Friday 24 August 2012

STEM conference 2012: Computing


STEM Annual Conference 2012

  • Date: 12 Apr 2012 - 13 Apr 2012
  • Location/venue: Imperial College and The Royal Geographical Society London , England, SW7 2AZ Proceedings - ISBN 978-1-907207-45-7

Papers relating to computing



Euro-Inf certification Prof Roland Ibbet
[For presentation slides click here (PDF, 896 KB)]
Computing: Supporting Excellence in STEM Dr Tom Crick
[For presentation slides click here (PDF, 668 KB)]
Employability of Computing Graduates - Generating a Stakeholder Perspective Workshop by Mr John Walton
Supporting Industrial Experience Students Workshop by Ms Claire Revell & Ms Jane Reid
[For presentation slides click here (pptx, 80 KB)]
Embedding Employability Attributes into the 1st year Curriculum Workshop by Dr Paula Bernaschina & Serengul Smith
Using LinkedIn To Enhance Employability Prospects For Computing Students Workshop by Dr Thomas Lancaster
[For presentation slides click here (pptx, 2.20 MB)]



General teaching and learning in STEM subjects papers:

STEM conference 2012: Geography and Environmental Science


STEM Annual Conference 2012

  • Date: 12 Apr 2012 - 13 Apr 2012
  • Location/venue: Imperial College and The Royal Geographical Society London , England, SW7 2AZ Proceedings - ISBN 978-1-907207-45-7
All papers can be found at: http://www.heacademy.ac.uk/events/detail/2012/academyevents/STEM_annual_conf

Papers for Geography and Environmental Sciences

STEM conference: Engineering



STEM Annual Conference 2012

  • Date: 12 Apr 2012 - 13 Apr 2012
  • Location/venue: Imperial College and The Royal Geographical Society London , England, SW7 2AZ Proceedings - ISBN 978-1-907207-45-7
Papers relating to engineering



General teaching and learning in STEM subjects papers:

Thursday 23 August 2012

HEA STEM: Annual Learning and Teaching Conference 2013: Call for papers


Taken from: http://www.heacademy.ac.uk/events/detail/2012/17_18_Apr_HEA_STEM_2013_Conf_Bham 

HEA STEM: Annual Learning and Teaching Conference 2013: Where practice and pedagogy meet

  • Date: 17 Apr 2013 - 18 Apr 2013
  • Location/venue: University of Birmingham

Call for papers

The Higher Education Academy's second annual learning and teaching STEM conference entitled “Where practice and pedagogy meet” will take place on 17-18 April 2013 at The University of Birmingham.
Higher education has changed dramatically over the past ten years with advances in technology, the changing expectations of students, growing diversity and the increasing variety of higher education institutions. This conference aims to disseminate evidence based, effective practice and to examine how this impacts on STEM disciplines.
The Conference will explore the relationship between pedagogy and practice across the full range of HEA STEM disciplines (see below for the full list of HEA STEM disciplines).
Areas for consideration at the conference will include, but are not limited to;
• Improving the employability skills of STEM graduates;
• Innovative approaches to teaching and assessing large classes;
• Giving effective feedback to students;
• Growing diversity in the student population;
• Practices in peer mentoring;
• Impact of information technology in learning and teaching;
• Students as partners.
Important dates/deadlines:
1 September 2012 - call for, full papers, abstracts for oral presentations, abstracts for posters and workshops submissions;
21 November 2012 - deadline for the submission of full papers, abstracts for posters and workshops;
17 February 2013 - deadline for the submission of camera-ready papers;
1 March 2013 - at least one presenting author must be registered.
Review process
The HEA STEM Conference Committee is responsible for handling the review process for the conference. The Conference Committee consists of an Editor-in-Chief (Conference Committee chair), nine Editors and external reviewers.
PresentationsPresentations should describe the purpose, methods, and conclusions of your work. We are pleased to accept submissions under 4 options: to present as full papers, as oral presentations, as poster presentations, or as workshops.  (Please note, last year’s conference was hugely popular and the number of presentations we can accept for inclusion in parallel sessions is restricted).
Option 1 - Full paper presentationEach presenter will be allocated 20 minutes to present, including time for questions / discussion. Submissions should occupy no more than 5 A4 pages; accepted papers will be included in the conference proceedings.
Option 2 - Oral presentationEach presenter will be allocated 20 minutes to present, including time for questions / discussion. Submissions should be in the form of an abstract and should be a maximum of 300 words.
Option 3 - Poster presentationPoster sessions at the conference will consist of posters displayed for informal browsing with opportunities for individual discussion with authors. Submissions should be in the form of an abstract and should be a maximum of 300 words.
Option 4 – WorkshopWorkshop sessions will be up to one hour in length. Submissions should include the title of the workshop and the motivation and description of the objectives of the workshop. Submissions must not exceed one A4 page.
Guidelines for submissions are provided in a separate document. Further guidelines will be provided for accepted submissions.
Submissions should be emailed to:Catherine Redfern, Administrator for STEM: catherine.redfern@heacademy.ac.uk
STEM Subjects
Biology, Zoology, Genetics, Microbiology, Molecular Biology, Biophysics and Biochemistry, Others in Biological Sciences, Psychology, Forestry, Food and Beverage studies, Agriculture, Chemistry, Physics and Astronomy, Forensic and Archaeological Science, Geology, Ocean Sciences, Others in Physical Sciences, Human Geography, Physical Geography and Environmental Science, Mathematics and Statistics, Operational Research, Computing, General Engineering, Mechanical, Production and Manufacturing Engineering, Aerospace Engineering, Naval Architecture, Electronic and Electrical Engineering, Civil Engineering, Chemical, Process and Energy Engineering, Others in Engineering, Materials and Minerals Technology, Maritime Technology, Others in Technology, Architecture, Building, Landscape Design, Planning (Urban, Rural and Regional), Others in Architecture, Building and Planning.

Contact email

Tuesday 21 August 2012

HEA STEM events


Taken from: HEA STEM bulletin



1. HEA STEM: Transitions, employability and professional identity: case study in Architecture

Date: 4 Sep 2012
Start Time: 11:00 am
Location/venue: University of Ulster, York Street, Belfast

2. Talent 2030/HEA Young women engineers network event - Sponsored by HEA STEM

Date: 10 Sep 2012
Start Time: 2:00 pm
Location/venue: Lakeside Centre, Aston University, Aston Triangle, Birmingham, B4 7ET
The event will hear presentations from leading figures in industry and higher education, exploring how we can best encourage and support young women to pursue further study and employment in engineering, manufacturing and related fields.

3. HEA STEM: “New to Teaching” Workshop for the Engineering and Materials Disciplines

Date: 13 Sep 2012 - 14 Sep 2012
Start Time: 10:30 am
Location/venue: University of Liverpool

Tuesday 14 August 2012

student work published in journal


A journal paper has been published, with an finalist student from 2011 as one of the co-authors. 

Kariyawasam K., A., Turner S., Hill G. (2012) "Is it Visual? The importance of a Problem Solving Module within a Computing course", Computer Education, Volume 10, Issue 166, May 2012, pp. 5-7, ISSN: 1672-5913.

To avoid potential bias for the work on student experience during a problem-solving module from tutors, also to get honest feedback, the survey data collection and some of the analysis was carried out by an undergraduate computing student (one of the co-authors Kumuditha Achini Kariyawasam) under an URB@N funded project. URB@N stands for 'Undergraduate Research Bursaries at Northampton'. It is a bursary scheme that offers undergraduate students an opportunity to participate in a pedagogic research project taking place at the University of Northampton






ABSTRACT
This paper looks at student’s view of the usefulness of a problem solving and programming module in the first year of a 3-year undergraduate program. The School of Science and Technology, University of Northampton, UK has been investigating, over the last seven years the teaching of problem solving. Including looking at whether a more visual approach has any benefits (the visual programming includes both 2-d and graphical user interfaces). Whilst the authors have discussed the subject problem solving and programming in the past this paper considers the students perspective from research collected/collated by a student researcher under a new initiative within the University.

All students interviewed either had completed the module within the two years of the survey or were completing the problem-solving module in their first year.


Monday 13 August 2012

update: Enhancing the Learner Experience in Higher Education: Call for papers!



Enhancing the Learner Experience in Higher Education (ELEHE): Call for papers!
ELEHE is an open-access international peer-reviewed online journal published by The University of Northampton: http://journals.northampton.ac.uk/index.php/elehe/index
The journal is being re-launched with a new Editorial Team, we are inviting authors to submit articles for publication in the forthcoming Autumn 2012 edition of the journal and we are looking for further papers.
The theme for this edition is “Creative strategies for enhancing the learner experience”. We welcome papers which embrace this theme in flexible ways, incorporating interesting and innovative techniques which have been shown to impact positively on students. In line with the aims and scope of the journal, we seek articles which actively incorporate the student voice.
The journal welcomes 

  • research articles (3000-6000 words) for  articles reporting original pedagogic research focussed on enhancing the learner experience ; 
  • critical case studies (3000-4000 words) for  case studies of institutional practice out of which original conceptualisations of enhancing the student experience  can be considered
  • short reports (up to 2000 words) for  describing work in progress or a smaller piece of innovative work where a regular length paper would not be appropriate
  • book reviews (up to 1000 words).
Details of the journal focus and scope, along with author guidelines can be found at http://journals.northampton.ac.uk/index.php/elehe/about

If you want to discuss ideas about possible articles, or want guidance on preparing your submission, please contact the Editors
Dr Rachel Maunder (Chair of Editorial Team) Rachel.Maunder@northampton.ac.uk
Dr Simon Sneddon (Editor; and Book Reviews Editor) Simon.Sneddon@northampton.ac.uk
Anna Crouch (Editor) Anna.Crouch@northampton.ac.uk
Dr Scott Turner (Editor) Scott.Turner@northampton.ac.uk

The Book Review Section is made possible because of the willingness of professionals to review books. We have a continual need for those interested in providing an occasional book review. If you would be willing to review a book for publication in the Book Review section of ELEHE, please contact the Book Review Editor, Dr Simon Sneddon.


Journal:  http://journals.northampton.ac.uk/index.php/elehe/index

11,000 views and counting

This week the School of Science and Technology at the University of Northampton's teaching and learning  blog exceeded 11, 000 pages views, with it being viewed from many countries (see sample below). The blog was set up for: 

  • member's of the School to disseminate their work (both internally to the school but also externally); 
  • work of the research group - Science and Technology Research in Pedagogy (STRiPe)  based within the school to be more widely disseminated;
  • postings that relate to teaching and learning activities in the school;
  • postings relating to issues and news in teaching and learning outside of the school.


The top ten countries for viewers of the blog are shown below:


Pageviews by Countries
Graph of most popular countries among blog viewers
EntryPageviews
United States
104
France
73
United Kingdom
6
Russia
5
Australia
4
Sweden
4
Germany
3
Indonesia
2
Netherlands
2
Bulgaria
1


The most popular post in the last 30 days are:

Monday 6 August 2012

The Higher Education Academy Computing Update

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