Advanced approaches to the construction of software systems can present difficulties to learners. This is true for multi-agent systems (MAS) which exhibit concurrency, non-determinacy of structure and composition and sometimes emergent behavior characteristics. Additional barriers exist for learners because mainstream MAS technology is young and…

This article presents a study that aims at constructing a teaching framework for software development methods in higher education. The research field is a capstone project-based course, offered by the Technion's Department of Computer Science, in which Extreme Programming is introduced. The research paradigm is an Action Research that involves…

This paper describes an empirical study that investigated the knowledge that Computer Science students have about the extent of their own previous learning. The study compared self-generated estimates of performance with actual performance on a data structures quiz taken by undergraduate students in courses requiring data structures as a…

Nondeterminism is an essential concept in mathematics and one of the important concepts in computer science. It is also among the most abstract ones. Thus, many students find it difficult to cope with. In this article, we describe some didactic considerations, which guided the development of a "Computational Models" course for high school…

Science and technology, when applied to educational excellence, have become part of the arts and humanities of tomorrow. The interactive multimedia technology tools available to educators today provide an opportunity to build into the distance or traditional course through learning objects, highly interactive experiential exercises that allow the…

Teaching programming to novices has proved challenging for both learner and lecturer due to the abstraction and complexity of the subject matter. The work described in this paper is part of an EU funded Minerva project called TUPULO (Teaching Undergraduate Programming Using Learning Objects) which aims to address the challenges faced by novice…

Tremendous changes are taking place in the world which certainly influence the system of education, and teacher education too cannot remain immune to these global changes. Information Technology (IT] is affecting teachers, individuals and society. Digital learning has opened the doors of classrooms and made knowledge accessible even for those…

This paper introduces an evaluation tool prepared to examine the quality of visuals in course-books. The tool is based on Mayer's Cognitive Theory of Multimedia Learning (i.e. Generative Theory) and its principles regarding the correct use of illustrations within text. The reason to generate the tool, the development process along with the…

This paper presents the results of a 3-year quasi-experimental study of three Masters courses in computing. The purpose of this study was to investigate the extent to which the teaching and learning of these courses were enhanced by being developed and delivered in an online format as compared to face-to-face full-time and part-time delivery. Key…

Increased attention to student engagement and active learning strategies have become particularly relevant in today's classroom environments. These approaches are also considered to be meaningful when teaching "net generation" students who have different styles and expectations. This study attempts to address these challenges through the…

Although nearly every college offers a major in computer science, many computer science teachers at the secondary level have received little formal training. This paper presents details of a project that could make a significant contribution to national efforts to improve computer science education by combining teacher education and professional…

This paper presents the implications of an ongoing project on the design and development of multimedia instructional material for teaching and learning computer science topics at both graduate and undergraduate levels. Important pedagogical requirements that CAI software should satisfy include: (1) animation of the changes in tree topologies; (2)…

This paper notes the advantages of using e-mail in computer literacy classes, and discusses the results of incorporating an e-mail assignment in the "Introduction to Mathematical Reasoning and Computer Programming" core course at Brooklyn College (New York). The assignment consisted of several steps. The students first read and responded…

This paper outlines a senior seminar, or "capstone" course, in computer science developed at the University of South Carolina at Spartanburg. It was intended that the senior seminar should differ in classroom format from other courses in the major. Course requirements include timed oral presentations, reading of science fiction in which…

The Applied Computer Science Department at Illinois State University is in the process of implementing a reengineered curriculum that utilizes an integrated and spiral approach to subject coverage. The 1996-97 school year was the first year that upper division course prerequisites were based on the new curriculum instead of a mixture of old and…