2001 1

ICT Education Seminar

presented by

Angela CarboneSchool of Information Management and Systems

Monash University

Angela.Carbone@infotech.monash.edu.au

2001 2

Presentation Overview

• A personal teaching journey- ICT Education Issues - Steps towards valuing research in ICT Education

• IT Education Project Team

• Computing Education Research Group (CERG)

• Projects (Small/Medium/Large, Funded/Non-funded)

• Are there rewards for good ICT university teachers?

2001 3

Individual Teaching-Related Projects• Individual Projects

- Advanced Students’ Project Scheme- Identifying Students at Risk (G-SPI)- Mentor Scheme for females- Development of Web-based teaching resources

(CADAL Quiz)• Why?

- Non-funded- Little support/motivation to pursue

“Seek employment with TAFE College they’re interested in teaching issues”

- Responding to student’s need, Intrinsic rewards, changes to class size

1990 Level A, Dept. of CS

2001 4

Valuing Research in ICT Education

• A Common View held- Any effort to improve teaching erodes time spent on

SERIOUS research

• My View- As one can not get high quality computing and

advances without research on computing one can not get high quality teaching without research on learning and teaching in the specific context of the teaching

• Difficulty- Many ICT Educators are unfamiliar with techniques of

educational research and evaluation

2001 5

Perceived Problems in ICT Ed

• In 1994 perceived problem in the teaching and learning of computing/programming

• The main concerns- high failure rates- a low flow of students into higher degrees- a perception of a wide range of teaching skills- Complaints about

“General decline in student quality”

2001 6

IT Education Project

• Dean of IT approached the Dean of Education• Invested $50,000 towards resolving the problem• Basically, the Dean of IT wanted Education

experts to tell academics in IT how to teach• Education project group (Edproj) was formed to

investigate the concern

1994 Formation of Edproj

2001 7

IT Education Project

• Isolated academics in Faculty focused on similar concerns• Educational experts provided IT educators with an

introduction to educational research methodology and evaluation

• Outcome: Small/ Medium Sized Projects- Tutor Training- Development of Web-based teaching resources- Questionable work practices- Anonymous feedback- Investigating characteristics of programming tasks that

might encourage GLBs/PLTs

• Still extrinsic motivation & rewards for educational innovation minimal

1996 – Unsuccessful promotion to Level B

2001 8

Minimal rewards

• Reason for unsuccessful promotion (former Dean of IT)- “The reason is the concern the committee had

for your research potential… There was no question of your teaching ability and initiatives in that direction…. But it was felt that some progress towards a research degree was essential”

• Appointed Dean of IT- “To be promoted based on teaching, you can’t

just be a good teacher you must be an outstanding teacher”

1996 – Enrolled in a PHD Computer Science Education1997 – VC Award for Distinguished Teaching

2001 9

Computing Education Research Group

About CERG- Interested Faculty members led to formation of CERG, 1997- provides a forum for the discussion of state of the art research

in ICT Education- sharing of pedagogical approaches- Main issues in ICT Education - Investigates

• the uses of technology in teaching, • different approaches to teaching computing topics,• Approaches evaluated with the aim of determining their

effectiveness and efficiency in improving the processes of human learning.

- http://cerg.csse.monash.edu.au

2001 10

CERG Resources

• People- About 50 members [10 core players]- Members from every school in the faculty- Members from outside the faculty (Ed, Arts, Eng)

• Needed- Research expertise, statistics and education

• Appointed research fellow 1998• Workshops

- Students• In 1999 2 PhD students, 2 Hons students

- Equipment• Computing equipment, Licenses for SPSS, NVivo

- Local and International Alliances

2001 11

CERG Local Alliances• Within the Faculty of Information Technology

• The Associate Dean Teaching• Facilitated Learning for IT Education (FLITE)

• Within Monash University• Centre for Learning and Teaching Support (CeLTS)• Educational Design Group (EDG)• Higher Education Development Unit (HEDU)• Language and learning Services Unit (LLS)• Monash University Library• Monash Transition Program• Higher Education Partnerships in Communications and

Information Technology (HEPCIT)• Information Technology Services 

• Outside Monash University• ASCILITE• HERDSA

2001 12

CERG International Alliances

• CSERGI - Computer Science Education Research Groups International is an informal alliance of Computer Science Education Research Groups which aims to enhance the work within each group by the cross-cultural international support of interested colleagues world wide.

• http://www.docs.uu.se/csergi/

• Members are - Computing Education Research Group,

Monash University, Australia - The Centre for Informatics Educational Research,

Open University, UK - Computer Science Education Research Group,

University of Texas at Austin, TX, USA - Computers and Education Research Group,

University of Kent, UK - Computer Science Education Research Group,

Uppsala University, Sweden

2001 13

Main issues include:- Difficulties facing students and staff in achieving

success in teaching and learning of programming- What is the best programming language to teach?- Effective use of emerging technologies- Pedagogy (PBL, Studio-based)- Meeting the needs of employers- Increased class size- Changing student demographics- Low rates of female participation- Prevent increasing incidence of plagiarism- False impressions of ICT- Curriculum development- Assessment Methods- Developing teaching resources

2001 14

Conference Participation

Conference Title  - ACM SIGCSE Symposium- IEEE Conference Advanced learning

Technologies - AACE: ED-MEDIA, SITE, E-Learn(WEBNET)- HERDSA- ICCE/SchoolNet - ITiCSE- ASCILITE  

• CERG held the Australasian Computing Education Conference, Monash University 2000

• Reviewers of research activities

2001 15

CERG Projects/Grants

• 1998 Successful Grants- Monash FITR Grant, to support CERG research fellow

$45,100. 

- Monash FIT’s TIF Grant to support a collaborative project to produce teaching resources for first year programming in Java $50,000. 

- CUTSD Grant, "An Internet Environment for learning Software Testing Processes“ $50,000

1998 – Promotion to Level B1998 – Australian Award for Computing and Information Services ($40,000)1998 – PM Award for University Teacher of the Year ($35,000)1998 – Appointed to Level E (Prof)

2001 16

CERG Grants• 1999 Successful Grants

- Monash SIF Grant, To develop Studio-based Teaching and Learning Model in IT $75,000.

- Monash FITR Grant, Continuation of 1998 grant to employ Research Fellow as a CERG resource $27,575

• 2000 Successful Grants- NCVER Grant, Size and scope of on-line learning in the VET sector,

2000- Aug 2001, CERG will partner Chisholm TAFE and West Coast College of TAFE (WA) in a project researching on-line learning. $70,000 http://wombat.chisholm.vic.edu.au/NCVER

• 2001 Successful Grants- AUTC Grant, Learning Outcomes and Curriculum Development in

Information and Communication Technologies, 2001-2002,

- (yr 2001 - $200,000 + yr 2002 - $100,000)

- http://cerg.csse.monash.edu.au/icted/

• Other grants which CERG members have contributed to- Science Lectureship http://www.webworkforce.org (~$1.5M)

2001 17

Studio–based Teaching and Learning

• Aim- Institute an innovative teaching and learning model

based on a studio approach

• Features- a modern teaching and learning space, - pedagogy

• an integrated curriculum across all core subjects,• collaboration (s-s, s-t, t-t)

- an IT infrastructure designed to support students whether they are within the space or off campus,

- assessment scheme to elicit higher order thinking skills

2001 18

Studio–based T & L Environment

Development and team work Develop critical IT skills

The learning and teaching environment(Studio 1, Studio 2, Studio Café, Meeting Room)

2001 19

Pedagogy

Core

StudioCore Core

Core

First Year

Second Year

Third Year

System design

Practice

Tools and Technology

Studio Manager

1st year studio leader

3rd year studio leader

2nd year studio leader

Practical, Application, Vocational, Development Focus

2001 20

Assessment

• Portfolio Assessment “A purposeful collection of student work that exhibits the

student’s efforts, progress and achievements in one or more areas of the curriculum” (Paulson, Paulson & Meyer)

- Semester 1• 30% Mandatory• 10% Self-selected

- Semester 2• 20% Mandatory• 20% Self-selected

- Exam 20%• Written, oral presentation, an interview

2001 21

IT infrastructure

• IT Infrastructure divided into 4 areas- Network

• Connected to internet, SIMS network and university student network

• Citrix Metaframe (thin client) environment• RF network (range 45m, run at 11Mbps)

- Hardware/Software• Windows 2000, Macintosh 0S9

- Peripherals• Digital cameras, desktop video conferencing cameras, zip drives,

scanners, data projector- Electronic Community

• Threaded discussion Area• Video and audio communications(NetMeeting)• CADAL Quiz• All lecture notes, exercises PDF• Other software

2001 22

Studio–based Teaching and Learning

• Evaluation Methodology- Pilot Project 2000- Full implementation 2001- Student/Staff Quantitative Questionnaires- Qualitative data - Reflective Portfolios

2001 23

Evaluating Studio Model

• The Physical Space• Rated high in terms of its comfort level and as a learning

space• ‘Studio café is a bit too small, most of the time it is so full

you hardly get a space to sit’

• IT tools and Infrastructure• Frustrated with software crashing, login process• High access on studio Website• Students wanted lecturers to answer all questions posted

on threaded discussion• Appreciation of loan equipment• Few commented on need for one computer per person.

2001 24

Evaluating the Studio Model

• Teaching and Learning Philosophy• “Studio subject was the only subject I could not really

understand its purpose” [Semester 1]• “I liked the way the studio incorporated and related the

learning areas of other core subjects of BIMS. This makes it seems that the subjects are not so separated but related and hence easier to understand and apply skills” [Semester 2]

• Portfolio Assessment• Preparation was time-demanding• Students wanted to be told what to hand in• Students didn’t appreciate opportunities for creative

freedom – thought this was a lack of organisation of the subject

• By semester 2, significant differences were found- students found it easier to decide what items to submit and easier to organize portfolio

2001 25

AUTC Project Aim

Learning Outcomes and Curriculum Development in Information and Communication Technologies, 2001-2002, funded by Australian Universities Teaching Committee

- Purpose • to investigate the ways that teaching and learning have

been approached in the major disciplines of information and communication technology (ICT) with a view to making recommendations about the promotion of innovation and good practice

- Reference group / Steering Committee

- http://cerg.csse.monash.edu.au/icted/

2001 26

AUTC Project

• Research Methodology• Quantitative questionnaire used to investigate employers’

views about university ICT graduates. • Interviews used to investigate ICT graduates’ views on their

courses. • Literature survey

• to investigate methods for assessing students’ satisfaction with their courses and for the evaluation of teaching.

• Qualitative data gathered from mini-conference discussions to investigate ICT educators’ views of educational innovation and the dissemination of good practice, and on current teaching and learning initiatives.

• Findings• University-Industry Interface• Educational Innovation and dissemination• Educational Evaluation

2001 27

University-Industry Interface

Findings- Employers generally satisfied with their ICT graduates. - In terms of curriculum development, ICT sector is subject

to the vagaries of changing technologies, ideas and fashions.

- Of respondents who employed recent ICT graduates many were in contact with ICT departments

• 48% providing industrial experience

• 22% for course or subject advisory committees,

• 25% for R&D,

• 24% for consulting.

- Little research has been published on ICT graduates’ experiences and attitudes after they have entered the workforce.

- Existing info not very useful in terms of curriculum development and educational innovation.

2001 28

Educational Innovation and dissemination• Findings

- 83 participants reporting a teaching initiative responding to

• students’ learning needs, problems arising due to reduced resources, increased student numbers, more diverse student populations, the changing needs of employers.

- ICT educators perceive extrinsic motivation and reward for educational innovations to be minimal.

- ICT educators perceive tension between demands of students and the skills and knowledge they believe necessary for students to be ICT professionals and life-long learners.

- A range of factors are viewed as inhibiting ICT educators’ ability to generate and to disseminate educational innovations

2001 29

Educational Evaluation• Findings

- Methods used to assess students’ satisfaction with their courses are inadequate for the purpose of continuous improvement.

- On the whole, ICT educators are unfamiliar with the principles and techniques of educational research and evaluation methods, impairing efforts to improve and to disseminate teaching and learning initiatives.

- Most initiatives reported were formally evaluated; however, a large proportion relied on standard student feedback questionnaires and not motivated towards or skilled in the pursuit of other methods.

- Educational evaluation and dissemination activities very low priority in ICT departments. Consequently, difficulty demonstrating that their teaching activities are innovative.

2001 30

AUTC Project Recommendations

• List of recommendations include:- Improving interactions with outside world- Ways of supporting educational innovation and

dissemination- Ways of encouraging educational evaluation

- Executive Summary Report (Avail Fri 30th Nov 2001)- http://cerg.csse.monash.edu.au/icted/execsum.html

2001 31

AUTC Project

• Stage 2, 2002• Dissemination and building resources

- Conduct a series of curriculum and staff development workshops/seminars around the country

- Develop a Web-based resource centre- Promote and develop evaluation skills

amongst staff to support independent activity

2001 32

Are there rewards for good teaching?

• My personal view.- No!

- But we are moving to a system which provides rewards for a combination of good teaching and research on educational issues in the ICT discipline!

2001 33

Rewards in ICT Education

• 1997 Awarded Vice Chancellor’s Award for Distinguished Teaching, 1997 ($5,000)

• 1998 Recipient of Australian Award for University Teaching ($40,000)

• 1998 Prime Minister’s Award for University Teacher of the Year ($35,000)

• 1999 Professorship

2001 34

Contact Details

Angela Carbone

School of Information Management and Systems

Faculty of IT, Monash University

Ph 61 3 9903 1911

Mob 0407 886 791

Email angela.Carbone@sims.monash.edu.au

URL http://www.sims.monash.edu.au/Staff/Angela