Computing in Northamptonshire: May 2016

Sunday 29 May 2016

Computing Student Employability Skills Through STEM Outreach

Enhancing Computing Student Employability Skills Through Partnership Working in STEM Outreach - Springer:

Scott Turner
DOI: 10.1007/978-3-319-29166-6_10

Published in Software Engineering Education Going Agile Part of the series Progress in IS pp 67-71

Abstract

Student volunteering is growing in the UK and elsewhere, and there is an ongoing debate about whether it is really “self-evidently a ‘good thing’” or there is a greater need for reflection to determine whether this statement is true (Holdsworth and Quinn, Studies in Higher Education, 35(1), 113–127, 2010). This paper presents a personal reflection of Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths (STEM) volunteering as a potential route to increasing Computing student’s employability.

References

STEMNet (2015) Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics Network [online] Available at: http://www.stemnet.org.uk/ Accessed on: 24thJanuary 2015

Sinclair J, Allen A, Davis L, Goodchild T, Messenger J, Turner S (2014) "Enhancing student employability skills through partnership working in STEM outreach; the University of Northampton approach " HEA STEM Annual Teaching and Learning Conference 2013: Enhancing the STEM Student Journey, University of Edinburgh, 30th April-1st May 2014

Holdsworth, C., & Quinn, J. (2010). Student volunteering in English higher education. Studies in Higher Education, 35(1), 113–127.CrossRef

Brewis, G., Russell, J., & Holdsworth, C. (2010). Bursting the bubble: Students, volunteering and the community. Research Summary.

Junkbots (2015) Junkbots [online] Available at: http://junkbots.blogspot.co.uk/ Accessed on: 24th January 2015.

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Posting on the site does not imply endorsement in any way, by the blog owner or any organisations the blog owner is associated with.

Review of a Problems-First Approach to First Year Undergraduate Programming

Review of a Problems-First Approach to First Year Undergraduate Programming - Springer:

Gary J. Hill

Published in Software Engineering Education Going Agile Part of the series Progress in IS pp 73-80

DOI 10.1007/978-3-319-29166-6_11

This paper, predominantly discusses the teaching of programming and problem solving to undergraduate first year computing students, using robots/robot simulators and visual programming to emulate the robot tasks. The needs to focus initial programming education on problem solving, prior to the teaching of programming syntax and software design methodology is also considered. The main vehicle for this approach is a robot/robot simulation programmed in Java, followed by the programming of a visual representation/simulation to develop programming skills.

References

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Beaumont, C., & Fox, C.: Learning programming: Enhancing quality through problem-based learning. In: Proceeding of 4th Annual Conference of the subject centre for Information and Computer Sciences of the Higher Education Academy (pp. 90-95). Newtownabbey, Northern Ireland: Higher Education Academy (2003).
2.

Hill G. J., Turner S.: Chapter 7: Problems First. In: Software Industry-Oriented Education Practices and Curriculum Development: Experiences and Lessons, M Hussey, X Xu & B Wu (Eds.), IGI Global, USA, pp 110-126, ISBN: 978-1-60960-797-5 (2011).
3.

Hill, G., Turner, S. J.: Problems first, second and third. In: International Journal of Quality Assurance in Engineering and Technology Education (IJQAETE). 3(3), pp. 88-109. 2155-496X (2014).
4.

Williams, A. B.: The qualitative impact of using Lego Mindstorms robot to teach computer engineering. In: Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineering (IEEE) Transactions on Education, 46, 206 (2003).
5.

Štuikys, V., Burbaitė, R., Damaševičius, R.: Teaching of Computer Science Topics Using Meta-Programming-Based GLOs and LEGO Robots. In: Informatics in Education - An International Journal (Vol12_1), pp125-142 (2013).
6.

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

HEA-ICS Development Fund: HEA-ICS Development Fund [online] Available from: http://www.ics.heacademy.ac.uk/projects/development-fund/index.php[Accessed: February 2015] (2015).
8.

HEA-ICS/Microsoft Innovative Teaching Fund: Developing problem-solving teaching materials based upon Microsoft Robotics Studio [online] Available from: http://www.ics.heacademy.ac.uk/projects/development-fund/fund_details.php?id = 88 [Accessed February 2015] (2015).
9.

Adams, J. P., & Turner, S. J.: Problem Solving and Creativity for Undergraduate Engineers: process or product? In: International Conference on Innovation, Good Practice and Research in Engineering Education July 14-16, 2008, Loughborough, England, Higher Education Academy. 9781904804659 (2008).
10.

Adams, J., Turner, S., Kaczmarczyk, S., Picton, P., & Demian, P.: Problem solving and creativity for undergraduate engineers: Findings of an action research project involving robots. In: International Conference on Engineering Education (ICEE 2008), Budapest, Hungary (2008).
11.

Turner S., Hill G. J.: Robots in Problem-Solving and Programming. In: 8th Annual Conference of the Subject Centre for Information and Computer Sciences, University of Southampton, 28th - 30th August 2007, pp 82-85 ISBN 0-978-0-9552005-7-1 (2007).
12.

Gallopoulos, E., Houstis, E., Rice, J. R.: Computer as Thinker/Doer. In: Problem-Solving Environments for Computational Science, IEEE Computational Science and Engineering pp 11-23 (1994).
13.

Houghton, W.: How can Learning and Teaching Theory assist Engineering Academics? [online] School of Engineering - University of Exeter. Available from: https://www.heacademy.ac.uk/sites/default/files/learning-teaching-theory.pdf [Accessed: November 2015] (2004).
14.

Bloom, B. S. (Ed.): Taxonomy of educational objectives. In: Handbook I: Cognitive domain. White Plains, NY: Longman (1956).
15.

JICC5: Java & the Internet in the Computing Curriculum, Higher Education Academy (HEA) – Information and Computer Sciences (ICS) Conference, South Bank University, London, 22nd Jan, [online] Available from: http://www.ics.heacademy.ac.uk/events/displayevent.php?id=127[Accessed: February 2015] (2001).
16.

Computing Curricula: IEEE CS, ACM Joint Task Force on Computing Curricula, IEEE Computer Society Press and ACM Press. [online] Available from http://www.acm.org/education/curricula.html [Accessed: February, 2015] (2001).
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Koulouri, T., Lauria, S., Macredie, R., D.: Teaching introductory programming: A quantitative evaluation of different approaches. In: ACM Trans. Comput. Educ. 14, 4, Article 26 (December 2014), 28 pages, DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1145/2662412 (2014).
18.

Turner S., Hill G. J.: The Inclusion of Robots Within The Teaching OF Problem Solving: Preliminary Results. In: 7th Annual Conference of the ICS HE Academy, Trinity College, Dublin, 29th - 31st August 2006, Proceedings pg 241-242 ISBN 0-9552005-3-9 (2006).
19.

Turner S., Hill G. J.: Robots within the teaching of Problem-Solving. In: ITALICS, HEA-ICS, Volume 7 Issue 1, June 2008, pp. 108-119, ISSN: 1473-7507 (2008).
20.

Turner S., Hill G. J.: Innovative Use of Robots and Graphical Programming in Software Education. In: Computer Education, Volume 9, May 2010, pp. 54-6, ISSN: 1672-5913 (2010).
21.

Turner S, Hill G, Adams: Robots in problem solving in programming. In: 9th 1-day Teaching of Programming Workshop, University of Bath, 6th April 2009 (2009).
22.

Gold. N.: Motivating Students in Software Engineering Group Projects: An Experience Report. In: Innovation in Teaching and Learning in Information and Computer Sciences 9(1), 10-19. DOI: 10.11120/ital.2010.09010010 (2010).
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Greenfoot: Teach and Learn Java Programming. [online] Available from http://www.greenfoot.org/ [Accessed: February 1, 2015] (2015).
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Microsoft: Microsoft robotics studio [online] Available from: http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/robotics/aa731520.aspx [Accessed: February 2015] (2006).
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Chickering, A. W., Gamson. Z. F.: Seven Principles for Good Practice in Undergraduate Education. In: AAHE Bulletin 39:3-7. ED 282 491.6 pp. MF-01; PC-01 (1987).
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Savin-Baden, M. & Wilkie, K.: (eds) Challenging Research in Problem-based Learning. Maidenhead: Open University Press/SRHE (2004).

To read more go to: Review of a Problems-First Approach to First Year Undergraduate Programming - Springer

'via Blog this'

Posting on the site does not imply endorsement in any way, by the blog owner or any organisations the blog owner is associated with.

If you'd like to find out more about Computing at the University of Northampton go to: www.computing.northampton.ac.uk. All views and opinions are the author's and do not necessarily reflected those of any organisation they are associated with

Tuesday 24 May 2016

University receives over £500,000 worth of technology to enrich students’ learning

Taken from: http://www.northampton.ac.uk/news/500k-technology-donation/

Computing students at the University of Northampton are benefiting from more than £550,000 worth of new cutting-edge hardware and software, which has been donated to the institution by leading players in the technology industry.

The hardware kits, which are widely recognised in both industry and academia, will allow University of Northampton students the opportunity to develop their learning at an industry standard – ensuring that once they graduate they leave University with the skills and experience that employers require.

The hardware and software – which is worth collectively over £553,000 – has been donated by three leading computing organisations: Altera (now part of Intel), ARM, and Texas Instruments.

The donated kit includes two different types of circuit boards; one which supports high-intensity computing applications such as cloud computing, data acquisition and network processing, and another which is suitable for a wide range of exercises in courses on digital logic and computer organisation.

The computing software and hardware that have been donated will be used in research projects and group work to provide students with the knowledge required to design an ‘Internet of Things’ system and/or modern embedded systems applications. The ‘Internet of Things’ concept will mean that every device that can ‘power up’ could potentially be controlled from the internet – either from a PC or smart device, or by using Bluetooth technology.

All of the donations will be embedded into the teaching curriculum and used by students studying Computing (Computer Systems Engineering), and those undertaking postgraduate research at the University.

Dr Michael Opoku Agyeman, Lecturer in Computing, explained: “The kits are well equipped with state-of-the-art technology to cover a wide scope of applications in Computer Systems Engineering. Both our undergraduate and postgraduate research students will benefit from rapid prototype and evaluation of basic to advanced digital world projects in game console design, robotics, home and industrial automation, wearable computing, digital signal processing, reconfigurable computing, digital electronic devices and Very-Large-Scale-Integration circuit design.

“Donations such as these support the University’s mission to transform lives and inspire change.”

The University of Northampton’s Computing (Computer Systems Engineering) degree allows students to study the integral role that effective computer systems play in 21st Century society – from local, small scale systems that may be developed by a single person to make their devices interact; through to larger multi-national companies with employees who need to communicate fast and securely.

Find out more Computer Systems Engineering at the University of Northampton. Computer Science at the University was recently ranked 19th in the United Kingdom, in the 2017 Guardian University Guide.

—

Pictured: Dr Michael Opoku Agyeman, with some of the donated technology.

If you'd like to find out more about Computing at the University of Northampton go to: www.computing.northampton.ac.uk. All views and opinions are the author's and do not necessarily reflected those of any organisation they are associated with

From a talking car to autonomous vacuum cleaners

Taken from: http://www.northampton.ac.uk/news/from-a-talking-car-to-autonomous-vacuum-cleaners-science-fiction-becomes-science-fact-for-dr-kanakis/

Pictured with the autonomous vacuum cleaner are, from left, Hasan Abo Dihin, Mohammed Al-Khafajiy and Dr Triantafyllos Kanakis

When Triantafyllos Kanakis was a child, one of the most popular television shows was Knight Rider, which starred David Hasselhoff as the crime fighter with a talking car for a sidekick.

“His character would talk to his car via his wrist watch,” said the Computing Lecturer, who teaches within the University of Northampton’s School of Science and Technology.

“At the time, that just seemed impossible to me, something you could only imagine. But what was then science fiction, is now science fact, as smart watches and wearable internet-connected devices are becoming commonplace.”

The relentless march of technology presents a huge opportunity for students at the University, who belong to the most tech-savvy generation the world has seen – and Dr Kanakis is helping to prepare them for a future where, seemingly, anything is possible.

“Right now, the Internet of Things (IoT) is a huge concept which, simply put, will mean that every device you can think of that can power up could potentially be controlled from the internet via a PC, laptop, smartphone, and so on.

“Therefore, IoT is the foundation of tomorrow’s smart homes, smart offices, smart cities, smart transport – smart everything.

“There’s so much potential to make life easier and improve our world, from health through to public transport.”

To help Computing undergraduates develop their skills in this area, Dr Kanakis and his colleagues from the University’s Computing Society launched an Internet of Things competition.

It challenged students to devise their own IoT project, build a prototype and pitch it as a high-tech business idea to a Dragons’ Den-style panel – all within a week.

On the panel was Dr Christos Tsotskas, from Catapult Transport Systems, who gave the students an overview of a project he’s working on which would see driver-less pods take to streets of Milton Keynes.

Dr Tsotskas also coordinated an ideas session on the business aspects of a hypothetical IoT project.

The contest saw one team developed the concept for a smart mirror, another devised a way to control lights from a mobile phone, but it was an autonomous vacuum cleaner that cleaned up on the day, taking first place.

Here’s a video of the vacuum cleaner, which was developed by students Hasan Abo Dihin, Mohammed Mohammed and Mohammed Al-Khafajiy:

“In a few years’ time, the Internet of Things will change our lives because almost anything will be able to be controlled by the internet to make life easier,” said Mohammed Al-Khafajiy.

“This competition was excellent – it allowed us to develop an idea, build a prototype and also made us think about how we could pitch our concept to a business.

“These are just the sort of skills we need to develop for our future careers.”

The Internet of Things competition was such a success, the Department of Computing, with the support of the Computing Society, plans to repeat it next academic year.

Pictured with the autonomous vacuum cleaner are, from left, Hasan Abo Dihin, Mohammed Al-Khafajiy and Dr Triantafyllos Kanakis.

Northampton courses Top 20 for Computing

In the recently released Guardian League tables (http://www.theguardian.com/education/ng-interactive/2016/may/23/university-league-tables-2017#S220) the Computing Course at the University of Northampton are in the Top 20 in the UK.

In the top 10 (out of 102) for Satisfied With Teaching

In the top 5 (out of 102) for Satisfied with the Course

Thursday 19 May 2016

Zainab's prize winning poster

Lameness Detection in Sheep Through Behavourial Sensor Data Analysis

Zainab Al-Rubaye

Abstract
Lameness is a clinical symptom of the painful disorder, which refers to the locomotion changes in sheep movement. These unbalanced movements result in a deviation from normal gait or posture. The footrot is considered one of the most significant causes of lameness in sheep in Great Britain due to a bacteria grows in a mud soil which transfer to the sheep foot and cause footrot that leads to lameness. Lameness has a negative impact on both sheep welfare and farm economy. The annual loss from the footrot only is estimated by £6 for each ewe in Great Britain according to the statistics from Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board (AHDB) in 2014. Therefore, preclinical detection of lameness at the farm will increase the level of protection regarding sheep health and farm commerce decline. The newly developed sensor technology utilises the idea of automatically monitoring objects either human or animal to determine the physiological and behavioural indicators, which are subsequently used an input to data analysis algorithms. The automated methods to monitor the farm bring many advantages to the farmer in terms of time spending, flock size increasing and sensitivity to detect the lamenessThe type of the collected data from the sensor used for recording animal’s behaviour depend on the sensor’s features and functionality. The sensor that will be used to conduct this research is immensely accurate and sensitive. It provides 3-aix acceleration, 3-aix angular velocity, 3-aix angles (Roll, Pitch, and Heading), longitude, latitude and time of reading which can be set up according to the demanded accuracy. This study will develop an automated model to early detect lameness in sheep by analysing the data that will be retrieved from a mounted sensor on the sheep neck collar. This extensive spatio-temporal data will be classified to infer the associated behaviour to the lame sheep according to an efficient data mining learning techniques. This model will help the shepherd to early detect the lame sheep to prevent the worse situation of trimming or even culling the sheep.

For more details go to http://nectar.northampton.ac.uk/8311/

Supervisory team:
Dr Ali Al-Sherbaz
Dr Wanda McCormick
Dr Scott Turner

If you'd like to find out more about Computing at the University of Northampton go to: www.computing.northampton.ac.uk. All views and opinions are the author's and do not necessarily reflected those of any organisation they are associated with

Monday 16 May 2016

BCS Bedford: Information Risk In The Real World

Information Risk In The Real World

(We don’t know what we don’t know until we know it)

28^th June 2016

18:00 Registration

18:30 Presentation

19:30 Networking Session

The Park Inn Hotel,

2 St Mary's Street,

Bedford MK42 0AR

(Free Parking at the rear – Inform Hotel Reception)

This is a joint event between BCS Bedford Branch & BCS IRMA

Speaker: John Mitchell, Managing Director, LHS Business Control

Chair of BCS Information Risk Management and Assurance Specialist Group

Event Details: Computer systems are only a model of the real world, in that banking systems do not really hold your money and social media outlets do not really contain your physical body. None-the-less these models are sufficiently important to be viewed as reality by society and the protection of the data they contain is of prime importance to organisations and individuals alike.

So what are risks and how can they be managed, if at all? Changes in technology has had significant impact on the so called control paradigm which has led to significant exposure in how we deal with information risk in the real world. This session will examine the exposures and how they can be managed and will provide a unique insight into the toolkit available to the assurance providers and how the gap between exposure and assurance is being tackled.

Speaker Profile: Dr Mitchell is managing director of LHS Business Control, a consultancy which he founded in 1988 to specialise in corporate governance and risk management. He is an international authority on corporate governance, the control of computer systems, the investigation of computer crime and the impact of regulatory and compliance issues on the delivery of IT services.

John has been an expert witness in a number of high profile UK criminal cases and he has featured in a major British computing publication as The IT Detective. He is a member of BCS Council, a member of the its Audit and Risk Committee and Chair of its Information Risk Management and Assurance specialist group. His doctorate in risk analysis techniques was awarded by City University, London, England. His MBA in financial control was awarded, with distinction, by Middlesex University, England.

Continuing Professional Development

This event counts for two hours towards your (CPD) more information available on CPD www.bcs.org/cpd.

IRMA Meeting Dates for your calendar

12 July, 13 September, 11 October, 8 November (AGM), 13 December. Details: http://www.bcs.org/content/ConWebDoc/18896

Bedford Branch Meeting Dates for your calendar

For details of future Bedford Branch events please go to http://beds.bcs.org/