Effective Learning and Teaching in Computing | Sylvia Alexander, Alast

Book

Effective Learning and Teaching in Computing

ABSTRACT

Written to meet the needs of teachers, lecturers and tutors, this is a comprehensive guide to understanding the key issues, best practices and new developments in learning and teaching in information and computer sciences in higher education.
It covers a range of issues relating to teaching within the broad discipline of computing at under- and post-graduate level, including:

* curriculum
* assessment
* links with industry
* international perspectives
* innovative techniques for teaching
* effective use of ICT in teaching.

Effective Learning and Teaching in Computing will be essential reading for less experienced teachers seeking authoritative guidance as well as experienced teachers seeking material for reflection and advice.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

chapter |5 pages

Introduction

Alastair Irons and Sylvia Alexander

chapter 1|13 pages

Current issues Introduction 6; Pre-entry 8; Workload – reading for a degree 9; Curriculum issues 10; Transferable skills 11; Pedagogy 12; Learning resources 13; Increasing participation 13; Widening participation 13; HE in FE 15; Accessibility/disability 15; Female entrants 15; Developing strategies 16; Summary 16;

part |2 pages

Part 1. Teaching and the support of learning

chapter 2|8 pages

Motivating computing students Introduction 21; Understanding motivation 22; Practical ideas for motivating computing students 24; The top ten tips 27;

chapter 3|9 pages

The role of practical skills in computing education Introduction 29; A taxonomy of programming courses 30; The philosophy of skills learning 33; Conclusion 35;

chapter 4|10 pages

Learning and teaching with computers Introduction 38; Online lectures 40; Structure of lectures 40; Static display of content 41; Creating the aural fragments 42; Constructing the lecture 43; Disability considerations 44;

chapter 5|9 pages

Accessibility, disability and computing Introduction 48; Teaching students to think about accessibility 49; Accessibility deﬁned 49; Support for accessibility 50; Disabled users as end users 51; Accessibility and the teaching and learning environment 52; Case study: Division of Applied Computing,

chapter 6|10 pages

Variations on a theme: divisions and union in a maturing discipline Introduction 57; Computing curricula developments 57; Continuous curriculum and programme development 59;

part |2 pages

Part 2. Learning activities for computing students

chapter 7|7 pages

Groupwork for computing students Achievement of educational goals 70; Fostering quality teamwork 72; Fair assessment for all 73; Final conclusions 74;

chapter 8|10 pages

Automating the process of skills-based assessment Introduction 76; Computer-assisted assessment (CAA) 76; Assessment of programming skills 78; Issues 79; Generic products 80; Case study 1: CourseMarker 82; Case study 2: BOSS 82; Conclusion 83; Further information 84;

chapter 9|14 pages

Motivation and electronic assessment Assessment, motivation and learning 86; Innovative assessment 88; Computer-assisted assessment (CAA) 89; Group assessment 91; Peer assessment 91; Self-assessment 94; Students setting

chapter 10|11 pages

Reducing plagiarism in computing Introduction 100; What is plagiarism? 101; Why is plagiarism an issue? 103; Why do students plagiarize? 104; How big an issue is it? 104; How to tackle plagiarism? 105; Summary 108;

part |2 pages

Part 3. Developing effective learning environments

chapter 11|10 pages

Evaluating what works in distance learning Introduction 113; Distance learning 113; Evaluation approaches 115; The computing course 115; Evaluation 116; Lessons learnt 117; Examples of evaluation data 118; Use of online questionnaires 119; Conclusions 121; Acknowledgements 121;

chapter 12|13 pages

Industrial input to the computing curriculum Some industry beliefs about software engineering graduates 123; Studies of industry/university collaboration 125; The approach 127; Successful collaboration construction and execution 129; Industry viewpoint 132; Other sources of industrial input 133;

Nancy R. Mead

chapter 13|12 pages

Computing education and entrepreneurial spirit Background 136; The changing business environment 137; What is entrepreneurship? 138; Entrepreneurship and HE 139; Teaching entrepreneurship 140; Team approach 143; Deliverables and assessment 144; Incubation 146; Lifelong learning 146;

chapter 14|11 pages

Higher education, IT and industry Introduction 148; Historical view 149; Masters conversion courses 149; Employment 150; Gender 151; Answering our critics 152; Graduates’ views 153; Inside our universities 154; Support to lobby for 154; Possible action 155; Summary 156;

part |2 pages

Part 4. Reflective practice and personal development

chapter 15|11 pages

Continuing professional development for the computing academic: wheeling in the Trojan Horse Introduction 161; Motivations 162; Barriers 164; Objectives 165; Awareness 166; Understanding 168; Use 169; Conclusion 171;

chapter 16|10 pages

Improving the quality of teaching in computing Andrew McGettrick Introduction 172; What is quality? 172; Published quality documents 173; Nature of learning and teaching 176; Assessment issues 178; Some important observations 179; Nature of

chapter 17|7 pages

Technology and the reflective practitioner Introduction 182; Schön and the reﬂective practitioner: teaching, action research and rigorous knowledge 183; The crisis in the teaching and learning of programming 184; Technology and reﬂective practice in computing 185; Developing rigorous action

chapter |2 pages

Conclusion

chapter 18|14 pages

Future issues in computing Introduction 191; Issues to be addressed 192; Technologies 197; Student support 200; Continuous professional development 201;