Despite the multiple potential benefits of asking students working on programming tasks to consider human factors, most programming assignments narrowly focus on technical details and requirements. Female students in particular may be attracted to assignments that emphasize human as well as technical factors. To assess how students respond to…

In this article, we present CTRL_SPACE: a design for a software environment with companion hardware, developed to introduce preliterate children to basic computational concepts by means of an animatronic face, whose individual features serve as an analogy for a programmable object. In addition to presenting the environment, this article briefly…

Problem-Based Learning (PBL) method emphasizes students' own activity in learning about problems, setting up their own learning goals and actively searching for and analyzing information. In this paper, we describe and discuss our experiences on applying PBL, especially the seven steps method widely used in medical faculties, in an introductory…

Constructing a data model for a problem area requires identifying and formulating some symbolic representation of the concepts involved, their characteristics, and the relationships between them. Taking a socio-cultural perspective on learning, analysis of classroom dialog is used to identify cognitive challenges met by novice students of data…

The requirements engineering course is a core component of the curriculum for the Master's in Software Engineering programme, at Monmouth University (MU). It covers the process, methods and tools specific to this area, together with the corresponding software quality issues. The need to produce software engineers with strong teamwork and…

Web-based, e-learning classes, or online classes that use a proprietary course management system such as Blackboard, are an increasingly prominent part of higher education, particularly in community colleges. In fact, more than three-quarters of community colleges now offer the same course in face-to-face and online modes. And community colleges…

In keeping with the outcome-based assessment outlined by ABET's Education Criteria 2000, the School of Engineering at the University of Bridgeport has defined fifteen general student outcomes for its computer engineering program. These outcomes form the basis of its instructional program and assessment activities. In assessing and monitoring the…

This study aims to compare and contrast the perspectives of preservice teachers and instructors on the "Computer Education and Instructional Technology (CEIT)" department. A questionnaire which was developed from the ideas of CEIT faculty members in the "The Results of Re-Designing the Teacher Education Curricula of the Faculties of…

Information assurance courses delivered in an online environment pose challenges to the development of meaningful hands-on exercises for students. This article presents techniques on furnishing laboratory exercises to online students and presents examples of assignments drawn from the author's experiences in teaching online courses for over three…

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the use of a non-expensive dynamic computing resource, consisting of a Beowulf class cluster and a NoW, as an educational and research infrastructure. Design/methodology/approach: Clusters, built using commodity-off-the-shelf (COTS) hardware components and free, or commonly used, software, provide…

This article tells the story of the design, development and presentation of eighteen months of coursework for a Master's degree programme in Computer-Integrated education at the Sudan University of Science and Technology in Khartoum from 2002 to 2004. The focus is on what was learnt in adapting a programme presented at the University of Pretoria…

Teachers' perceptions are critical to the success or failure of integrating computer games with educational features into classrooms. Consequently, it is essential to gather information about concerns they might have in regard to using these games in the classroom. This study was conducted to investigate the perceptions and future plans of a group…

Distance education and information and communication technologies (ICTs) have been marketed as cost-effective ways to rescue struggling educational institutions in developing countries, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). This study uses classroom video analysis and follow-up interviews with teachers, students, and local tutors to analyse…

Lack of accessibility in the design of e-learning courses continues to hinder students with vision impairment. E-learning materials are predominantly vision-centric, incorporating images, animation, and interactive media, and as a result students with acute vision impairment do not have equal opportunity to gain tertiary qualifications or skills…

The teaching and learning of a complex section in "Theoretical Computer Science 1" in a distance-education context at the University of South Africa (UNISA) has been enhanced by a supplementary e-learning application called "Relations," which interactively teaches mathematical skills in a cognitive domain. It has tutorial and…