Education in Computer Science and the Role of the Teacher in the Environment of Open Educational Resources

Report published in the Proceedings of the National Conference on "Education in the Information Society", Plovdiv, May, 2013

Programming Paradigms in Computer Science Education

Main styles, or paradigms of programming – imperative, functional, logic, and object-oriented – are shortly described and compared, and corresponding programming techniques are outlined. Programming languages are classified in accordance with the main style and techniques supported. It is argued that profound education in computer science should include learning base programming techniques of all main programming paradigms.

Methodology for Training Teachers in Basic and Specific Computer Skills

This article describes methodology for training teachers in Maths, Physics, Astronomy and Professional subjects in basic and specific computer skills.

Distance Learning Education of Software Engineering: Principles and Experiences

Whether distance learning spells the end of traditional campuses, as some maintain, or whether distance learning instead represents a powerful addition to a growing array of delivery options for higher education, its impact on higher education is great and growing. Distance learning is creating alternative models of teaching and learning, new job descriptions for faculty, and new types of higher education providers. The advent of Distance and Distributed Learning has raised numerous questions about quality and quality assurance: ² How do established distance learning institutions ensure quality? ² What more needs to be done? ² How do quality assurance agencies view the distinction between on- and off-campus teaching and learning? This talk discusses these issues from the viewpoints of funding organisa- tion, quality assurance agencies and the learners.

In memoriam: Dimitar Shishkov

Bulgarian and world computer science lost a prominent colleague: Dimitar Petrov Shishkov 22th January 1939, Varna – 8th March 2004, Sofia D. Shishkov graduated mathematics at Sofia University in 1962. In the last year of his studies he started a specialization as a programmer at the Joint Institute of Nuclear Research – Dubna which lasted three years. Then he worked at the Institute of Mathematics for two years. In 1966 D. Shishkov together with a group of experts transferred to the newly created Central Laboratory for Information Technologies. In 1976 he defended his PhD dissertation. He has been an associate professor in computer science at Sofia University since 1985 and a professor in computer science since 2000. His scientific interests and results were in the fields of computer architectures, computational linguistics, artificial intelligence, numerical methods, data structures, etc. He was remarkable with his teaching activities. D. Shishkov was the creator of high-quality software for the first Bulgarian electronic calculator “ELKA” – one of the first calculators in the world as well as for the series of next calculators and for specialized minicomputers. He was the initiator of the international project “Computerization of the natural languages”. He was a member of a range of international scientific organizations. Among his numerous activities was the organization of the I-st Programming competition in 1979. D. Shishkov was the initiator of sport dancing in Bulgaria (1967) and founder of the first sport-dancing high school education in the world. D. Shishkov was a highly accomplished person with a diversity of interests, with a developed social responsibility and accuracy in his work. In 1996 D. Shishkov was awarded with the International Prize ITHEA for outstanding achievements in the field of Information Theories and Applications. We are grateful to D. Shishkov for the chance to work together with him for establishment and development of IJ ITA.

Mathematica Balkanica New Series Book Volume 24 2010

Muharem Avdispahic 1 Coordinator of the TEMPUS Project SEE Doctoral Studies in Mathematical Sciences (144703-TEMPUS-2008-BA-TEMPUS-JPCR) The main goals of the TEMPUS Project ”SEE Doctoral Studies in Math- ematical Sciences”, funded by European Commission under the TEMPUS IV first call, consist of the development of a model of structured doctoral studies in Mathematical Sciences involving the network of Western Balkans universi- ties, the curricula design based on the existing strenghts and tendencies in the areas of Pure Mathematics, Applied Mathematics and Theoretical Computer Science and the first phase of implementation of the agreed model during the SEE Doctoral Year in Mathematical Sciences 2011. A decisive step in this direction was ”SEE Young Researchers Workshop” held in Ohrid, FYR Macedonia, September 16-20, 2009, as a part of the Math- ematical Society of South-Eastern Europe (MASSEE) International Congress on Mathematics - MICOM 2009. MICOM 2009 continued the tradition of two previous highly successful MASSEE congresses that took place in Bulgaria in 2003 and in Cyprus in 2006. This volume of the journal Mathematika Balkanica contains the talks de- livered at Ohrid Workshop by South-Eastern European PhD students in various stage of their research towards a doctoral degree in mathematics or informat- ics. Facilitating publication efforts of young researchers from the universities of Sarajevo, Tuzla, Belgrade, Skopje, Stip, Graz, and Sofia fully coincides with MASSEE goals to promote, organize and support scientific, research and edu- cational activities in South-Eastern Europe. The consent of the Editorial Board of Mathematica Balkanica to publish ”SEE Young Researchers Workshop” contributions aptly meets intentions of European reform processes aimed at creating the European Higher Education Area and European Research Area. It is an encouragement to these young researchers in the first place and at the same time an encouragement to their institutions in overcoming fragmentation and enhancing their capacities through fostering reciprocal development of human resources.