A new approach to information science, activity theory emphasizes the centrality of practice as doing and activity and foregrounds setting and context as essential orienting concepts. It can provide information science with a rich, unifying, and heuristically valuable vocabulary and conceptual framework that will facilitate the continual…

An approach to the teaching and learning of high school computer science (CS) to and by educationally disadvantaged students (EDS) is described, as well as the implementation of six pedagogical principles in two learning environments developed for Israeli schools. Following a brief description of the main characteristics of EDS classes and a…

Astrobiology is a relatively new field of study in science, one that has found a home in the curriculum of many major universities. It is a multidisciplinary field that draws participants from a range of scientific specialties: geology, physics, chemistry, engineering, computer science, and of course biology and astronomy. At the middle level, it…

The paper presents a study of novice difficulties with range conceptions in loop design. CS2 students were asked to solve four related enumeration tasks, which required various loop boundary specifications. The student solutions varied considerably in conciseness and efficiency. The solution diversity reveals significant differences in range…

This paper describes an exercise in determining the cognitive difficulty of the assessment tasks in six computing courses within an Information Technology (IT) degree, importing Bloom's taxonomy from the field of educational psychology as an analytical framework. Three of the six courses comprise a Programming stream and three a Data…

The research reported here investigates variation in first year university students' early experiences of learning to program, with a particular focus on revealing differences in how they go about learning to program. A phenomenographic research approach was used to reveal variation in how the act of learning to program may be constituted amongst…

The topic of random numbers is investigated in such a way as to illustrate links between mathematics, physics and computer science. First, the generation of random numbers by a classical computer using the linear congruential generator and logistic map is considered. It is noted that these procedures yield only pseudo-random numbers since…

In this research, we examine the design, construction, and implementation of a dynamic, easy to use, feedback mechanism for social software. The tool was integrated into an existing university's online learning community (OLC). In line with constructivist learning models and practical information systems (IS) design, the feedback system provides…

A 1993 study compared trends in the structure of qualifications for occupations related to the installation, management, and maintenance of computer networks in Germany, France, Italy, the Netherlands, Portugal, and the United Kingdom. Staff involved in networks required specialized new skills related to feasibility and design, installation,…

This course curriculum is intended for use by community college instructors and administrators in implementing a data communications networking course. A student course syllabus provides this information: credit hours, catalog description, prerequisites, required text, instructional process, objectives, student evaluation, and class schedule. A…

This manual is the first of three manuals for teaching repair skills to entry-level microcomputer service technicians. Although it focuses on basic computer repair skills, it also highlights the people skills needed by service providers. The manual contains 11 units. Each instructional unit includes some or all of these basic components:…

These student materials--study guides, handouts (some are manuals), a workbook, and programmed texts--for a secondary-postsecondary-level course for communications computer programmer are one of a number of military-developed curriculum packages selected for adaptation to vocational instruction and curriculum development in a civilian setting. A…

A class project in a systems programing course at the University of Michigan sought to produce a system realistic enough to warrant production use, the underlying assumption being that the reality of the project would motivate students and provide them with valuable experience. Eighteen experienced students in the Computerized Registration…

More and more secondary schools are becoming interested in introducing their students to computers and computer concepts. A central problem for such schools, however, is obtaining reliable computer service with capacity for all the students who are interested, but at a cost the school can afford. Although many schools use commercial or small-scale…

Reports on performance aspects of educators' person-environment congruence as defined by Holland's occupational classification system. Concludes that the majority were of the Social, Conventional, or Enterprising types and oriented toward non-classroom use of computer literacy developed in the course. (RT)