Education Commons^™

Technology Enhanced Learning: Students' Views, Eileen O'Donnell, Mary Sharp

Eileen O'Donnell

User feedback is very important in all areas of computer science especially in the development of computer applications. Hence, student feedback on the use of technology enhanced learning in higher education in Ireland is relevant to the quality of the learning resources to be created by learning designers and academics in the future. The book “Student Reactions to Learning with Technologies: Perceptions and Outcomes” (Moyle & Wijngaards, 2012) was published by IGI Global in October 2011. This book includes contributions from various authors who are interested in students’ feedback regarding how technology has impacted on their educational experience. This book …

Its Training Update, Veronica Trammell

Veronica O. Trammell

No abstract provided.

Case Study On Using A Programming Practice Tool For Evaluating University Applicants, Shannon Christopher Boesch, Kevin Steppe

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

We used a programming practice tool to test basic programming skills of prospective students. A live competition was used to test those skills. Students who did well were asked for further interviews. Most students had no prior background and reported learning the basics of two programming languages within two weeks of self-study.

A Multi-Platform Application Suite For Enhancing South Asian Language Pedagogy, Tao Bai, Christopher K. Chung, Konstantin Läufer, Daisy Rockwell, George K. Thiruvathukal

George K. Thiruvathukal

This interdisciplinary project explores the potential for handheld/wireless (H/W) technology in the context of language education within and beyond the classroom. Specifically, we have designed and implemented a suite of multi-platform (desktop/laptop, handheld, and browser) applications to enhance the teaching of South Asian languages such as Hindi-Urdu. Such languages are very difficult to learn, let alone write, and H/W devices (with their handwriting/drawing capabilities) can play a significant role in overcoming the learning curve. The initial application suite includes a character/word tracer, a word splitter/joiner, a smart flashcard with audio, contextual augmented stories for reading comprehension, and a poetic metronome. …

Enhancing The Cs Curriculum With With Aspect-Oriented Software Development (Aosd) And Early Experience, Konstantin Läufer, George K. Thiruvathukal, Tzilla Elrad

George K. Thiruvathukal

Aspect-oriented software development (AOSD) is evolving as an important step beyond existing software development approaches such as object-oriented development. An aspect is a module that captures a crosscutting concern, behavior that cuts across different units of abstraction in a software application; expressed as a module, such behavior can be enabled and disabled transparently and non-invasively, without changing the application code itself. Increasing industry demand for expertise in AOSD gives rise to the pedagogical challenge of covering this methodology and its foundations in the computer science curriculum. We present our curricular initiative to incorporate a novel course in AOSD in the …

The Extreme Software Development Series: An Open Curricular Framework For Applied Capstone Courses, Konstantin Läufer, George K. Thiruvathukal

George K. Thiruvathukal

We describe an open, flexible curricular framework for offering a collection of advanced undergraduate and graduate courses in software development. The courses offered within this framework are further unified by combining solid foundations with current technology and play the role of capstone courses in a modern software development track. Our initiative has been very successful with all stakeholders involved.

Investigating The Role Of The Internet In Women And Minority Stem Participation: A Case Study Of Two Florida Engineering Programs, Arland Nguema Ndong

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Despite our awareness of the fascination modern humans have with the Internet, little is known about how and why colleges and universities create and maintain Websites. At the most general level, in this case study, I hypothesize that university Websites serve as communication and marketing tools in attracting students. At the most specific level, I postulate that civil engineering programs with Web pages depicting images of women and minorities would be more successful in recruiting and retaining women and students of color than civil engineering programs with Web pages displaying fewer or no images of women and minorities. The primary …

Engaging Game Design Students Using Peer Evaluation, Amber Settle, Charles Wilcox, Chad Settle

Amber Settle

Rock-Paper-Scissors: Nifty Tools And Assignments, James Huggins

Computer Science Presentations And Conference Materials

In the childhood game of "rock-paper-scissors", two participants select one of three different gestures. The selected gestures are then compared using the following rule set: rock crushes scissors, scissors cuts paper, and paper covers rock. Ties are broken by repeating the game as needed. The game can be played until the first winner is determined, or in repeated rounds (e.g. best two out of three)...

The Global Geek: Language Training For It Students’ Study Abroad In Austria And Germany, Gwyneth E. Cliver, Deepak Khazanchi

Information Systems and Quantitative Analysis Faculty Publications

The Modern Language Association’s (MLA) urgent appeal for the restructuring of the undergraduate language curriculum, “Foreign Languages and Higher Education: New Structures for a Changed World,” emphasizes a need for language departments to enrich their upper-division course offerings beyond the traditional literary studies model in order to attract and retain broader interest in language learning among students with diverse academic interests and needs. Citing the National Science Foundation’s 2003 Survey of College Graduates, it stresses that only 6.1% of undergraduates whose primary major is a foreign language later achieve doctorate degrees and concludes that departments should provide upper-division language courses …

The Human Computer Interaction Issues Associated With The Creation Of Personalized Role Playing Simulations, Eileen O'Donnell, Catherine Mulwa, Mary Sharp, Vincent Wade

Eileen O'Donnell

The human computer interaction issues associated with the creation of personalized role playing simulations are discussed in this paper. This paper is aimed at those who are interested in building authoring applications which enable educators to build role playing simulated e-learning resources to use with their students. One of the main issues which have come to our attention is that many learning designers and educators do not understand what exactly it is we are trying to achieve by creating personalized role playing simulations. Also, how to gauge the pedagogic merits which can be achieved by using these e-learning resources. Potential …

Creating An International Joint Certificate In It Administration, Peter Wolcott

Information Systems and Quantitative Analysis Faculty Proceedings & Presentations

The University of Nebraska at Omaha (UNO) and the University of Agder (UiA), Norway, are collaborating on the creation of an undergraduate certificate in Information Technology Administration. The certificate is designed for students who are interested in managing the complex technical infrastructure of today's organizations. The certificate will consist of approximately 15 credit hours of hands-on courses, covering such areas as systems administration, network administration, database administration, security administration, and distributed systems. All courses will be offered online, using a variety of collaboration tools and teaching techniques that reflect the best of current practice. Students will take courses taught by …

Panopto Is Now Available For Lecture Capture, Veronica Trammell

Veronica O. Trammell

The Distance Learning Center has purchased a new lecture delivery option for faculty who teach online. Panopto is a lecture capture application which allows faculty to capture their lectures using a simple webcam or a sophisticated video classroom.

A Study Analyzing Five Instructional Methods For Teaching Software To Junior High Students, Scott Ronald Bartholomew

Theses and Dissertations

If you ask 5 different teachers what the best way to teach a new technology to a student is you will get 5 different answers. (Bork, 2001; Cheong, 2008; Egal, 2009; Howell, 2001) What is the best way to teach a new computer software application to a student? In the technological world we live in today the effective transfer of technological knowledge is paramount. With varying opinions even among the leaders of national technology teacher associations (Haynie, 2005) there is a large level of ambiguity in relation to best practices in technology teaching. This study evaluates five commonly used methods …

The Search For Hamilton, Eric Gossett

ACMS Conference Proceedings 2011

In July and August of 2009 my wife and I went on a four-week trip to Scotland and Ireland. We would be visiting Dublin, so I decided that we should visit the famous bridge where William Rowan Hamilton carved the equations for the quaternions. The task was not as simple as I had assumed. This paper gives some details of the search.

Thinking Philosophically About Mathematics, Robert L. Brabenec

ACMS Conference Proceedings 2011

In my early years as a teacher of mathematics, the history of mathematics was seldom mentioned in the classroom. It was viewed as an unworthy topic that would detract from the presentation of mathematics itself. This opinion has dramatically changed over the years, and the history of mathematics is now embraced and used by many mathematicians in their teaching and even research. We might choose to ask a related question. How much philosophy is necessary or helpful for a mathematics teacher to know, and to use in his or her teaching? We see a growing interest in the philosophy of …

Bringing Undergraduate Research Into The Classroom, Stephen Lovett

ACMS Conference Proceedings 2011

Mathematics graduate programs and companies that employ math majors often want to ascertain an applicant’s potential for research. However, in many undergraduate courses, assessments consist only of regular exercise sets, quizzes, and in-class tests. Without doing a senior research thesis or landing an official REUs, students do not regularly gain experience in or an appreciation for research. Courses in the humanities regularly require students to write in the discipline, progressively preparing them methodologically for “writing in the field.” This begs the question: could math departments do a little more to prepare our students to use mathematics beyond college?

In this …

Calculus Communication Circle, Judith Palagallo

ACMS Conference Proceedings 2011

Calculus Communication Circle is a network for the professional development of Advanced Placement Calculus teachers. In Northeast Ohio the Circle provides a forum where teachers meet to share ideas about mathematics and the teaching of calculus. This article describes the creation of the Circle and the progress it has made over its three year existence.

The Need For A Graphics Programming Course, Nathan Gossett

ACMS Conference Proceedings 2011

A discussion of the benefits of offering a course on programming Computer Graphics in an undergraduate Computer Science curriculum. A sample course outline is provided, as well as a discussion of ways to conduct lectures, labs and a list of suggested assignments. A discussion of “dos and don’t s will also be presented, including a list of required prerequisite courses and skills that students would need in order for the course to be a success.

Lesson’S Learned: A Journey In Computational Science, Ryan Botts, Lori Carter

ACMS Conference Proceedings 2011

Inspired by work on building a computational science program and student questions about modeling, we aim to discuss some of our experiences with computational science. We will first clarify what computational science is, why it is a legitimate science, why it is worth our students’ time and what makes it a challenging field. We will also discuss how computer scientists, mathematicians and laboratory scientists each have something different to contribute to the field.

Google And The Mathematics Of Web Search, Michael Rempe

ACMS Conference Proceedings 2011

This article examines the algorithms used by Google to rank search engine results, called PageRank.

Real Simulations And Simulated Reality, Wayne Iba

ACMS Conference Proceedings 2011

Movies such as The Matrix have stimulated popular interest in “brain in a vat” scenarios. Amidst the traditional questions of the mind, we tend to overlook an integral enabling component—the world simulation—which merits consideration in its own right. When facing the simulations in these imagined scenarios, we struggle with conceptual muddles regarding what is real and not. In this paper, I argue that simulated worlds are every bit as real as the one we inhabit. This turns out to be important when considering the possibility, as suggested by Nick Bostrom, that the world we experience as “real” is actually a …

History Of Mathematics: An Exercise In Strengths, Mary Walkins

ACMS Conference Proceedings 2011

As a leader in strengths-based education, Lee University encourages each new student, since fall of 2003, to take the Gallup StrengthsFinder to determine their top 5 signature themes (out of a possible 34). At Lee, the syllabus for the History of Mathematics course calls for students to write a paper on a mathematician. In the fall of 2009, as an added dimension, students were asked to critically think about and incorporate the strengths they believe that mathematician may have. Each student was required to compare and contrast his or her strengths with those of the mathematician. This was done with …

Pascal’S Thoughts Seen In The Light Of Scripture, Loredana Ciurariu

ACMS Conference Proceedings 2011

In this paper we study Pascal’s character via his writings. There are indications that his health might have deteriorated following the experiments he had done using mercury. He talks in his Pensées about faith, grace and purity of the heart, about the peoples and the way in which God leads them, about wisdom, dreams and hopes and that which lies in the human heart. If a statistics was done concerning the most used books and verses from the Bible in Pensées, these would be: Ecclesiastes, Proverbs, Matthew, Mark, Jeremiah, Hebrews, Romans, Luke, Isaiah, Psalms. But those which occupy a central …

The History Of The Area Between A Line And A Parabola, Gordon A. Swain

ACMS Conference Proceedings 2011

This is a review of various methods used by many mathematicians to determine the area of the segment bounded by a parabola and a line. We include descriptions of proofs from the Greek period (Archimedes), the Arabic period (ibn Qurra and ibn Sinan), and the 1600's in European (Galileo, Roberval, Fermat and Wallis, among others), in order to display the changing nature of mathematics.

Pk Mathematics, Jeremy Case

ACMS Conference Proceedings 2011

An examination of the historical development of mathematics and how mathematical history has changed by looking at mathematicians who were also PKs (Preacher’s Kids).

The Mathematics Of Cubic Sudoku, Nicholas Zoller

ACMS Conference Proceedings 2011

In the last decade the Sudoku puzzle has fixed itself in America’s puzzle consciousness. Sudoku puzzles share space with crossword puzzles and word finds in newspaper puzzle sections, and several books have been written for the Sudoku playing community. Mathematicians are among the most dedicated Sudoku players. Although some are content with simply solving puzzle after puzzle, others have used tools from combinatorics and algebra to study its important properties.

We investigate a variant of Sudoku called Cubic Sudoku, as well as Cubic Sudoku’s simpler relative, Cubic Shidoku. We successfully count the number of Cubic Shidoku puzzles in two different …

What We Can Learn From Process Theology: Integrating Faith And Mathematics, Josh Wilkerson

ACMS Conference Proceedings 2011

In the inaugural issue of The Journal of the Association of Christians in the Mathematical Sciences, James Bradley, the founding editor, suggests fourteen areas that need to be addressed by Christian mathematicians who are series about integrating their faith and their work. One of those areas is the topic of this paper. Bradly frames the question: “Some thinkers (perhaps influenced by process theology) have asserted the idea that God’s creation is not a finished work but that he creates new mathematical objects through mathematicians. Is this idea theologically sound? Is it helpful for our understanding of mathematics?” I copy …

A Bayesian Secondary Analysis In An Asthma Study, Samuel P. Wilcock, Vernon M. Chinchilli, Stephen P. Peters

ACMS Conference Proceedings 2011

A recent study published in the New England Journal of Medicine by the Asthma Clinical Research Network (ACRN) compared three different treatments for their effectiveness in treating adults with uncontrolled asthma. This paper will describe the study design and its results, then detail the beginnings of a secondary analysis using Bayesian methods to estimate the parameters of interest. The methods will be explained, and the preliminary estimates given and contextualized. The paper will conclude with a discussion of the next steps and the goals for further analysis of the data in this study.

Math History Study Abroad Program: Learning Math History In A Cultural Context, Donna Pierce

ACMS Conference Proceedings 2011

In January 2011 fifteen Whitworth University mathematics students and I, their professor, traveled through Europe to study the history of mathematics. The goal was to gain an understanding of how mathematical ideas have developed over time; how social, cultural and historical factors have influenced the development of mathematics and conversely, how mathematics contributed to society and human culture. Over a course of three weeks we traveled to three countries and over a half dozen cities, viewing the tools, papers and workbooks or these mathematicians, seeing their engineering and artistic creations, and learning from local experts as they guided us through …