Research-action Methodology between Computer Science and Educational Psychology: a Multidisciplinary Approach

Computer science studies possess a strong multidisciplinary aptitude since most graduates do their professional work outside of a computing environment, in close collaboration with professionals from many different areas. However, the training offered in computer science studies lacks that multidisciplinary factor, focusing more on purely technical aspects. In this paper we present a novel experience where computer studies and educational psychology find a common ground and realistic working through laboratory practices. Specifically, the work enables students of computer science education the development of diagnosis support systems, with artificial intelligence techniques, which could then be used for future educational psychologists. The applications developed by computer science students are the creation of a model for the diagnosis of pervasive developmental disorders (PDD), sometimes also commonly called the autism spectrum disorders (ASD). The complexity of this diagnosis, not only by the exclusive characteristics of every person who suffers from it, but also by the large numbers of variables involved in it, requires very strong and close interdisciplinary participation. This work demonstrates that it is possible to intervene in a curricular perspective, in the university, to promote the development of interpersonal skills. What can be shown, in this way, is a methodology for interdisciplinary practices design and a guide for monitoring and evaluation. The results are very encouraging since we obtained significant differences in academic achievement between students who attended a course using the new methodology and those who did not use it.

Web-based OERs in Computer Networks

Learning and teaching processes are continually changing. Therefore, design of learning technologies has gained interest in educators and educational institutions from secondary school to higher education. This paper describes the successfully use in education of social learning technologies and virtual laboratories designed by the authors, as well as videos developed by the students. These tools, combined with other open educational resources based on a blended-learning methodology, have been employed to teach the subject of Computer Networks. We have verified not only that the application of OERs into the learning process leads to a significantly improvement of the assessments, but also that the combination of several OERs enhances their effectiveness. These results are supported by, firstly, a study of both students’ opinion and students’ behaviour over five academic years, and, secondly, a correlation analysis between the use of OERs and the grades obtained by students.

Computer Networks Virtualization with GNS3: Evaluating a solution to optimize resources and achieve a distance learning

Designing educational resources allow students to modify their learning process. In particular, on-line and downloadable educational resources have been successfully used in engineering education the last years [1]. Usually, these resources are free and accessible from web. In addition, they are designed and developed by lecturers and used by their students. But, they are rarely developed by students in order to be used by other students. In this work-in-progress, lecturers and students are working together to implement educational resources, which can be used by students to improve the learning process of computer networks subject in engineering studies. In particular, network topologies to model LAN (Local Area Network) and MAN (Metropolitan Area Network) are virtualized in order to simulate the behavior of the links and nodes when they are interconnected with different physical and logical design.

Experiences Using an Open Source Sofware Library to Teach Computer Vision Subjects

Machine vision is an important subject in computer science and engineering degrees. For laboratory experimentation, it is desirable to have a complete and easy-to-use tool. In this work we present a Java library, oriented to teaching computer vision. We have designed and built the library from the scratch with enfasis on readability and understanding rather than on efficiency. However, the library can also be used for research purposes. JavaVis is an open source Java library, oriented to the teaching of Computer Vision. It consists of a framework with several features that meet its demands. It has been designed to be easy to use: the user does not have to deal with internal structures or graphical interface, and should the student need to add a new algorithm it can be done simply enough. Once we sketch the library, we focus on the experience the student gets using this library in several computer vision courses. Our main goal is to find out whether the students understand what they are doing, that is, find out how much the library helps the student in grasping the basic concepts of computer vision. In the last four years we have conducted surveys to assess how much the students have improved their skills by using this library.