Peter Oriogun

Decision Support Systems for University Management Processes: An Approach towards Dynamic Simulation Model

Universities are increasingly large in size, with non-traditional students, inadequate student–teacher ratios, declining financial support from the state, increased competition for external funds and increased competition for limited student demand. The main objective of this ongoing research is to investigate existing decision support systems capable of supporting the provisions of higher education institutions, such as Universities, and to propose and develop an interactive decision support system in the form of a simulation model for university processes with case studies from Mamoun Private University for Science and Technology in Syria.

Detecting Aspects of Critical Thinking by Cleaning Online Message Transcript through Code-Recode

Abstract In this article, the community of inquiry cognitive presence model was mapped to a recently developed semistructured approach to online discourse called SQUAD to detect aspects of critical or higher-order thinking online by cleaning online message transcript through the use of code-recode. It is argued that using code-recode in the way suggested in this article is more efficient and less time-consuming than using interrater reliability measure after developing a coding protocol to identify the purpose for which the coding data would be used. Detecting aspects of critical or higher-order thinking by cleaning online message transcript through code-recode is simple for academics with limited mathematical knowledge and can provide insights into the nature of the learning process.

Teaching and Assessing Software Engineering Ethics in the 21st Century: Case Study from American University of Nigeria

There is a need to appraise the teaching of software engineering ethics within the context of modern society, heavily reliant on information and communication technologies. This is necessitated by the ubiquitous nature of computers and other computing devices in the 21st century which makes ethical consideration of their development and use a focal point. The use of computers and other computing devices has practically become a very important part of the lives of many people in this age of modernity. And this poses some ethical challenges on users and computing professionals alike. Thus, the teaching and assessment of software engineering ethics in this digital world deserves an utterly critical attention. This is more so, noting the significant changes the software engineering sub field of computing has undergone in the last decade. Ethical issues such as the dual-use dilemma, privacy and copyright protection has exposed gaps in the knowledge of software professionals in dealing with the ethical and social implications of their profession. Therefore, there is need to seek avenues to improve the teaching and assessment models of the ethical and social issues that arise within the field in this age of globalization. We present a case study from the America University of Nigeria in support of our review of the teaching and assessment of software engineering ethics in the light of digital age challenges.

Computing Education: A Discussion Paper on Teaching and Assessing Ethics

The need to teach and assess ethics in computing education cannot be overemphasized. This is not unconnected to the ubiquitous nature of computing products and services, which has made ethical considerations of their use a focal point in the twenty-first century. The pervasiveness of computers in everyday life is a fact that defines the twenty-first century. However, as important and useful as the transformational field of computing is in this age, its potential for harm and as catalyst for disaster or catastrophe has increased. Therefore, there is urgent need to review the inclusion of ethics teaching and assessment in the educational training of computing students in order to guard against the perceived negative tendencies of computing. This paper seeks to contribute to the discussion on the need to advance the teaching and assessment of ethics in the computing disciplines. This, we believe is necessary to better prepare students for the incredibly demanding and complex world that awaits them after graduation.

Software Engineering Ethical Decision Making and Professional Responsibility

Software systems cut across miscellaneous spheres including medicine, business, warfare and aerospace. And as thus, the actions of software engineers have a non-trivial effect on software users and stakeholders. Therefore, more than ever, software engineers are faced not only with technical adequacy of software but also with the non-technical concerns, primarily, the ethical impact of their decisions through the software development process. With accountability abounding to varied constituents, professionals are constantly faced with conflicting loyalties or decisions and must make practical and ethically grounded choices. Although, there are codes of ethics in Software Engineering to guide software engineers on ethical decision making, it is not enough because it is general. A more specific approach is necessary as well. This paper proposes to explore practical ethical decision making processes, professional responsibility of software engineering practitioners and also a solution to the generalization of the present code of ethics.