Judy Sheard

Analysis of research into the teaching and learning of programming

This paper presents an analysis of research papers about programming education that were published in computing education conferences in the years 2005 to 2008. We employed Simons classification scheme to identify the papers of interest from the ICER, SIGCSE, ITiCSE, ACE, Koli Calling and NACCQ conferences. Having identified the papers, we analyzed the type of data collected, whether the analysis was qualitative, quantitative, or mixed, and the aims and outcomes being reported. The greatest number of papers employed quantitative research methods, investigated the ability, aptitude, or understanding of students, and were based in single courses. The theme of the research and the type of study conducted vary across the conferences, indicating the different nature and role of each conference. Papers that investigated student learning of programming in terms of established theories or models of learning were not common, indicating an area of research that deserves more attention.

Investigating Differences in Cheating Behaviours of IT Undergraduate and Graduate Students: The maturity and motivation factors

Within the School of Computer Science and Software Engineering of Monash University concerns have been raised about the prevalence of cheating amongst the IT students. Many isolated reports from staff of different cheating incidents collectively present a view of a problem that is widespread and multifaceted. Although indications are that these practices exist across all year levels in both undergraduate and graduate programmes, the actual extent of the problem, and whether any particular groups of students are more inclined to cheating behaviours, is difficult to gauge. Many studies have investigated undergraduate cheating; however, there have been very few studies of graduate students. Furthermore, there is a scarcity of studies of the cheating behaviour of information technology students. In some reporting of student cheating there is a tendency to take a general view of the problem, and preventative or educative measures to address this problem do not differentiate between undergraduate and graduate students. It is of concern that strategies that do not focus on attitudes or behaviours that are exhibited by a particular group are not as effective as they could be. The results of the study reported here show that there are differences between the undergraduate and graduate IT students in regard to their attitudes towards cheating and practice of cheating. The study hypothesises a relationship between maturity and motivation, and cheating behaviour. The possible reasons for this are explored and implications for the design of future education programmes are presented.

Inferring Student Learning Behaviour from Website Interactions: A Usage Analysis

Web-based learning environments are now used extensively as integral components of course delivery in tertiary education. To provide an effective learning environment, it is important that educators understand how these environments are used by their students. In conventional teaching environments educators are able to obtain feedback on student learning experiences in face-to-face interactions with their students, enabling continual evaluation of their teaching programs. However, when students work in electronic environments, this informal monitoring is not possible; educators must look for other ways to attain this information. Capturing and recording student interactions with a website provides a rich source of information from data that is gathered unobtrusively. The aim of this study was firstly to explore what information can be gained from analysing student interactions with Web-based learning environments and secondly to determine the value of this process in providing information about student learning behaviours and learning outcomes. This study has provided critical information to educators about the learning behaviour of their students, informing future enhancements and developments to a courseware website and the teaching program it supports.

Student Engagement in First Year of an ICT Degree: Staff and Student Perceptions.

This article reports on a study of student engagement in the first year of their undergraduate information and communication technology (ICT) degree at an Australian university. The study was conducted at Monash University in the four undergraduate ICT degrees of the Faculty of Information Technology. The study draws on data collected from staff and students using interviews and a start of semester survey. Three aspects of engagement broadly classified as behavioural, cognitive and affective are used as a framework to analyse the data. Results show that staff perceived students as demonstrating low levels of engagement in their university study. Students presented many reasons to explain the nature and extent of their engagement. Many of their reasons relate to studying in an educational landscape of changing lifestyles and work patterns and a strong reliance on technology to support their learning. This article re-conceptualises the undergraduate student learning experience in the current tertiary climate. Implications of the perceived lack of student engagement are discussed and recommendations are made for ways to increase the level of student engagement.

Characterizing research in computing education: a preliminary analysis of the literature

This paper presents a preliminary analysis of research papers in computing education. While previous analysis has explored what research is being done in computing education, this project explores how that research is being done. We present our classification system, then the results of applying it to the papers from all five years of ICER. We find that this subset of computing education research has more in common with research in information systems than with that in computer science or software engineering; and that the papers published at ICER generally appear to conform to the specified ICER requirements.

Electronic learning communities: strategies for establishment and management

Students working in an online environment are isolated from their educators and other learners. Asynchronous discussion forums are often used to provide the learner with assistance, support and the social structures more readily available in the face-to-face environment. A further benefit of online discussion forums is the enabling of the development of electronic learning communities. However, the operation of these communities has required learners and educators to adopt behaviours and strategies appropriate for communication within this medium. This paper presents a model for electronic learning communities developed from studies of computing students and their teaching staff. The studies found that the development of an electronic learning community was largely student driven; however, staff had key roles to play in this process. The paper concludes with a set of strategies for the establishment and effective management of these communities.

Web‐based learning environments: developing a framework for evaluation

With the widespread use of web‐based learning environments in the tertiary sector it is important to establish the usability of such environments for the target audience and their effectiveness in terms of meeting the educational objectives. However, a search of the literature has shown a scarcity of systematic evaluative studies of web‐based learning environments. Furthermore, the literature did not reveal a consistent starting position on appropriate methodologies with which to carry out such evaluations. This paper presents a general methodology for evaluating complex systems that is particularly appropriate for web‐based learning systems. Using what is called a trailing methodology (Finne et al., 1995), an evaluation was carried out of a web site that was used with student industrial experience projects. A key element in this evaluation was that the process was adaptive and collaborative; another was that it involved a team with expertise in evaluation, knowledge of the functional aspects of the web site and the educational purpose of the site. The evaluation process pointed to the importance of a flexible approach that utilizes the skills of the key stakeholders.

Is it okay to cheat? - the views of postgraduate students

This paper examines the attitudes of students in the Masters of Information Technology, Honours Degree in the Bachelor of Computing and Graduate Diploma of Computing at Monash University. Students were surveyed on the acceptability of a variety of scenarios involving cheating and on their knowledge of the occurrence of these scenarios. The survey found a strong consensus amongst the students as to what was acceptable or unacceptable practice. The paper then examines the significance of these results for educators aiming to prevent cheating amongst their students. The study reported is part of a larger study currently being undertaken in the School of Computer Science and Software Engineering (CSSE) at Monash University.

Theoretical underpinnings of computing education research: what is the evidence?

We analyze the Computing Education Research (CER) literature to discover what theories, conceptual models and frameworks recent CER builds on. This gives rise to a broad understanding of the theoretical basis of CER that is useful for researchers working in that area, and has the potential to help CER develop its own identity as an independent field of study. Our analysis takes in seven years of publications (2005-2011, 308 papers) in three venues that publish long research papers in computing education: the journals ACM Transactions of Computing Education (TOCE) and Computer Science Education (CSEd), and the conference International Computing Education Research Workshop (ICER). We looked at the theoretical background works that are used or extended in the papers, not just referred to when describing related work. These background works include theories, conceptual models and frameworks. For each background work we tried to identify the discipline from which it originates, to gain an understanding of how CER relates to its neighboring fields. We also identified theoretical works originating within CER itself, showing that the field is building on its own theoretical works. Our main findings are that there is a great richness of work on which recent CER papers build; there are no prevailing theoretical or technical works that are broadly applied across CER; about half the analyzed papers build on no previous theoretical work, but a considerable share of these are building their own theoretical constructions. We discuss the significance of these findings for the whole field and conclude with some recommendations.

Research and/or learning and teaching: a study of Australian professors' priorities, beliefs and behaviours

This paper presents findings from an empirical study of key aspects of the teaching and research priorities, beliefs and behaviours of 72 professorial and associate professorial academics in Science, Information Technology and Engineering across four faculties in three Australian universities. The academics ranked 16 research activities and 16 matched learning and teaching (L&T) activities from three perspectives: job satisfaction, role model behaviour and perceptions of professional importance. The findings were unequivocally in favour of research in all three areas and remarkably consistent across the universities. The only L&T activity that was ranked consistently well was ‘improving student satisfaction ratings for teaching’, an area in which academics are increasingly held accountable. Respondents also indicated that their seniors encourage research efforts more than L&T efforts. Recommendations include that higher education rewards for quality L&T are maintained or improved and that recognition of L&T research domains is further strengthened.