Russell Boyatt

The boss online submission and assessment system

Computer programming lends itself to automated assessment. With appropriate software tools, program correctness can be measured, along with an indication of quality according to a set of metrics. Furthermore, the regularity of program code allows plagiarism detection to be an integral part of the tools that support assessment. In this paper, we describe a submission and assessment system, called BOSS, that supports coursework assessment through collecting submissions, performing automatic tests for correctness and quality, checking for plagiarism, and providing an interface for marking and delivering feedback. We describe how automated assessment is incorporated into BOSS such that it supports, rather than constrains, assessment. The pedagogic and administrative issues that are affected by the assessment process are also discussed.

What (Use) is a MOOC

The phenomenon of the Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) has spread with amazing speed. Many universities in the USA and Europe are now joining up with MOOC providers to allow free access to courses. Participant numbers for an individual course may reach hundreds of thousands. Expectations are high for what these courses can achieve in terms of opening access, widening participation and cost saving. In this paper we conduct a literature review to examine what is known about MOOCs (both those following the original connectivist model and the more traditionally didactic variety) and what indications there are that they can live up to such expectations. We discuss concerns arising from the review and identify issues including lack of evidence, absence of pedagogy, lack of support and unrealistic expectations particularly on beginner learners.

Rethinking Programming

The accepted view of programming, rooted in Turings fundamental characterization of algorithms, has had a profound impact on the theory and practice of computing with yet broader implications for thinking about mind and culture. Where programming is traditionally conceived in terms of requirements, specification and implementation, this paper argues for a complementary conceptualization to support the development of the next generation of computing applications. It briefly reviews an extended programme of research into empirical modeling, an approach to creating interactive environments to enable programming based on identification and prescription

Massive open online courses: a review of usage and evaluation

The massive open online course MOOC has seen a dramatic rise in prominence over the last five years and is heralded by some as disrupting existing pedagogy and practices within the education sector, while others are far more sceptical about the impact of MOOCs. Numerous courses are now being offered on a number of different platforms, with participant numbers for some individual courses reaching hundreds of thousands. Expectations are high for what these courses can achieve in terms of opening access, widening participation and cost saving. In this paper we conduct a literature review to examine what is known about MOOCs both those following the original connectivist model and the more traditionally didactic variety and what indications there are that they can live up to such expectations. We discuss concerns arising from the review and identify issues including lack of evidence, absence of pedagogy, lack of support and unrealistic expectations particularly on beginner learners.

Source-code plagiarism in universities: a comparative study of student perspectives in China and the UK

There has been much research and discussion relating to variations in plagiaristic activity observed in students from different demographic backgrounds. Differences in behaviour have been noted in many studies, although the underlying reasons are still a matter of debate. Existing work focuses mainly on textual plagiarism, and most often derives results by studying (small) groups of overseas students studying in a Western context. This study investigates understanding of source-code plagiarism (i.e. plagiarism of computer programmes) amongst university students in China. The survey instrument was a Chinese translation of a survey previously administered in English in the UK. This paper reports the results of the exploratory survey conducted in China, and compares these results to those from a parallel survey conducted in the UK. The results show that there is a significant difference in understanding between the respondents from the two surveys, and suggest topics which a future and more comprehensive study may focus on.

Navigating the Educational Cloud

Cloud computing provides a framework which can support many new possibilities for teaching and learning. Cloud-based services and applications are increasingly used by educational establishments to support many aspects of general and educational activity. There is also increasing emphasis on independent learning and open resources. The first part of this paper reviews current published work relating to education and the cloud. One noticeable aspect is that while there is a good deal written about infrastructure, technology and applications there is currently very little on pedagogy. The second part of the paper considers one aspect of this relating to conceptual understanding and navigating resources. We outline our work on a concept-based approach to user-assessment, recommendation and adaptation and consider how this can be used to match resources to an individual’s needs.

A Tale of Two Modes: Initial Reflections on an Innovative MOOC

Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) are offered by many universities, with hundreds thousands of people worldwide having registered for one or more of the many available courses. Despite the potential that has been claimed for these courses to transform education, in practice the majority are deeply conservative in maintaining the educational status quo. Lacking innovative pedagogic foundation and with the need for approaches that scale, many courses rely heavily on very traditional methods such as mini-lectures and quizzes. In particular, learner support is proving to be insufficient for many participants. This paper reports initial results and experience from developing and presenting a MOOC which provides both “traditional” and supported modes. We present the motivation and objectives for the course, discuss initial results and reflect on lessons learned in the process.

Making Construals as a New Digital Skill: Dissolving the Program - and the Programmer - Interface

Making a construal is a way of using the computer to help us in making sense of a situation. Its merits as a new digital skill for developing open educational resources in the constructionist tradition are illustrated using a basic construal of shopping activity. Making construals is the central theme of the three year EU Erasmus+ CONSTRUIT! project. This paper takes the form of an introductory tutorial highlighting key qualities of construals that will shape the CONSTRUIT! agenda.

Meeting learners' needs inside the educational cloud

Cloud computing provides a framework which can support many new possibilities for teaching and learning. Cloud-based services and applications are increasingly used by educational establishments to support many aspects of general and educational activity. There is also a related, growing emphasis on independent learning and open resources. The first part of this paper surveys current published work relating to education and the cloud. One noticeable aspect is that while there is a good deal written about infrastructure, technology and applications there is currently very little on pedagogy relating to the cloud. The second part of this paper considers one aspect of this relating to conceptual understanding and matching available resources to each individuals learning needs. We outline our work on a concept-based approach to user-assessment and to classification of learning materials, and consider how this can be used to personalise resource recommendation according to a concept model. We describe a prototype Moodle plug-in developed to support this work.

Perceptual Comparison of Source-Code Plagiarism within Students from UK, China, and South Cyprus Higher Education Institutions

Perspectives of students on what constitutes source-code plagiarism may differ based on their educational background. Surveys have been conducted with home students undertaking computing and joint computing subject degrees at higher education institutions throughout the UK, China, and South Cyprus, and a total of 984 responses have been statistically analysed to determine the common areas of understanding and misunderstanding among students on various topics related to source-code plagiarism. The study identifies those topics which are well understood, and those topics which are not properly understood across the different groups of students, and is the first study which specifically discusses Cypriot student perceptions on source-code plagiarism. This study provides useful information to educators (teaching home and international students) who wish to better inform their students on the issues of plagiarism and source-code plagiarism. Finally, the survey results revealed that although students who were informed about plagiarism better understood what actions constitute plagiarism, some topics were still unclear among students regardless of the students’ educational background and whether they had been previously informed about plagiarism.