The scope of the technique is the reduction of the set of formulae and the increase of the amount of provable conjectures in a given time. Since the technique generates a subset of the formula set, it can be used as a preprocessor for automated theorem proving. The document contains the conception, implementation and evaluation of both selection concepts. While the one concept generates a search graph over the negation normal forms or Skolem normal forms of the given formulae, the linguistic concept analyses the formulae and determines frequencies of lexemes and uses a tf-idf weighting algorithm to determine the relevance of the formulae. Though the concept is built for first order logic, it is not limited to it. The concept can be used for higher order and modal logik, too, with minimal adoptions. The system was also evaluated at the world championship of automated theorem provers (CADE ATP Systems Competition, CASC-24) in combination with the leanCoP theorem prover and the evaluation of the results of the CASC and the benchmarks with the problems of the CASC of the year 2012 (CASC-J6) show that the concept of the system has positive impact to the performance of automated theorem provers. Also, the benchmarks with two different theorem provers which use different calculi have shown that the selection is independent from the calculus. Moreover, the concept of TEMPLAR has shown to be competitive to some extent with the concept of SinE and even helped one of the theorem provers to solve problems that were not (or slower) solved with SinE selection in the CASC. Finally, the evaluation implies that the combination of the unification based and linguistic selection yields more improved results though no optimisation was done for the problems.