Institut für Informatik und Computational Science
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Institute
Mobile devices and associated applications (apps) are an indispensable part of daily life and provide access to important information anytime and anywhere. However, the availability of university-wide services in the mobile sector is still poor. If they exist they usually result from individual activities of students and teachers. Mobile applications can have an essential impact on the improvement of students’ self-organization as well as on the design and enhancement of specific learning scenarios, though. This article introduces a mobile campus app framework, which integrates central campus services and decentralized learning applications. An analysis of strengths and weaknesses of different approaches is presented to summarize and evaluate them in terms of requirements, development, maintenance and operation. The article discusses the underlying service-oriented architecture that allows transferring the campus app to other universities or institutions at reasonable cost. It concludes with a presentation of the results as well as ongoing discussions and future work
Although Boolean Constraint Technology has made tremendous progress over the last decade, the efficacy of state-of-the-art solvers is known to vary considerably across different types of problem instances, and is known to depend strongly on algorithm parameters. This problem was addressed by means of a simple, yet effective approach using handmade, uniform, and unordered schedules of multiple solvers in ppfolio, which showed very impressive performance in the 2011 Satisfiability Testing (SAT) Competition. Inspired by this, we take advantage of the modeling and solving capacities of Answer Set Programming (ASP) to automatically determine more refined, that is, nonuniform and ordered solver schedules from the existing benchmarking data. We begin by formulating the determination of such schedules as multi-criteria optimization problems and provide corresponding ASP encodings. The resulting encodings are easily customizable for different settings, and the computation of optimum schedules can mostly be done in the blink of an eye, even when dealing with large runtime data sets stemming from many solvers on hundreds to thousands of instances. Also, the fact that our approach can be customized easily enabled us to swiftly adapt it to generate parallel schedules for multi-processor machines.
A multiple interpretation scheme is an ordered sequence of morphisms. The ordered multiple interpretation of a word is obtained by concatenating the images of that word in the given order of morphisms. The arbitrary multiple interpretation of a word is the semigroup generated by the images of that word. These interpretations are naturally extended to languages. Four types of ambiguity of multiple interpretation schemata on a language are defined: o-ambiguity, internal ambiguity, weakly external ambiguity and strongly external ambiguity. We investigate the problem of deciding whether a multiple interpretation scheme is ambiguous on regular languages.
Algorithm selection (AS) techniques - which involve choosing from a set of algorithms the one expected to solve a given problem instance most efficiently - have substantially improved the state of the art in solving many prominent AI problems, such as SAT, CSP, ASP, MAXSAT and QBF. Although several AS procedures have been introduced, not too surprisingly, none of them dominates all others across all AS scenarios. Furthermore, these procedures have parameters whose optimal values vary across AS scenarios. This holds specifically for the machine learning techniques that form the core of current AS procedures, and for their hyperparameters. Therefore, to successfully apply AS to new problems, algorithms and benchmark sets, two questions need to be answered: (i) how to select an AS approach and (ii) how to set its parameters effectively. We address both of these problems simultaneously by using automated algorithm configuration. Specifically, we demonstrate that we can automatically configure claspfolio 2, which implements a large variety of different AS approaches and their respective parameters in a single, highly-parameterized algorithm framework. Our approach, dubbed AutoFolio, allows researchers and practitioners across a broad range of applications to exploit the combined power of many different AS methods. We demonstrate AutoFolio can significantly improve the performance of claspfolio 2 on 8 out of the 13 scenarios from the Algorithm Selection Library, leads to new state-of-the-art algorithm selectors for 7 of these scenarios, and matches state-of-the-art performance (statistically) on all other scenarios. Compared to the best single algorithm for each AS scenario, AutoFolio achieves average speedup factors between 1.3 and 15.4.
Formalizing informal logic
(2015)
In this paper we investigate the extent to which formal argumentation models can handle ten basic characteristics of informal logic identified in the informal logic literature. By showing how almost all of these characteristics can be successfully modelled formally, we claim that good progress can be made toward the project of formalizing informal logic. Of the formal argumentation models available, we chose the Carneades Argumentation System (CAS), a formal, computational model of argument that uses argument graphs as its basis, structures of a kind very familiar to practitioners of informal logic through their use of argument diagrams.
Answer Set Programming (ASP) is an increasingly popular framework for declarative programming that admits the description of problems by means of rules and constraints that form a disjunctive logic program. In particular, many Al problems such as reasoning in a nonmonotonic setting can be directly formulated in ASP. Although the main problems of ASP are of high computational complexity, complete for the second level of the Polynomial Hierarchy, several restrictions of ASP have been identified in the literature, under which ASP problems become tractable.
In this paper we use the concept of backdoors to identify new restrictions that make ASP problems tractable. Small backdoors are sets of atoms that represent "clever reasoning shortcuts" through the search space and represent a hidden structure in the problem input. The concept of backdoors is widely used in theoretical investigations in the areas of propositional satisfiability and constraint satisfaction. We show that it can be fruitfully adapted to ASP. We demonstrate how backdoors can serve as a unifying framework that accommodates several tractable restrictions of ASP known from the literature. Furthermore, we show how backdoors allow us to deploy recent algorithmic results from parameterized complexity theory to the domain of answer set programming. (C) 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
Time-series data from multicomponent systems capture the dynamics of the ongoing processes and reflect the interactions between the components. The progression of processes in such systems usually involves check-points and events at which the relationships between the components are altered in response to stimuli. Detecting these events together with the implicated components can help understand the temporal aspects of complex biological systems. Here we propose a regularized regression-based approach for identifying breakpoints and corresponding segments from multivariate time-series data. In combination with techniques from clustering, the approach also allows estimating the significance of the determined breakpoints as well as the key components implicated in the emergence of the breakpoints. Comparative analysis with the existing alternatives demonstrates the power of the approach to identify biologically meaningful breakpoints in diverse time-resolved transcriptomics data sets from the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae and the diatom Thalassiosira pseudonana.
The Domain Name System belongs to the core services of the Internet infrastructure. Hence, DNS availability and performance is essential for the operation of the Internet and replication as well as load balancing are used for the root and top level name servers.
This paper proposes an architecture for credit based server load balancing (SLB) for DNS. Compared to traditional load balancing algorithms like round robin or least connection, the benefit of credit based SLB is that the load balancer can adapt more easily to heterogeneous load requests and back end server capacities. The challenge of this approach is the definition of a suited credit metric. While this was done before for TCP based services like HTTP, the problem was not solved for UDP based services like DNS.
In the following an approach is presented to define credits also for UDP based services. This UDP/DNS approach is implemented within the credit based SLB implementation salbnet. The presented measurements confirm the benefit of the self-adapting credit based SLB approach. In our experiments, the mean (first) response time dropped significantly compared to weighted round robin (WRR) (from over 4 ms to about 0.6 ms for dynamic pressure relieve (DPR)).
Scheduling performance in computational grid can potentially benefit a lot from accurate execution time estimation for parallel jobs. Most existing approaches for the parallel job execution time estimation, however, require ample past job traces and the explicit correlations between the job execution time and the outer layout parameters such as the consumed processor numbers, the user-estimated execution time and the job ID, which are hard to obtain or reveal. This paper presents and evaluates a novel execution time estimation approach for parallel jobs, the user-behavior clustering for execution time estimation, which can give more accurate execution time estimation for parallel jobs through exploring the job similarity and revealing the user submission patterns. Experiment results show that compared to the state-of-art algorithms, our approach can improve the accuracy of the job execution time estimation up to 5.6 %, meanwhile the time that our approach spends on calculation can be reduced up to 3.8 %.
Refined elasticity sampling for Monte Carlo-based identification of stabilizing network patterns
(2015)
Motivation: Structural kinetic modelling (SKM) is a framework to analyse whether a metabolic steady state remains stable under perturbation, without requiring detailed knowledge about individual rate equations. It provides a representation of the system's Jacobian matrix that depends solely on the network structure, steady state measurements, and the elasticities at the steady state. For a measured steady state, stability criteria can be derived by generating a large number of SKMs with randomly sampled elasticities and evaluating the resulting Jacobian matrices. The elasticity space can be analysed statistically in order to detect network positions that contribute significantly to the perturbation response. Here, we extend this approach by examining the kinetic feasibility of the elasticity combinations created during Monte Carlo sampling.
Results: Using a set of small example systems, we show that the majority of sampled SKMs would yield negative kinetic parameters if they were translated back into kinetic models. To overcome this problem, a simple criterion is formulated that mitigates such infeasible models. After evaluating the small example pathways, the methodology was used to study two steady states of the neuronal TCA cycle and the intrinsic mechanisms responsible for their stability or instability. The findings of the statistical elasticity analysis confirm that several elasticities are jointly coordinated to control stability and that the main source for potential instabilities are mutations in the enzyme alpha-ketoglutarate dehydrogenase.
Pervasive educational games have the potential to transfer learning content to real-life experiences beyond lecture rooms, through realizing field trips in an augmented or virtual manner. This article introduces the pervasive educational game "RouteMe" that brings the rather abstract topic of routing in ad hoc networks to real-world environments. The game is designed for university-level courses and supports these courses in a motivating manner to deepen the learning experience. Students slip into the role of either routing nodes or applications with routing demands. On three consecutive levels of difficulty, they get introduced with the game concept, learn the basic routing mechanisms and become aware of the general limitations and functionality of routing nodes. This paper presents the pedagogical and technical game concept as well as findings from an evaluation in a university setting.
The use of video lectures in distance learning involves the two major problems of searchability and active user participation. In this paper, we promote the implementation and usage of a collaborative educational video annotation functionality to overcome these two challenges. Different use cases and requirements, as well as details of the implementation, are explained. Furthermore, we suggest more improvements to foster a culture of participation and an algorithm for the extraction of semantic data. Finally, evaluations in the form of user tests and questionnaires in a MOOC setting are presented. The results of the evaluation are promising, as they indicate not only that students perceive it as useful, but also that the learning effectiveness increases. The combination of personal lecture video annotations with a semantic topic map was also evaluated positively and will thus be investigated further, as will the implementation in a MOOC context.
Boolean networks provide a simple yet powerful qualitative modeling approach in systems biology. However, manual identification of logic rules underlying the system being studied is in most cases out of reach. Therefore, automated inference of Boolean logical networks from experimental data is a fundamental question in this field. This paper addresses the problem consisting of learning from a prior knowledge network describing causal interactions and phosphorylation activities at a pseudo-steady state, Boolean logic models of immediate-early response in signaling transduction networks. The underlying optimization problem has been so far addressed through mathematical programming approaches and the use of dedicated genetic algorithms. In a recent work we have shown severe limitations of stochastic approaches in this domain and proposed to use Answer Set Programming (ASP), considering a simpler problem setting. Herein, we extend our previous work in order to consider more realistic biological conditions including numerical datasets, the presence of feedback-loops in the prior knowledge network and the necessity of multi-objective optimization. In order to cope with such extensions, we propose several discretization schemes and elaborate upon our previous ASP encoding. Towards real-world biological data, we evaluate the performance of our approach over in silico numerical datasets based on a real and large-scale prior knowledge network. The correctness of our encoding and discretization schemes are dealt with in Appendices A-B. (C) 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
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).
Participants of this workshop will be confronted exemplarily
with a considerable inconsistency of global Informatics education at
lower secondary level. More importantly, they are invited to contribute
actively on this issue in form of short case studies of their countries.
Until now, very few countries have been successful in implementing
Informatics or Computing at primary and lower secondary level. The
spectrum from digital literacy to informatics, particularly as a discipline
in its own right, has not really achieved a breakthrough and seems to
be underrepresented for these age groups. The goal of this workshop
is not only to discuss the anamnesis and diagnosis of this fragmented
field, but also to discuss and suggest viable forms of therapy in form of
setting educational standards. Making visible good practices in some
countries and comparing successful approaches are rewarding tasks for
this workshop.
Discussing and defining common educational standards on a transcontinental
level for the age group of 14 to 15 years old students in a readable,
assessable and acceptable form should keep the participants of this
workshop active beyond the limited time at the workshop.
Let’s talk about CS!
(2015)
To communicate about a science is the most important key
competence in education for any science. Without communication we
cannot teach, so teachers should reflect about the language they use in
class properly. But the language students and teachers use to communicate
about their CS courses is very heterogeneous, inconsistent and
deeply influenced by tool names. There is a big lack of research and
discussion in CS education regarding the terminology and the role of
concepts and tools in our science. We don’t have a consistent set of
terminology that we agree on to be helpful for learning our science.
This makes it nearly impossible to do research on CS competencies as
long as we have not agreed on the names we use to describe these. This
workshop intends to provide room to fill with discussion and first ideas
for future research in this field.
ProtoSense
(2015)
The poster and abstract describe the importance of teaching
information security in school. After a short description of information
security and important aspects, I will show, how information security
fits into different guidelines or models for computer science educations
and that it is therefore on of the key competencies. Afterwards I will
present you a rough insight of teaching information security in Austria.
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.
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.
A project involving the composition of a number of pieces
of music by public participants revealed levels of engagement with and
mastery of complex music technologies by a number of secondary student
volunteers. This paper reports briefly on some initial findings of
that project and seeks to illuminate an understanding of computational
thinking across the curriculum.
Physical computing covers the design and realization of interactive
objects and installations and allows students to develop concrete,
tangible products of the real world that arise from the learners’
imagination. This way, constructionist learning is raised to a level that
enables students to gain haptic experience and thereby concretizes the
virtual. In this paper the defining characteristics of physical computing
are described. Key competences to be gained with physical computing
will be identified.
Mentoring in a Digital World
(2015)
This paper focuses on the results of the evaluation of the first
pilot of an e-mentoring unit designed by the Hands-On ICT consortium,
funded by the EU LLL programme. The overall aim of this two-year
activity is to investigate the value for professional learning of Massive
Online Open Courses (MOOCs) and Community Online Open Courses
(COOCs) in the context of a ‘community of practice’. Three units in the
first pilot covered aspects of using digital technologies to develop creative
thinking skills. The findings in this paper relate to the fourth unit
about e-mentoring, a skill that was important to delivering the course
content in the other three units. Findings about the e-mentoring unit
included: the students’ request for detailed profiles so that participants
can get to know each other; and, the need to reconcile the different
interpretations of e-mentoring held by the participants when the course
begins. The evaluators concluded that the major issues were that: not all
professional learners would self-organise and network; and few would
wish to mentor their colleagues voluntarily. Therefore, the e-mentoring
issues will need careful consideration in pilots two and three to identify
how e-mentoring will be organised.
The study reported in this paper involved the employment
of specific in-class exercises using a Personal Response System (PRS).
These exercises were designed with two goals: to enhance students’
capabilities of tracing a given code and of explaining a given code in
natural language with some abstraction. The paper presents evidence
from the actual use of the PRS along with students’ subjective impressions
regarding both the use of the PRS and the special exercises. The
conclusions from the findings are followed with a short discussion on
benefits of PRS-based mental processing exercises for learning programming
and beyond.
In this paper we describe the recent state of our research
project concerning computer science teachers’ knowledge on students’
cognition. We did a comprehensive analysis of textbooks, curricula
and other resources, which give teachers guidance to formulate assignments.
In comparison to other subjects there are only a few concepts
and strategies taught to prospective computer science teachers in university.
We summarize them and given an overview on our empirical
approach to measure this knowledge.
How does the Implementation of a Literacy Learning Tool Kit influence Literacy Skill Acquisition?
(2015)
This study aimed at following how teachers transfer skills
into results while using ABRA literacy software. This was done in
the second part of the pilot study whose aim was to provide equity to
control group teachers and students by exposing them to the ABRACADABRA
treatment after the end of phase 1. This opportunity was
used to follow the phase 1 teachers to see how the skills learned were
being transformed into results. A standard three-day initial training and
planning session on how to use ABRA to teach literacy was held at the
beginning of each phase for ABRA teachers (phase 1 experimental and
phase 2 delayed ABRA). Teachers were provided with teaching materials
including a tentative ABRA curriculum developed to align with the
Kenyan English Language requirements for year 1 and 3 students. Results
showed that although there was no significant difference between
the groups in vocabulary-related subscales which include word reading
and meaning as well as sentence comprehension, students in ABRACADABRA
classes improved their scores at a significantly higher rate
than students in control classes in comprehension related scores. An
average student in the ABRACADABRA group improved by 12 and
16 percentile points respectively compared to their counterparts in the
control group.
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.
Computational Thinking
(2015)
Digital technology has radically changed the way people
work in industry, finance, services, media and commerce. Informatics
has contributed to the scientific and technological development of our
society in general and to the digital revolution in particular. Computational
thinking is the term indicating the key ideas of this discipline that
might be included in the key competencies underlying the curriculum
of compulsory education. The educational potential of informatics has
a history dating back to the sixties. In this article, we briefly revisit this
history looking for lessons learned. In particular, we focus on experiences
of teaching and learning programming. However, computational
thinking is more than coding. It is a way of thinking and practicing interactive
dynamic modeling with computers. We advocate that learners
can practice computational thinking in playful contexts where they can
develop personal projects, for example building videogames and/or robots,
share and discuss their construction with others. In our view, this
approach allows an integration of computational thinking in the K-12
curriculum across disciplines.
How Things Work
(2015)
Recognizing and defining functionality is a key competence
adopted in all kinds of programming projects. This study investigates
how far students without specific informatics training are able to identify
and verbalize functions and parameters. It presents observations
from classroom activities on functional modeling in high school chemistry
lessons with altogether 154 students. Finally it discusses the potential
of functional modelling to improve the comprehension of scientific
content.
This paper originated from discussions about the need for
important changes in the curriculum for Computing including two focus
group meetings at IFIP conferences over the last two years. The
paper examines how recent developments in curriculum, together with
insights from curriculum thinking in other subject areas, especially mathematics
and science, can inform curriculum design for Computing.
The analysis presented in the paper provides insights into the complexity
of curriculum design as well as identifying important constraints and
considerations for the ongoing development of a vision and framework
for a Computing curriculum.
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 objectives of this study were to examine (a) the effect
of dynamic assessment (DA) in a 3D Immersive Virtual Reality
(IVR) environment as compared with computerized 2D and noncomputerized
(NC) situations on cognitive modifiability, and (b) the
transfer effects of these conditions on more difficult problem solving
administered two weeks later in a non-computerized environment. A
sample of 117 children aged 6:6-9:0 years were randomly assigned
into three experimental groups of DA conditions: 3D, 2D, and NC, and
one control group (C). All groups received the pre- and post-teaching
Analogies subtest of the Cognitive Modifiability Battery (CMB-AN).
The experimental groups received a teaching phase in conditions similar
to the pre-and post-teaching phases. The findings showed that cognitive
modifiability, in a 3D IVR, was distinctively higher than in the two
other experimental groups (2D computer group and NC group). It was
also found that the 3D group showed significantly higher performance
in transfer problems than the 2D and NC groups.
BugHunt
(2015)
Competencies related to operating systems and computer
security are usually taught systematically. In this paper we present
a different approach, in which students have to remove virus-like
behaviour on their respective computers, which has been induced by
software developed for this purpose. They have to develop appropriate
problem-solving strategies and thereby explore essential elements of
the operating system. The approach was implemented exemplarily in
two computer science courses at a regional general upper secondary
school and showed great motivation and interest in the participating
students.
In the project MoKoM, which is funded by the German
Research Foundation (DFG) from 2008 to 2012, a test instrument
measuring students’ competences in computer science was developed.
This paper presents the results of an expert rating of the levels of
students’ competences done for the items of the instrument.
At first we will describe the difficulty-relevant features that were
used for the evaluation. These were deduced from computer science,
psychological and didactical findings and resources. Potentials and
desiderata of this research method are discussed further on. Finally
we will present our conclusions on the results and give an outlook on
further steps.
The growing impact of globalisation and the development of
a ‘knowledge society’ have led many to argue that 21st century skills are
essential for life in twenty-first century society and that ICT is central
to their development. This paper describes how 21st century skills, in
particular digital literacy, critical thinking, creativity, communication
and collaboration skills, have been conceptualised and embedded in the
resources developed for teachers in iTEC, a four-year, European project.
The effectiveness of this approach is considered in light of the data
collected through the evaluation of the pilots, which considers both the
potential benefits of using technology to support the development of
21st century skills, but also the challenges of doing so. Finally, the paper
discusses the learning support systems required in order to transform
pedagogies and embed 21st century skills. It is argued that support is
required in standards and assessment; curriculum and instruction; professional
development; and learning environments.
This paper discusses results from a small-scale research
study, together with some recently published research into student
perceptions of ICT for learning in schools, to consider relevant skills
that do not appear to currently being taught. The paper concludes by
raising three issues relating to learning with and through ICT that need
to be addressed in school curricula and classroom teaching.
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.
Teaching Data Management
(2015)
Data management is a central topic in computer science as
well as in computer science education. Within the last years, this topic is
changing tremendously, as its impact on daily life becomes increasingly
visible. Nowadays, everyone not only needs to manage data of various
kinds, but also continuously generates large amounts of data. In
addition, Big Data and data analysis are intensively discussed in public
dialogue because of their influences on society. For the understanding of
such discussions and for being able to participate in them, fundamental
knowledge on data management is necessary. Especially, being aware
of the threats accompanying the ability to analyze large amounts of
data in nearly real-time becomes increasingly important. This raises the
question, which key competencies are necessary for daily dealings with
data and data management.
In this paper, we will first point out the importance of data management
and of Big Data in daily life. On this basis, we will analyze which are
the key competencies everyone needs concerning data management to
be able to handle data in a proper way in daily life. Afterwards, we will
discuss the impact of these changes in data management on computer
science education and in particular database education.
Social networks are currently at the forefront of tools that
lend to Personal Learning Environments (PLEs). This study aimed to
observe how students perceived PLEs, what they believed were the
integral components of social presence when using Facebook as part
of a PLE, and to describe student’s preferences for types of interactions
when using Facebook as part of their PLE. This study used mixed
methods to analyze the perceptions of graduate and undergraduate
students on the use of social networks, more specifically Facebook as a
learning tool. Fifty surveys were returned representing a 65 % response
rate. Survey questions included both closed and open-ended questions.
Findings suggested that even though students rated themselves relatively
well in having requisite technology skills, and 94 % of students used
Facebook primarily for social use, they were hesitant to migrate these
skills to academic use because of concerns of privacy, believing that
other platforms could fulfil the same purpose, and by not seeing the
validity to use Facebook in establishing social presence. What lies
at odds with these beliefs is that when asked to identify strategies in
Facebook that enabled social presence to occur in academic work, the
majority of students identified strategies in five categories that lead to
social presence establishment on Facebook during their coursework.
The paper discusses the issue of supporting informatics
(computer science) education through competitions for lower and
upper secondary school students (8–19 years old). Competitions play
an important role for learners as a source of inspiration, innovation,
and attraction. Running contests in informatics for school students
for many years, we have noticed that the students consider the contest
experience very engaging and exciting as well as a learning experience.
A contest is an excellent instrument to involve students in problem
solving activities. An overview of infrastructure and development
of an informatics contest from international level to the national one
(the Bebras contest on informatics and computer fluency, originated
in Lithuania) is presented. The performance of Bebras contests in 23
countries during the last 10 years showed an unexpected and unusually
high acceptance by school students and teachers. Many thousands of
students participated and got a valuable input in addition to their regular
informatics lectures at school. In the paper, the main attention is paid
to the developed tasks and analysis of students’ task solving results in
Lithuania.
The paper presents two approaches to the development of
a Computer Science Competence Model for the needs of curriculum
development and evaluation in Higher Education. A normativetheoretical
approach is based on the AKT and ACM/IEEE curriculum
and will be used within the recommendations of the German
Informatics Society (GI) for the design of CS curricula. An empirically
oriented approach refines the categories of the first one with regard to
specific subject areas by conducting content analysis on CS curricula of
important universities from several countries. The refined model will be
used for the needs of students’ e-assessment and subsequent affirmative
action of the CS departments.
Regardless of what is intended by government curriculum
specifications and advised by educational experts, the competencies
taught and learned in and out of classrooms can vary considerably.
In this paper, we discuss in particular how we can investigate the
perceptions that individual teachers have of competencies in ICT,
and how these and other factors may influence students’ learning. We
report case study research which identifies contradictions within the
teaching of ICT competencies as an activity system, highlighting issues
concerning the object of the curriculum, the roles of the participants and
the school cultures. In a particular case, contradictions in the learning
objectives between higher order skills and the use of application tools
have been resolved by a change in the teacher’s perceptions which
have not led to changes in other aspects of the activity system. We look
forward to further investigation of the effects of these contradictions in
other case studies and on forthcoming curriculum change.
As a result of the Bologna reform of educational systems in
Europe the outcome orientation of learning processes, competence-oriented
descriptions of the curricula and competence-oriented assessment
procedures became standard also in Computer Science Education
(CSE). The following keynote addresses important issues of shaping
a CSE competence model especially in the area of informatics system
comprehension and object-oriented modelling. Objectives and research
methodology of the project MoKoM (Modelling and Measurement
of Competences in CSE) are explained. Firstly, the CSE competence
model was derived based on theoretical concepts and then secondly the
model was empirically examined and refined using expert interviews.
Furthermore, the paper depicts the development and examination of
a competence measurement instrument, which was derived from the
competence model. Therefore, the instrument was applied to a large
sample of students at the gymnasium’s upper class level. Subsequently,
efforts to develop a competence level model, based on the retrieved empirical
results and on expert ratings are presented. Finally, further demands
on research on competence modelling in CSE will be outlined.
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.
KEYCIT 2014
(2015)
In our rapidly changing world it is increasingly important not only to be an expert in a chosen field of study but also to be able to respond to developments, master new approaches to solving problems, and fulfil changing requirements in the modern world and in the job market. In response to these needs key competencies in understanding, developing and using new digital technologies are being brought into focus in school and university programmes. The IFIP TC3 conference "KEYCIT – Key Competences in Informatics and ICT (KEYCIT 2014)" was held at the University of Potsdam in Germany from July 1st to 4th, 2014 and addressed the combination of key competencies, Informatics and ICT in detail. The conference was organized into strands focusing on secondary education, university education and teacher education (organized by IFIP WGs 3.1 and 3.3) and provided a forum to present and to discuss research, case studies, positions, and national perspectives in this field.
The in-memory revolution
(2015)
This book describes the next generation of business applications enabled by SAP's in-memory database, SAP HANA. In particular, the authors show the substantial changes introduced in S4/HANA by switching to SAP HANA. Using numerous examples and use cases from the authors' wealth of real-world experience, it illustrates the quantum leap in performance made possible by the new technology. The book is written by two of the most prominent actors in the area of business application systems: Hasso Plattner, co-founder of SAP and inaugurator of the Hasso Plattner Institute at the University of Potsdam, and Bernd Leukert, member of the Executive Board and the Global Managing Board of SAP. This clearly structured, highly illustrated book takes an exciting new technology and presents the practicality and success of first mover applications.