Sally Fincher

Perspectives on HCI patterns: concepts and tools

This workshop will explore a diversity of perspectives on Patterns and Patterns Languages for HCI as well as the requirements for software tools needed to improve the effectiveness of both pattern creation and pattern use. Through discussion of conceptual and methodological issues of why (and how) patterns are identified and in what circumstances they are useful in the design process we hope to map out the conceptual landscape of HCI patterns. By moving closer and examining pattern-related behavior and experiences we hope to identify the requirements for tools to make progress through that landscape.

Project-based learning practices in computer science education

The EPCoS project (Effective Projectwork in Computer Science) is working to map the range of project-based learning practices in UK higher education and to generate insights into what characterizes the contexts in which particular techniques are effective. In assembling a body of authentic examples, EPCoS aims to provide a resource that enables extrapolation and synthesis of new techniques. To allow educators and researchers to mine this material, EPCoS is systematizing it within a template-based catalogue, augmented with indexing and abstracting devices. Moreover, EPCoS is examining the process by which practices are transferred between institutional contexts, with a view to identifying effective models of the transfer process. Three key elements of transfer are the identification of appropriate practices, the selection of a practice for a purpose, and the integration of a chosen practice into the existing culture. Structured resources and process models are essential tools for supporting responsiveness in the current climate of continual change: the rapid development of computer technology is demanding new range and flexibility in project work, and EPCoSs mapping of project-based teaching allows practitioners to respond to these changes. This is one context in which educational research into how projects work can generalize to professional practice.

Warren's question

In this paper, we present an extended examination of a specific, single, instance of transfer of teaching practice. The investigation uses a combination of interpretative analytic techniques from critical literary studies, and grounded theory. From this analysis we make conjectures about some of the ways in which educators change their teaching practice and suggest that these natural practices hold a challenge both for computing education research and educational development.

Comparing alice, greenfoot & scratch

This panel will showcase and compare three leading Initial Learning Environments (ILE): Alice, Greenfoot and Scratch.

Multi-Institutional Computer Science Education Research: A Review of Recent Studies of Novice Understanding

There has been a recent proliferation of multinational, multi-institutional computer science education research exploring issues surrounding novice computer science student understanding. The large numbers of students studied in these efforts and their breadth in terms of student background (both technically and culturally) has led to significant interest in the work. In this paper, we summarize each study, identifying the populations studied, the types of data collected, the analyses performed and review the primary results. We also report on current ongoing work related to and derived from these efforts

Representing practice: practice models, patterns, bundles …

This article critiques learning design as a representation for sharing and developing practice, based on synthesis of three projects. Starting with the findings of the Mod4L Models of Practice project, it argues that the technical origins of learning design, and the consequent focus on structure and sequence, limit its usefulness for sharing practice between teachers. It compares practice models with two alternative, more flexible, representations, patterns and bundles, based on the outcomes of the Pattern Language Network (Planet) project and of the Centre for Excellence in Teaching and Learning: Active Learning in Computing (CETL ALiC). It concludes that while practice models may be useful in mediating between teachers and technical developers, they cannot encompass the range of practice teachers require to represent. A pattern language is more comprehensive and has the advantage of being generative, but is difficult for teachers to acquire, and bundles may provide a more adoptable representation.

Stories of change: How educators change their practice

Innovative tools and teaching practices often fail to be adopted by educators in the field, despite evidence of their effectiveness. Naïve models of educational change assume this lack of adoption arises from failure to properly disseminate promising work, but evidence suggests that dissemination via publication is simply not effective. Instead of studying the adoption or rejection of a particular intervention, this paper turns the problem around. We asked educators to describe changes they had made to their teaching practice and analyzed the resulting stories to learn more about: the kinds of changes being made, their motivations for changing their practice, and the means by which they learned of pedagogical innovations. Of the 99 change stories analyzed, only three demonstrate an active search for new practices or materials on the part of teachers, and published materials were consulted in just eight of the stories. Most of the changes occurred locally, without input from outside sources, or involved only personal interaction with other educators. These results have important implications for educational developers, or researchers wishing to propagate information about new teaching materials or techniques.

Beyond anecdote towards real transfer: using other institutions' experience of project work

The EPCoS project (Effective Project work in Computer Science) is working to map the range of project work practices and to generate insights into what characterises the contexts in which particular techniques are effective. In assembling a body of authentic examples, EPCoS aims to provide a resource that enables extrapolation and synthesis of new techniques. Structured resources and process models are essential tools for supporting responsiveness in the current climate of continual change: the rapid development of computer technology is demanding new range and flexibility in project work, and EPCoSs mapping of project-based teaching allows practitioners to respond to these changes. Moreover, EPCoS is examining the process by which practices are transferred between institutional contexts, with a view to identifying effective models of that process. In this paper, we describe EPCoSs work-in-progress and describe briefly how technology makes the catalogue easier to use, providing tailored access, fast selection and juxtaposition, and the potential for an extensible, updated, distributed resource.

From transfer to transformation: towards a framework for successful dissemination of engineering education

The article describes a framework for successful dissemination of disciplinary-specific education expertise, and illustrates its use with examples from project EPCoS (Effective Projectwork in Computer Science) (http://www.cs.ukc.ac.uk/national/EPCOS). Project EPCoS was funded from 1996-1999 by the UK Fund for Development in Teaching and Learning to: identify, make explicit and systematize existing best practices in computer science student project methods and techniques; to realise techniques for transferring project work practices between institutions; and to execute and evaluate such transfers.

The peer review process of teaching materials: report of the ITiCSE'99 working group on validation of the quality of teaching materials

When an instructor adopts teaching materials, he/she wants some measure of confidence that the resource is effective, correct, and robust. The measurement of the quality of a resource is an open problem. It is our thesis that the traditional evaluative approach to peer review is not appropriate to insure the quality of teaching materials, which are created with different contextual constraints. This Working Group report focuses on the evaluation process by detailing a variety of review models. The evolution of the development and review of teaching materials is outlined and the contexts for creation, assessment, and transfer are discussed. We present an empirical study of evaluation forms conducted at the ITiCSE 99 conference, and recommend at least one new review model for the validation of the quality of teaching resources.