There was a choice of three workshops.
Hybrid Java Programming: A Visual-Textual Programming Language Workshop
Mark Noone, Keith Nolan and Aidan Mooney (Maynooth University)
Learning a first programming language is not an easy task. Regardless of student age or language choice, difficulties will always arise for some students. This workshop will involve the demonstration and testing of a hybrid (visual-textual) programming language “Hybrid Java”. It was created using the platform “Snap!” which allows for the development of custom visual “drag-and-drop” blocks. Blocks-based programming allows us to provide a browsable library of commands which has been shown to reduce the complexity of a language.
The first thirty minutes of the workshop will detail the setup and structure of Hybrid Java, as well as demonstrate some initial results from our usage of the system. Please bring a laptop. The next sixty minutes will allow you time to experiment with the system. A book of suggested exercises will be given to highlight the system’s usage. The final thirty minutes will involve an open discussion on the usage and benefits of the platform and on collecting feedback.
At the end of the session, you will have a knowledge of what the hybrid programming approach entails. You will receive executable of the environment to take home. In return, we will receive valuable feedback on the system for future development.
Building a toolkit for fostering women’s sense of belonging to Computer Science in UK Higher Education
Lisa Thomas and Lynne Blair (Lancaster University), Clem Herman (The Open University)
Women still only account for approx. 18% of computer science students in the UK higher education sector. Research suggests that women often perceive the male dominated computing environment to be unwelcoming, which can negatively impact upon their sense of belonging to computing. This is a significant issue as sense of belonging is an important predictor of success, especially in the STEM disciplines. This workshop therefore focuses on women’s sense of belonging to computing in further and higher education and will be relevant to a broad range of staff involved in developing computing curricula.
You will be introduced to various conceptual levers in the curriculum that can negatively impact upon women’s sense of belonging to computing – levers that often go unconsidered in terms of how they impact upon women. We call them levers because they can be influenced by the people involved in curriculum development. These levers include (but are not limited to) the design of physical and digital environments, the use of terminology, the nature of the projects that we set for students, how group projects are organised, how diversity is taught and the provision of careers information. Participants will have the opportunity to collaboratively explore how their institutions currently address some of these levers – and how they could address them in the future. The ideas that are generated will be made available following the workshop so that participants can use them in their own institutions. Participants will therefore benefit from this workshop by having access to a toolkit of practical ideas for fostering women’s sense of belonging in computer science education.
Establishing Research Collaborations around Degree and Higher Level Apprenticeships Between institutions and across UK and Ireland
Ella Taylor-Smith (Edinburgh Napier University), Alastair Irons (University of Sunderland) and Sally Smith (Edinburgh Napier University)
Join our workshop — we’re creating a research network for computing degree apprenticeships. Discuss your experiences of and concerns around degree apprenticeships and help to move these forward into outlines for research studies and a new research network.
Degree and higher level apprenticeships, in the UK and Ireland respectively, offer new routes to computer science degrees. Partnerships between employers and Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) support apprentices to study for degrees, where study is integrated with full-time, paid employment, ensuring graduates’ skills align to those sought by employers. These new apprenticeships have the potential to widen access to university and enable social mobility, by offering degrees without student debt; but they also challenge HEIs to adapt to various potentially disruptive contexts. National models governing implementation (e.g., establishing skills frameworks, assessment, and funding) differ across the UK nations and Ireland. HEIs’ models for implementation (teaching methods and locations, partnerships with employers) differ across, even within, institutions. Further, apprentices and employers bring diverse backgrounds and situations to their study, especially in work-based learning. This creates the rich landscape for comparative research, which we’ll explore in this workshop.
Following brief presentations of recent research around degree apprenticeships, we’ll work in small groups, themed by stakeholder: apprentice, employer, educational institution. First we’ll focus on themes and phenomena and produce research questions. Then (after a chance to swap groups) we’ll draft potential research studies, framed by our research questions; data; methodologies; and funding. We’ll conclude by harvesting these ideas together and agreeing how to take the network and collaborations forwards.
You’ll gain an overview of the current context for research around degree apprenticeships and a structure for designing studies. We’ll create outlines of potential studies and begin research collaborations.
