Information Systems (IS) undergraduate student numbers in the UK have reduced by half in the last five years. An increasing number of researchers have been pondering the possible relationship between the modernity of IS curricula and its attractiveness to potential students. To support the debate about IS curricula in the UK and elsewhere, this…

This article distills a discussion about the goals, mechanisms, and effects of three environments which aim to support the acquisition and development of computing concepts (problem solving and programming) in pre-University and non-technical students: Alice, Greenfoot, and Scratch. The conversation started in a special session on the topic at the…

We present findings regarding the state of the field of Algorithm Visualization (AV) based on our analysis of a collection of over 500 AVs. We examine how AVs are distributed among topics, who created them and when, their overall quality, and how they are disseminated. There does exist a cadre of good AVs and active developers. Unfortunately, we…

Like many rapidly growing industries, advances in video game technology are far outpacing research on its design and effectiveness. Relatively little is understood about how to apply what we know about teaching and learning to optimize game-based learning. For the most part, instructional designers know little about game development and video game…

This report evaluates college programmes which deliver education and training in computer and digital media technology, rather than in computer usage. The report evaluates current practice and identifies important areas for further development amongst practitioners. It provides case studies of effective practice and sets out recommendations for…

The cloud continues to be a developing area of information systems. Evangelistic literature in the practitioner field indicates benefit for business firms but disruption for technology departments of the firms. Though the cloud currently is immature in methodology, this study defines a model program by which computer science and information…

As the success of distance learning (DL) has driven universities to increase the courses offered online, certain challenges arise when teaching computer science (CS) courses to students who are not physically co-located and have individual learning schedules. Teaching CS courses involves high level demonstrations and interactivity between the…

The iDREAMS project aims to reinvent Computer Science education in K-12 schools, by using game design and computational science for motivating and educating students through an approach we call Scalable Game Design, starting at the middle school level. In this paper we discuss the use of Computational Thinking Patterns as the basis for our…

Numerous studies have identified causal factors for academic success. Factors vary from personal factors, such as cognitive style (McKenzie & Schweitzer, 2001), to social factors, such as culture differences (Aysan, Tanriogen, & Tanriogen, 1996). However, in these studies it is re-searchers who theorized the causal dimensions and…

How can transnational education (TNE) programs be made more effective? According to the literature, no one is in a better position to comment on this question than the students themselves. At the same time, there is a recognized scarcity in the literature of student input into the issue of transnational program effectiveness. In consideration of…

This study discusses and presents various strategies employed by novice programmers concerning exception handling. The main contributions of this paper are as follows: we provide an analysis tool to measure the level of assimilation of exception handling mechanism; we present and analyse strategies to handle exceptions; we present and analyse…

Declining enrollment in MIS Departments in Colleges of Business has been the norm for many if not most universities since the dot.com bust of 2000. This has serious repercussions for the departments involved, students, and the companies that hire MIS graduates. In order to reverse this trend, an understanding of the important factors which…

Computer Education and Instructional Technology (CEIT) Departments train computer teachers to fill gap of computer instructor in all grades of schools in Turkey. Additionally graduates can also work as instructional technologist or software developer. The curriculum of CEIT departments includes mathematics courses. The aim of this study is to…

Given the diminishing number of Management Information Systems (MIS) majors, an understanding of the factors which influence student choice of major is crucial. It has been noted in many previous studies that interest in a major and career significantly influences the student's choice of college major; indeed, in most studies, it is the strongest…

Models in Software Engineering are considered as abstract representations of software systems. Models highlight relevant details for a certain purpose, whereas irrelevant ones are hidden. Models are supposed to make system comprehension easier by reducing complexity. Therefore, models should play a key role in education, since they would ease the…