Computing in Northamptonshire: HEA

Dr Tina Wilson, Visiting Fellow with STRiPe (Science and Technology Research in Pedagogy) has recently had a paper published at the STEM Annual Conference 2012 at Imperial College and The Royal Geographical Society London

Abstract

The general objective of this overall work is to propose a methodology for the creation of language-neutral multimedia materials (without audio or text), which can be directly embedded in STEM courses in any language. The overall design of this project was discussed in [1]

The design was based on four stages: 1) a very explicit design of the course, mainly on the dependence of the concepts, using Compendium, 2) the careful selection of icons for some key concepts, 3) the generation of short interrelated animations, which try to identify a suitable graphic language (with both formal syntax and semantics), 4) the proposal of metadata, some internal to each animation and other external, to interrelate them. The final export of this educational package would consist of animations and their metadata, which would help facilitate re-use, and embedding within other courses.

In this paper we focus on the third stage. In the types of short animations discussed, we detected two complementary vocabularies. The first one labels the intentionality of certain scenes: presentation of a formal definition, presentation of positive examples and negative examples. The
second marks the dependence of the concepts and their construction process: for example, if one is a specialization of a previous one, or if you are graphically emphasizing the use of a universal or existential quantification at that point in the construction of the concept.

At this stage, as the ultimate goal, we hope to achieve a semi-automatic process of generating animations. From the definition of first order logic of a concept (or other less formal descriptions), through the graphic language that is being investigated. This is a goal to be achieved. But we trust
that this contributes to the creation and reuse of materials in the STEM area beyond existing language barriers.

[1] J.L. Fernández-Vindel, and T. Wilson (2011). Multilingual media components directly embeddable
in open educational resources in science and technology. International Conference on Education,
Research and Innovation - ICERI 2011 14-16th November 2011, Madrid, Spain.

Paper can be found at: http://www.heacademy.ac.uk/assets/documents/stem-conference/Computing1/Jos%C3%A9-Luis_Fern%C3%A1ndez-Vindel_Tina_Wilson.pdf

Taken from: The Higher Education Academy Computing Update by Dr. Mark Ratcliffe

News

1. Workshops for 2012/13

I’m sorry it has taken so long to get the workshop programme sorted for next year but at last we have a better idea of what will happen. There will now be a closed call for discipline specific workshops from which we hope to fund three Computing workshops at £750 (for the host institution). I then hope to be able to invite at least another 7 “master class” workshops organised in a similar fashion to last year’s workshop & seminar series. To cover the costs of catering, we will this year need to charge for attendance. To make things a little easier for host institutions, registrations for all HEA events will be organised by through the HEA website.

2. STEM Annual Learning and Teaching Conference 2013: where practice and pedagogy meet

Following the success of this year’s conference, our next conference will be held at the University of Birmingham on 17 – 18 April 2013. The call for full papers, posters and workshops will be made in early September with full papers due by 21 November 2012.

3. New to Teaching

Following a very successful STEM “new to teaching” event held in Birmingham earlier this summer, I am now planning for a similar discipline specific event next summer. If your institution would like to host such an event for approximately 20 people, please let me know. The HEA will cover the full cost of this one-day event.

4. An update on Special Interest Groups

Earlier this summer we launched two very popular special interest groups:

• “Innovation in teaching programming for better student retention, progression and achievement”. If you are interested in joining this group, please contact Quan Dang at q.dang@londonmet.ac.uk

• “Contract Cheating”. To find out more, please contact Thomas Lancaster at Thomas.Lancaster@bcu.ac.uk

Events: Workshops for 2012/13

5. 8th Annual Teaching Computer Forensics Workshop, University of Sunderland, Date: 29th November 2012: First Call for Papers

Abstracts for this workshop are now invited and should be submitted to Alastair.irons@sunderland.ac.uk by Friday 19th October 2012. Abstract should be 300 – 500 words long and should include title of paper, author’s name, author’s affiliation and email address.

Notification of acceptance will be provided by 31st October 2012.

Workshop themes to include

• New challenges and opportunities in computer forensics
• Development of computer forensics as a discipline
• Challenges in teaching computer forensics
• Assessing computer forensics practical skills
• Structure of computer forensics programmes
• Computer forensics curriculum
• Teaching technical issues in computer forensics (hardware and software)
• Development of case material in computer forensics
• Cloud forensics
• Accreditation and professional bodies
• Professional standards
• Research in computer forensics
• Employability in computer forensics
• Collaboration between universities and practitioners

Cost for this workshop is:
£50 (from HEA subscribed institutions) £85 (others)

There will shortly be a link to book onto this workshop through the Higher Education Academy STEM website.
Please note that for all of the above you can apply for assistance in travelling at http://www.heacademy.ac.uk/travel-fund

Past Events: Workshop Resources

6. HEA STEM: Embedding Self and Peer Assessment and Feedback in Practice - A Principles-Based and Technology-Enabled Approach.
University of Ulster. Date: 9 March 2012.
Contact: Luke Chen l.chen@ulster.ac.uk

7. HEA STEM: Creating a positive and workable future for UK games and animation courses: industry and education perspectives.
University of Greenwich. Date: 2 April 2012.
Contact: Ryan Flynn r.d.flynn@greenwich.ac.uk

8. HEA STEM: I3 - Inquiry, Independence and Information.
Using IBL to Encourage Independent Learning in IT Students.
Date: 19 April 2012. University of Salford
Contact: Maria Kutar m.kutar@salford.ac.uk

9. HEA STEM: Mobile Application Development: from curriculum design to graduate employability.
Date: 15 May 2012. The University of Buckingham
Contact: Harin Sellahewa harin.sellahewa@buckingham.ac.uk

10. HEA STEM: Teaching Cyber Security within the Higher Education Sector (Computing)
University of Warwick. Date: 17 May 2012.
Contact: Harjinder Lallie h.s.lallie@warwick.ac.uk

11. HEA STEM: Teaching Agile Software Development
University of Central Lancashire. Date: 24 May 2012.
Contact: Katie Taylor kjtaylor@uclan.ac.uk

12. Enhancing The Employability Of Computing Students Through A Professional Online Presence
Birmingham City University. Date: 8 June 2012.
Contact: Thomas Lancaster thomas.lancaster@bcu.ac.uk

13. HEA STEM (Computing): Teaching and Learning Programming for Mobile and tablet devices
London Metropolitan University. Date: 15 June 2012.
Contact: Yanguo Jing y.jing@londonmet.ac.uk

14. HEA STEM: MAKING IT WORK - An innovative approach to Work Based Learning
University of West of Scotland, Glasgow. Date: 20 June 2012.
Contact: Tom Caira tom.caira@uws.ac.uk

15. Employer Engagement in a Digital Age - 10th annual Academic Practice and Technology Conference
University of Greenwich. Date 4 July 2012
Contact: Simon Walker S.Walker@gre.ac.uk

16. Teaching, Learning and Assessment in Databases
University of Hertfordshire. Date 9 July 2012.
Contact: Petra Leimich p.leimich@abertay.ac.uk

Publications, resources and funding

17. Teaching Development Grants

The HEA has now launched our next phase of the Teaching Development Grants (TDGs). TDGs are a core part of the HEA’s work to build up an evidence base for the sector around what works in learning and teaching. Grants are awarded through a bidding process to individuals, academic departments and collaborative teams within higher education institutions that subscribe to the HEA.

Departmental Grant Scheme – call begins 28 August

The Departmental grant scheme invites proposals from single departments in HEIs that encourage cooperation between colleagues to support the enhancement of learning and teaching.
Successful applications will demonstrate team impact across a department; there will be scope for long-term impact, and provision for evaluation and dissemination will be clearly defined. The hosting institution will be expected to contribute funds towards the project.
Applications are invited from any academic departments in HEA-subscribing institutions in England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales.
Proposals submitted under the Departmental scheme may request up to £30,000 from the Higher Education Academy. Projects will run for fifteen months.
The key themes for the 2012/13 round are assessment and feedback and flexible learning. 75 per cent of funding will be allocated to projects in these two thematic areas. 25 per cent of funding will be dedicated to an open call for innovative pedagogic projects. These projects could build on previous pedagogic work, or they could seek to develop a new area of work entirely.
Call opens – Tuesday 28 August 2012
Deadline for submissions – 5:00pm on Thursday 27 September 2012

18. HEA UK travel fund

The HEA’s UK travel fund enables staff and students in UK higher education to exchange and disseminate good practice in learning, teaching and assessment and engage with their peers. The funding may be used to help the applicant(s) attend conferences, network meetings and special interest groups that are being run in the UK.

Please note that applications must now be made at least one month prior to the event. Applicants may be awarded only one travel grant per academic year. The funding available is subject to a maximum of £300 per individual for travel, accommodation, event feeds and subsistence.
Funding is available to support applications for three activity streams:
• Students participating in learning and teaching events;
• Staff presenting papers on learning and teaching practice;
• Staff travelling across a national border within the UK to attend a teaching and learning event.
This is an open call running throughout the academic year. Full details can be found at http://www.heacademy.ac.uk/funding.

Other information – supplied for dissemination

I would like to draw your attention to the recent launch of the Royal Institution’s video channel:

The Royal Institution (Ri) Channel showcases the best STEM videos from across the web. Stay up to date with the latest inspirational videos or catch up with the Royal Institution’s classic Christmas Lectures and event highlights. View the website at http://richannel.org

Computing in Northamptonshire

Sunday, 2 September 2012

A diagrammatic language to build and share STEM teaching narratives

Monday, 6 August 2012

Higher Education Academy Computing Update