Tamar Benaya

Advanced programming in java workshop: teaching methodology

This paper describes the Advanced Programming in Java Workshop given in the Computer Science (CS) department of the Open University of Israel (OUI). The workshop is based primarily on J2EE technologies. We will describe the methodology of the workshop which combines several academic skills which we believe every university graduate must be exposed to.

Individual and group seminars and workshops in the computer science curriculum

The Open University of Israel (OUI) is an institution of higher learning which has an open admission policy and is based primarily on distance learning. The OUI offers several Computer Science programs. In order to complete the requirements in each of the undergraduate CS programs, the students are required to take at least one workshop or seminar. The aim of the seminar/workshop is to introduce students to advanced CS theoretical or practical topics. Students investigate an advanced topic, prepare and submit a final paper or project, and present their study in a lecture to faculty members and students. We detected a problem that a relatively large number of students fail to complete the seminar/workshop requirement. In an attempt to deal with this problem, we conducted a study in order to better understand the reasons for this failure. In the paper we present some statistics regarding the completion of the seminars/workshop requirement, the correlation between this completion and other factors, such as: the number of credits earned by the student and the average grade achieved by the student before enrolling in the seminar/workshop.

Computer science teacher training

The Open University of Israel offers a program of study for Computer Science graduates towards a high school Teaching Certificate in Computer Science. The program is unique in that it enables studying towards the certificate in a distance learning environment and therefore can be pursued by people who wish to combine further education with careers and personal responsibilities. In this paper we describe the Teaching Certificate Program which provides an opportunity for Computer Science graduates to pursue an educational career. Particularly we describe the course “Methodology of Computer Science Teaching” which utilizes multi-media technologies expressly developed for distance learning. In addition we present some statistics regarding the program, such as: the number of students enrolled in the program, age and gender distribution.

Criteria for writing exams which reflect the k12 CS foundations study material

All high school students in the Israeli high school system are required to take matriculation exams in the main subjects studied in high school. The matriculation exams are similar to the American AP exams in that they are external nationwide exams. The high school teachers are required to prepare the high school students for the matriculation exams. This is done by using internal exams which should reflect the matriculation exams. The first part of the Israeli Computer Science high school curriculum includes the courses Foundations of Computer Science 1 and 2. In this paper we describe the structure and content of the matriculation exam of Foundations of Computer Science 1 and 2. We define several criteria for constructing the internal exams. In addition, we discuss the following issues: What qualities contribute to an effective exam? How well the internal exams reflect the matriculation exams? How teachers can prepare better exams?

STUDENT COACHING FOR RETENTION IN A DISTANCE LEARNING ENVIRONMENT

The Open University of Israel (OUI) is a higher education institution with an open admission policy which is based solely on distance learning and self-study. The teaching method practiced at the OUI is a combination of traditional and web-based distance learning. One of the issues of great concern in all institutions and even to a greater extent in open and distance learning institutions is student retention. In an attempt to deal with this problem, the OUI decided to embark on a Retention Project which aim is to help new students to overcome the hardships of the first course. The new students were offered to be paired up with senior students who would accompany and coach them throughout their first semesters. This paper describes the Retention Project, and it presents results concerning the performance of the coached students, their retention at the OUI and the means of communication used by the coached students and their coaches in a distance learning environment.

Can students improve their undergraduate schievements and get accepted to graduate school

The Open University of Israel offers an MSc program in Computer Science for students with an undergraduate degree in Computer Science and a grade point average of at least 80. We will describe an experiment which we began a year ago in which we give an opportunity to those students who do not meet the requirements (average lower than 80) to improve their achievements.