Geeks and nerds : computers, gender and the mathematics classroom

This paper presents some of the findings of a pilot study concerning gender differences in behaviour in a Year 10 co- educational secondary mathematics classroom that used computers. Analysis of interactions between students and the teacher and engagement with the task, the computer and the mathematics suggest some evidence of gender difference. A number of factors were hypothesised as relating to behaviour and this paper discusses the preliminary findings in relation to students' experience with computers and their style of interaction with computers.

Computers are taking mathematics into the next century : gender differences in attitudes of secondary mathematics students to the use of computers

Secondary students who participated in a computer enhanced mathematics program expressed positive attitudes about the use of computers. They viewed computers as a source of pleasure, success, relevance and/or power in mathematics. Girls were more likely than boys to qualify their support for the use of computers and more likely to view computers as a source of success in mathematics. Boys were more likely to claim that computers brought pleasure or relevance to mathematics learning.

The use of laptop computers in programming lectures

This research explores the effect of the use of laptop computers on students’ learning experiences during lectures. Our methodology involves embedding laptops with visualization software as a learning aid during lectures. We then employ a framework of seven principles of good practice in higher education to evaluate the impact of the use of laptop computers on the learning experience of computer programming students. Overall, we found that students were highly motivated and supportive of this innovative use of laptop computers with lectures.

A review of the current status of mobile apps in education - implication for emerging countries business education strategies

Mobile applications (in short: mobile apps) are software applications designed to run on mobile devices such as smart phones and tablet computers. These technologies have come a long way since the opening of the Apple App Store in 2008, especially in their applications for business, information, communication, health and gaming. Most mobile devices are capable of processing and disseminating information in an efficient way. Smart devices, such as the iPhone or iPad, are equipped with innovative functionalities and unique features for easy delivery of content, information sharing, and collaborative work over the Internet. This is the basis for the use of these technologies in the education industry.

Looking outside: What can be learnt from computing education around the world?

There is a growing awareness of the importance of including computing education in the curriculum of secondary schools in countries like the United States of America, the United Kingdom, New Zealand, and South Korea. Consequently, we have seen serious efforts to introduce computing education to the core curriculum and/or to improve it. Recent reports (such as Wilson et al. 2010; Hubwieser et al. 2011) reveal that computing education faces problems regarding its lack of exposure as well as a lack of motivators for students to follow this line of study. Although students use computers for many tasks both at home and at school, many of them never quite understand what computer science is and how it relates to algorithmic thinking and problem solving. This panel will bring together leaders in computing education from Australia, Germany, Greece, Israel and Norway to describe the state of computing education in each of their countries. Issues raised will include how high school computer education is conducted in that country, how teachers are skilled /accredited, the challenges that are being faced today and how these challenges are being addressed. Panellists will suggest lessons other countries may find of value from their way of doing things. An important issue is how to recruit female students in to computer education at high school level and how to encourage them to continue in the discipline to university. The problem is exacerbated because computer education is still not included as a compulsory subject in the regular curriculum of high schools in all of these countries.

Using technology to teach technology: design and evaluation of bilingual online physician education about electronic medical records.

The "EMR Tutorial" is designed to be a bilingual online physician education environment about electronic medical records. After iterative assessment and redesign, the tutorial was tested in two groups: U.S. physicians and Mexican medical students. Split-plot ANOVA revealed significantly different pre-test scores in the two groups, significant cognitive gains for the two groups overall, and no significant difference in the gains made by the two groups. Users rated the module positively on a satisfaction questionnaire.

News in engineering education in Spain effective from 2010 in presence of external changes and mixed crisis, looking mostly to agro and civil engineers.

The engineering careers models were diverse in Europe, and are adopting now in Spain the Bolonia process for European Universities. Separated from older Universities, that are in part technically active, Civil Engineering (Caminos, Canales y Puertos) started at end of 18th century in Spain adopting the French models of Upper Schools for state civil servants with exam at entry. After 1800 intense wars, to conserve forest regions Ingenieros de Montes appeared as Upper School, and in 1855 also the Ingenieros Agrónomos to push up related techniques and practices. Other Engineers appeared as Upper Schools but more towards private factories. These ES got all adapted Lower Schools of Ingeniero Tecnico. Recently both grew much in number and evolved, linked also to recognized Professions. Spanish society, into European Community, evolved across year 2000, in part highly well, but with severe discordances, that caused severe youth unemployment with 2008-2011 crisis. With Bolonia process high formal changes step in from 2010-11, accepted with intense adaptation. The Lower Schools are changing towards the Upper Schools, and both that have shifted since 2010-11 various 4-years careers (Grado), some included into the precedent Professions, and diverse Masters. Acceptation of them to get students has started relatively well, and will evolve, and acceptation of new grades for employment in Spain, Europe or outside will be essential. Each Grado has now quite rigid curricula and programs, MOODLE was introduced to connect pupils, some specific uses of Personal Computers are taught in each subject. Escuela de Agronomos centre, reorganized with its old name in its precedent buildings at entrance of Campus Moncloa, offers Grados of Agronomic Engineering and Science for various public and private activities for agriculture, Alimentary Engineering for alimentary activities and control, Agro-Environmental Engineering more related to environment activities, and in part Biotechnology also in laboratories in Campus Monte-Gancedo for Biotechnology of Plants and Computational Biotechnology. Curricula include Basics, Engineering, Practices, Visits, English, ?project of end of career?, Stays. Some masters will conduce to specific professional diploma, list includes now Agro-Engineering, Agro-Forestal Biotechnology, Agro and Natural Resources Economy, Complex Physical Systems, Gardening and Landscaping, Rural Genie, Phytogenetic Resources, Plant Genetic Resources, Environmental Technology for Sustainable Agriculture, Technology for Human Development and Cooperation.

Evaluation of hybrid and distance education learning environments in Spain

This article describes the adaptation and validation of the Distance Education Learning Environments Survey (DELES) for use in investigating the qualities found in distance and hybrid education psycho-social learning environments in Spain. As Europe moves toward post-secondary student mobility, equanimity in access to higher education, and more standardised degree programs across the European Higher Education Area (EHEA) the need for a high quality method for continually assessing the excellence of distance and hybrid learning environments has arisen. This study outlines how the English language DELES was adapted into the new Spanish-Distance Education Learning Environments Survey (S-DELES) for use with a Bachelor of Psychology and Criminology degree program offering both distance and hybrid education classes. We present the relationships between psycho-social learning environment perceptions and those of student affect. We also present the asynchronous aspects of the environment, scale means, and a comparison between the perceptions of distance education students and their hybrid education counterparts that inform the university about the baseline health of the information and communication technologies (ICT) environment within which the study was conducted.

ConfChem Conference on A Virtual Colloquium to Sustain and Celebrate IYC 2011 Initiatives in Global Chemical Education—The Global Experiment of the IYC2011: Creating Online Communities for Education and Science

The Global Experiment, Water: A Chemical Solution, was one of the flagship activities of the International Year of Chemistry (IYC). During the virtual colloquium of the spring 2012 online ConfChem conference, the main results of this year-long experiment were presented and discussed online for a week. Some of the main conclusions of the virtual conversations relate to the benefits of creating online communities of people sharing similar interests, the use of online educational platforms to gather massive amounts of data, and specific questions about the development of this IYC initiative. The activities of the global water experiment (GWE) were designed by a team of experts and the protocols are available online on the GWE Web site. The results were shown in one interactive world map that allowed students to learn about data visualization, validation, and interpretation. The feedback obtained from the participants of the GWE and later by the contributors of the virtual colloquium was very positive. Many participants asked specific and technical questions about the development of this experiment, while others excitedly endorsed the convenience of these large open-access activities to promote chemistry worldwide. The estimate is that over 2 million people took part in the GWE during the IYC. This communication summarizes one of the invited papers to the ConfChem online conference: A Virtual Colloquium to Sustain and Celebrate IYC 2011 Initiatives in Global Chemical Education, held from May 18 to June 29, 2012 and hosted by the ACS DivCHED Committee on Computers in Chemical Education and the IUPAC Committee on Chemistry Education.

Bibliography on the use of IBM machines in sciences, statistics, and education.

Mode of access: Internet.

The design of an economically viable large-scale computer based education system /

"February, 1969"

Computer access in higher education for students with disabilities : a practical guide to the selection and use of adapted computer technology /

Mode of access: Internet.

Problem-based learning: a case study in providing e-health education using the Internet

The current trend among many universities is to increase the number of courses available online. However, there are fundamental problems in transferring traditional education courses to virtual formats. Delivering current curricula in an online format does not assist in overcoming the negative effects on student motivation which are inherent in providing information passively. Using problem-based learning (PBL) online is a method by which computers can become a tool to encourage active learning among students. The delivery of curricula via goal-based scenarios allows students to learn at different rates and can successfully shift online learning from memorization to discovery. This paper reports on a Web-based e-health course that has been delivered via PBL for the past 12 months. Thirty distance-learning students undertook postgraduate courses in e-health delivered via the Internet (asynchronous communication). Data collected via online student surveys indicated that the PBL format was both flexible and interesting. PBL has the potential to increase the quality of the educational experience of students in online environments.