Trudy Howles

Fostering the growth of a software quality culture

Instructors often discuss assessment of the technical skills students must acquire in a typical computer science program. Often times, the technical skills and the required body of knowledge are mandated through standards or curricular requirements. How are non-technical skills assessed? Are computer science educators teaching and encouraging the development of other critical skills needed in the workplace such as personal accountability, a strong work ethic, and an ability to deliver on-time and correct work? This paper describes the results of a student survey, designed to provoke some thoughts about the evolving work ethic and the level of a quality-centered culture in students today.

A Study of Attrition and the Use of Student Learning Communities in the Computer Science Introductory Programming Sequence

Student attrition and low graduation rates are critical problems in computer science education. Disappointing graduation rates and declining student interest have caught the attention of business leaders, researchers and universities. With weak graduation rates and little interest in scientific computing, many are concerned about the USAs ability to meet current demands and to remain competitive, both in product development and technological advances. This study targeted student attrition in the first year of college by examining the impact of learning communities on freshmen computer science students. Factors including class size, technology in the classroom, and active learning environments were infused into the study groups to determine the impact on student success and persistence.

Information management and decision support in critical infrastructure emergencies at the local level

In a critical infrastructure disaster incident, emergency managers are often compelled to make time-critical decisions based on incomplete information streaming in at disparate times from multiple data sources. As the incident progresses, the ability to predict where additional resources will be needed is crucial to both response and recovery. Decision making and prediction in this context requires combining (fusing) incoming data streams; presenting relevant information from these streams in a form appropriate for each user; and using data from similar historical events to predict resource needs and incident evolution. This paper discusses the role of data fusion, data integration, and data mining in decision making for municipal or regional emergency managers. It also explores the implementation of web-based decision support tools. Finally, the paper makes recommendations for improving information management and streamlining decision support.

A curricular framework for critical infrastructure protection education for engineering, technology and computing majors

The 16 critical infrastructure sectors identified by the US Department of Homeland Security employ many engineering, technology and computing graduates who increasingly face critical infrastructure protection (CIP) issues. However, most undergraduate curricula in these disciplines do not incorporate CIP in any meaningful way. This paper proposes a flexible curricular framework for integrating CIP into undergraduate education via self-contained inter-disciplinary CIP course modules; a course module is a distinct curricular unit such as a lab or teaching component for use by an instructor in existing courses without requiring any course or program modifications. The proposed course modules cover physical, human, and cyber aspects of CIP. The framework is designed for use in multiple disciplines, and the modules are designed for presentation at different levels of the undergraduate experience, with subsequent modules building on those presented earlier. This approach is intended to prepare students for careers solving problems in design, implementation, and maintenance of robust, sustainable infrastructure assets.

A modular approach to teaching critical infrastructure protection concepts to engineering, technology and computing students

The United States Department of Homeland Security has identified 16 critical infrastructure sectors that employ computing, technology and engineering students. However, most undergraduate curricula in these disciplines do not incorporate the fundamentals of critical infrastructure protection (CIP) into their curricula in a meaningful way. This paper describes the design, development, and usage of a modular curricular framework for integrating CIP into undergraduate programs via self-contained interdisciplinary course modules; a course module is a distinct curricular unit such as a lab or teaching component for use by an instructor in existing courses without requiring any course or program modifications. The framework is designed for use in multiple disciplines, and the modules are designed for presentation at different levels of the undergraduate experience, with subsequent modules built on those presented earlier. In addition, the paper discusses assessment results obtained from the validation of the framework and modules over the past three years that covered 345 students at the community college and university levels.

Growing a software quality culture in an educational environment

The technical skills students must acquire in a typical computer science program are often mandated through standards or curricular requirements. How are nontechnical skills assessed? computer science educators must teach and encourage the development of other critical skills needed in the workplace such as personal accountability, a strong work ethic and an ability to deliver on-time and correct work. This paper describes the results of a student survey designed to provoke some thoughts about the evolving work ethic and work culture of todays students. Along with the survey results, the importance in asking the questions and a brief analysis of how the behavior or activity fits into the quality cycle are presented. Finally, a section on continuous improvement strategies is proposed.