We present an approach for teaching design patterns that emphasizes object-orientation and patterns integration. The context of computer game development is used to engage and motivate students, and it is additionally rich with design patterns. A case study is presented based on "EEClone," an arcade-style computer game implemented in Java. Our…

Learning computing with respect to the context of its use has been linked in previous reports to student motivation in introductory Computer Science (CS) courses. In this report, we consider the role of context in a second course. We present a case study of a CS2 data structures class that uses a media computation context. In this course, students…

In a study of the types of problems encountered by students that led them to seek assistance, Robins et al. [2006] found that the most common problems were related to trivial mechanics. The students in this study worked by themselves on their programming exercises. This article discusses a replication of the Robins et al. study in which the…

Pair programming, as part of the Agile Development process, has noted benefits in professional software development scenarios. These successes have led to a rise in use of pair programming in educational settings, particularly in Computer Science 1 (CS1). Specifically, McDowell et al. [2006] has shown that students using pair programming in CS1 do…

Small computers are emerging as important components of the contemporary computing scene. Their operating systems vary from specialized software for an embedded system to the same style of OS used on a generic desktop or server computer. This article describes a course in which systems are classified by their hardware capability and the…

Designing and explaining programs are often difficult tasks, especially when novices are involved. It also concerns more experienced programmers when complex algorithms need to be carefully explained and documented as part of software development.Good practice suggests that code and documentation be tightly coupled; but there are only a few…

This article provides an analysis of student responses to an exercise used in a computer ethics and a software engineering course to raise awareness of issues related to hiring, including issues of professional responsibility and diversity. Students from two different universities were asked to evaluate four candidates for two positions in a…

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…

Computer science students need to learn how to write high-quality software. An important methodology for achieving quality is design-by-contract, in which code is developed together with its specification, which is given as class invariants and method pre- and postconditions. This paper describes practical experience in teaching design-by-contract…

This article reports on the design, implementation, and usage of the CourseMarker (formerly known as CourseMaster) courseware Computer Based Assessment (CBA) system at the University of Nottingham. Students use CourseMarker to solve (programming) exercises and to submit their solutions. CourseMarker returns immediate results and feedback to the…

Becoming a quality software developer requires practice under the guidance of an expert mentor. Unfortunately, in most academic environments, there are not enough experts to provide any significant design mentoring for software engineering students. To address this problem, we present a collaborative software design tool intended to maximize an…

In introductory computer science courses, the Unified Modeling Language (UML) is commonly used to teach basic object-oriented design. However, there appears to be a lack of suitable software to support this task. Many of the available programs that support UML focus on developing code and not on enhancing learning. Programs designed for…

Case studies of professional software development practices describe how real (or realistic) projects are planned and executed. Cases provide engaging models of the activities and materials of software development to students and other novice practitioners. They vividly remind learners of the possibilities for meaningfully applying knowledge and…

Serious games use entertainment principles, creativity, and technology to meet government or corporate training objectives, but these principles alone will not guarantee that the intended learning will occur. To be effective, serious games must incorporate sound cognitive, learning, and pedagogical principles into their design and structure. In…

With the increasing levels of access to higher education in the United Kingdom, larger class sizes make it unrealistic for tutors to be expected to identify instances of peer-to-peer plagiarism by eye and so automated solutions to the problem are required. This document details a novel algorithm for comparison of suspect documents at a sentence…