Dorian Stoilescu

Gender differences in the use of computers, programming, and peer interactions in computer science classrooms

Research shows that female and male students in undergraduate computer science programs view computer culture differently. Female students are interested more in the use of computers than in doing programming, whereas male students see computer science mainly as a programming activity. The overall purpose of our research was not to find new definitions for computer science culture but to see how male and female students see themselves involved in computer science practices, how they see computer science as a successful career, and what they like and dislike about current computer science practices. The study took place in a mid-sized university in Ontario. Sixteen students and two instructors were interviewed to get their views. We found that male and female views are different on computer use, programming, and the pattern of student interactions. Female and male students did not have any major issues in using computers. In computing programming, female students were not so involved in computing activities whereas male students were heavily involved. As for the opinions about successful computer science professionals, both female and male students emphasized hard working, detailed oriented approaches, and enjoying playing with computers. The myth of the geek as a typical profile of successful computer science students was not found to be true.

Starting to Publish Academic Research as a Doctoral Student

This article presents some opinions, views and advice that graduate students might consider in order to assess and improve their success as new scholars. Contrary to the famous motto ‘publish or perish,’ we argue that publishing academic research should be headed by intrinsic motivation for becoming a scholar and not by external pressures of social or professional requirements to produce scholarly work. This paper gives practical recommendations about building and sustaining the initial momentum in publishing. First, we discuss the importance of practicing academic writing as a way to improve scholarship and modalities to practice it. Some important issues about social collaboration, ethics, and policies that should be considered in the process of publication are also presented.

An Analysis of Content and Policies in ICT Education in Australia

This paper analysis document to explore tendencies of implementing ICT curriculum content and policies in Australian education in Victoria in New South Wales states. After analyzing the policies, it is believed that different from the previous curriculum where ICT was perceived as a tool, the new curricula shows more programmatic approach towards.

An Analysis of the Content, Policies and Assessment of ICT Curricula in the Final Years of Secondary Schooling in Australia and Vietnam: A Comparative Educational Study

This paper explores and analyses similarities and differences in ICT curricula, policies, and assessment between the Vietnamese and Australian educational systems for the final years of secondary educational level. It was found that while having a common core set of tendencies, the Australian ICT curricula, policies, and assessments differ markedly from the Vietnamese counterparts. These differences can be explained by economic and cultural factors, national-wide educational trends, ICT strategies, and their degrees of implementation in schools. We found that limited constructivist implementations are used in ICT curricula in both countries, as Australian education has high expectations in national evaluations with an emphasis on standardized tests and Vietnamese education is still entrapped in prescriptive lessons of traditional pedagogy, emphasizing transmission model of information. We found that lack of opportunities in teacher professional development in ICT training is common for both countries. While the Australian educational system still struggles, especially in providing opportunities for learning theoretical and programming aspects, multiple challenging aspects were found in the ICT content and policies of the Vietnamese educational system that call for immediate change and improvement. In this sense, Vietnamese administrators are recommended to extensively follow up their educational strategies and policies, in order to make sure that their reforms are adequately implemented in schools. In order to bridge the gap and implement adequate ICT curricula, rigorous professional training in ICT teaching is essential for both Australian and Vietnamese teachers.

Book Review: Write to the Top! How to Become a Prolific Academic

Johnson and Mullen’s (2007) Write to the Top reveals important insights into academic apprenticeship by presenting daily but essential aspects of living, working, and thinking as a university scholar. Discussing 65 distinct topics organized into 11 chapters, this academic guide initiates new scholars into the phenomenology of academic writing, not by presenting formal rules, but rather by helping readers understand the beauty of scholarship and the constraints and liberties of working in higher education. As the authors make crystal clear from the outset, academic writing does not constitute the only aspect of an academic’s life; however, these writing skills are essential to surviving in higher education. Without outstanding writing skills, life in research-oriented universities becomes a nightmare. Once acknowledging their major career goals, newcomers who decide to enter academia must clearly establish their priorities in order to build a solid career. The book does not advise a prospective academic writer to quit other obligations such as family, teaching, service, or athletic practices. According to the authors, these obligations may be put off in the short term, but a prolific author must avoid single-mindedness in order to achieve long term career goals. Yet, progress in academic writing is not guaranteed as a linear progression. As Boice (1990) cautioned in his book Professors as writers: A self-guide to productive writing, the pace in scholarly writing is not something easy to keep; traversing a path from an external decision to internalization is an arduous process, but one essential to fostering substantial contributions in scholarly writing.

Introduction into the Virtual Olympic Games Framework for online communities

OBJECTIVE This paper presents the design of the Virtual Olympic Games Framework (VOGF), a computer application designated for athletics, health care, general well-being, nutrition and fitness, which offers multiple benefits for its participants. BACKGROUND A special interest in starting the design of the framework was in exploring how people can connect and participate together using existing computer technologies (i.e. gaming consoles, exercise equipment with computer interfaces, devices of measuring health, speed, force and distance and Web 2.0 applications). METHOD A stationary bike set-up offering information to users about their individual health and athletic performances has been considered as a starting model. CONCLUSIONS While this model is in the design stage, some preliminary findings are encouraging, suggesting the potential for various fields: sports, medicine, theories of learning, technologies and cybercultural studies. First, this framework would allow participants to perform a variety of sports and improve their health. Second, this would involve creating an online environment able to store health information and sport performances correlated with accessing multi-media data and research about performing sports. Third, participants could share experiences with other athletes, coaches and researchers. Fourth, this framework also provides support for the research community in their future investigations.