Eliza Stefanova

Analyses of an agile methodology implementation

In the last few years agile methodologies appeared as a reaction to traditional ways of developing software and acknowledge the need for an alternative to documentation driven, heavyweight software development processes. This paper shortly presents an agile approach for software development of e-business applications. The approach, named eXPERT, is applicable to small teams developing projects characterised by often changing requirements, tight schedules, and high quality demands. The present article describes a case study about eXPERT approach implementation at software developing company. Experiment results based on preliminary defined series of metrics are presented and analyzed.

Emerging models and e-infrastructures for teacher education

The paper presents a digital repository of metadata resources for teachers education, as well as a portal for the community of practices, build around the repository. Both the repository and the community are developed in the frame of the European project Share.TEC. Some approaches for endowing digital libraries with adaptability capabilities in order to scaffold and enhance end user experience are examined. The paper provides a general overview of techniques and methods commonly adopted for achieving adaptability. It also discusses how these can be implemented. Finally, it illustrates specific examples and guidelines drawn from the practical experience that the authors are currently gaining in the Share.TEC European project. In this context the adaptability is a key for managing and responding to considerable diversity in user requirements.

Inquiry-Based Science Education in Secondary School Informatics --- Challenges and Rewards

The paper presents an application of the inquiry-based science education IBSE approach in the context of informatics, specialized classes, in the process of studying Java language by 11 graders. The experiment under consideration presents classes, performed in parallel in two mathematics high schools in Sofia, Bulgaria, in two consequence years. The levels of IBSE as well as meta-levels of inquiry skills developed by students in process of learning are described. Next, the context of the experiment is presented. Two different variations of the approach application are shown --- open inquiry and guided inquiry. The products, developed by student as results of the education, are presented. The analysis of the challenges, staying in front of the students and the teachers, in process of application of the inquiry-based science education takes special place in the paper. In conclusion, the application of IBSE is analysed from the point of view of long-term effect of education.

User-oriented service composition platform

Currently teachers and students encounter some difficulties in the identification of tools that best fit their needs on the one hand and the composition of these tools into more complex educational processes on the other hand. The so-called service composition platforms offer a promising possibility to overcome this problem. Although numerous service composition platforms already exist, they are still not completely appropriate for application in the learning domain. In this paper we define the requirements for a service composition platform that could be used in learning, and make the first steps for its development - architecture and UI design.

Mobile technologies supporting research approach in teaching and learning: weSPOT inquiry-based study

The paper presents an inquiry-based research approach designed and conducted in accordance with an educational model which uses weSPOT inquiry workflow engine, smartphones and tablets. Presented study shows how mobile technologies are able to support teaching and learning. It also discusses challenges from teachers point of view for using mobile technologies in general and weSPOT environment in particular.

Like a (School of) Fish in Water (or ICT-Enhanced Skills in Action)

The paper presents pilot experiences related to an educational methodology developed within the European Innovative Teacher (I*Teach)project for building ICT-enhanced skills [1]. The methodology is presented in the context of a workshop for teachers in mathematics and informatics with a special focus on enhancing presentation skills. The authors share their experience in treating the very workshop as a project with specific stages - analyzing the audiences interests, developing a presentation scenario around a leading metaphor in harmony with the setting, distributing different roles among the presenters, involving the audience in an active reasoning and sharing. Thus the workshop has demonstrated at a meta-level how the collective intelligence of teachers could be harnessed in action. The main message is: such an approach makes teachers feel like co-creators of the I*Teachprojects ideas and teachers need only a bit of praise or encouragement to recognize themselves as innovativeteachers.

Data analytics support for inquiry based learning

This article presents a research done during a pilot of the inquiry-based learning model and by the means of European project Working Environment with Social and Personal Open Tools. The focus is put on approbation of available data analytics methods supporting young researchers in their desktop and mobile activities. Results and analysis are discussed, recommendations for the system improvement are given.

The expert approach: a case study

This article presents an experiment under the EC IST 34488 eXPERT project in Rila Solutions (a Bulgarian software company). The approach is a systematic combination of Extreme Programming (XP) and Personal Software Process (PSP). The Rila Solutions context of applying eXPERT approach is presented. The advantages of applying the eXPERT approach, as well as the lessons learned, are outlined.

Opportunities and Challenges for Efficient and Effective STEM Teachers’ Competence Development

In this paper the results from a study, performed in several European countries, are presented, aimed to identify the main challenges which teachers face when trying to implement innovative teaching methods, stressing on the situation in Bulgaria. The overall design of the study is presented and the used research method is described. The main research activities, performed during the study, are outlined and compared with similar research efforts and initiatives. At the end, systematic analysis of results achieved is performed and proposals for further improvement of the competence development of teachers were made.

STEM Teachers' Competence Development: When Opportunities Jump over Barriers.

In this paper we present a study, aimed to identify the main challenges teachers face when trying to implement innovative teaching methods, stressing on identifying the needed STEM teachers competence development. The overall design of the study follows the European Awareness Scenario Workshop methodology and aims to negotiate the teachers’ need, policy makers decisions and other stakeholders’ understanding of the resent National regulatory framework, related to the teachers’ competence development. The main research activities, performed during the study, are outlined and compared with similar research efforts and initiatives. At the end systematic analysis of results achieved is performed and proposals for further improvement of the competence development of teachers were made. The extracted requirements – mode, forms, topics, etc., for STEM teachers’ competence development are valuable for universities and other institutions offering teachers’ professional development courses. They are a base for further design of computer supported inquirybased education for teachers’ competence development.