Two papers recently presented at the 11th China-Europe International Symposium of Software Engineering Education

Two papers were recently presented at the 11th China-Europe International Symposium of Software Engineering Education, 29-30 April 2015, Zwickau, Germany http://whz-cms-10.zw.fh-zwickau.de/bo/index_CEISEE.html by two members of staff from the School of Science and Technology, University of Northampton.









Paper 1

Review of a problems-first approach to first year undergraduate programming

Gary J. Hill

(Head of Department, Computing and Immersive Technologies, University of Northampton, Northampton, NN2 6JB, UK)

 

ABSTRACT

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. Problem solving is not trivial (Beaumont & Fox, 2003) and is an important skill, central to computing and engineering. The paper aims to summarise the authors earlier research on a problems-first approach to programming (Hill & Turner, 2011, 2014  to further emphasise the importance of problem solving, problem-based learning/project-based learning and the benefits of both physical and visual solutions.

The importance of linking the problem-solving robot activity and the programming assignment, whilst maintaining the visual nature of the problem, will be discussed, together with the comparison of this work with similar work reported by other authors relating to teaching programming using robots (Williams, 2003, Burbaitė et al., 2013).

The approaches discussed have been disseminated to colleagues, not only within the author’s University, but also in Europe and internationally (Kariyawasam, Turner & Hill, 2012, Hill & Turner, 2011, 2014) . Development funding support has also been received from the Higher Education Academy (HEA) – Information & Computer Sciences (ICS) Development Fund (2015a) and the HEA-ICS/Microsoft Innovative Teaching Fund (2015b).

References

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

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

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

Beaumont, C., & Fox, C. (2003). 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.

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

Chickering, A. W., Gamson. Z., F. (1987) "Seven Principles for Good Practice in Undergraduate Education." AAHE Bulletin 39:3-7. ED 282 491.6 pp. MF-01; PC-01.

Computing Curricula. (2001) IEEE CS, ACM Joint Task Force on Computing Curricula, IEEE Computer Society Press and ACM Press. Retrieved January 22, 2015 from http://www.acm.org/education/curricula.html.

Gallopoulos E, Houstis E, Rice JR (1994) Computer as Thinker/Doer: Problem-Solving Environments for Computational Science IEEE Computational Science and Engineering pp 11-23 http://dx.doi.org/10.1109/99.326669

Gold. N., (2010) Motivating Students in Software Engineering Group Projects: An Experience Report. Innovation in Teaching and Learning in Information and Computer Sciences 9(1), 10-19. DOI: 10.11120/ital.2010.09010010 http://dx.doi.org/10.11120/ital.2010.09010010

Greenfoot (2013) Teach and Learn Java Programming. Retrieved August 1, 2013, from http://www.greenfoot.org/

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

HEA-ICS/Microsoft Innovative Teaching Fund (2015b) "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].

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

Hill G. J., Turner S. (2011) "Chapter 7: Problems First", 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.

Houghton, W., (2004) How can Learning and Teaching Theory assist Engineering Academics? [online]. School of Engineering - University of Exeter. Available from: http://www.engsc.ac.uk/er/theory/problemsolving.asp [Accessed November 2007].

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

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.

Microsoft. (2006). Microsoft robotics studio. Retrieved February 14, 2008, from http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/robotics/aa731520.aspx

Savin-Baden, M. & Wilkie, K. (2004) (eds) Challenging Research in Problem-based Learning. Maidenhead: Open University Press/SRHE.

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

Turner S., Hill G. J., (2008) Robots within the teaching of Problem-Solving, ITALICS, HEA-ICS, Volume 7 Issue 1, June 2008, pp. 108-119, ISSN: 1473-7507. http://dx.doi.org/10.11120/ital.2008.07010108

Turner S., Hill G. J., (2007) Robots in Problem-Solving and Programming 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

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

Wing, J. (2006). Computational thinking. Communications of the Association for Computing Machinery, 49(3), 33. http://dx.doi.org/10.1145/1118178.1118215

Gary is also on the International Programme committee (http://whz-cms-10.zw.fh-zwickau.de/bo/CEISEE_ProgComm.html)  and was a panel member of the discussion of Software Engineering Education and Industry



Paper 2

Enhancing computing student employability skills through partnership working in STEM outreach.

Scott Turner, Associate Professor, Department of Computing and Immersive Technologies, University of Northampton, Northampton, NN2 6JB, UK

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, 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.

This paper looks at an approach at the University of Northampton that involves:

• ·         Linking but not combining a local STEM volunteering scheme to the National STEM Volunteers (STEMNet 2015)
• ·         Creation of a STEM Steering Group that has representation across all parts of the university.

Enhancing computing student employability skills through partnership working in STEM outreach. - CEISEE 2015 from Scott Turner

Three brief case studies of computing student volunteers at different stages will be presented and culminate with a personal reflection based on observations over a ten year period.

References

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

Holdsworth, C., & Quinn, J. (2010). Student volunteering in English higher education. Studies in Higher Education, 35(1), 113-127. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/03075070903019856

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

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

Scott is also on the International Programme committee (http://whz-cms-10.zw.fh-zwickau.de/bo/CEISEE_ProgComm.html)  and was a session chair for a paper session.

All views are the authors, and may not reflect the views of any organisation the author is connected with in any way.

STEM Steering Group blog

The STEM Steering group now has a new web presence through the blog: http://mypad.northampton.ac.uk/stem/ 

The STEM Steering Group (SSG) was formed in 2011, made up of staff and students from across the University’s Schools, Professional Services and external partners. 

Its aim is to promote STEM activities, research and partnerships, that contribute to the Raising the Bar strategy and to raise the profile of STEM through public engagement, activities and initiatives.

To find out more go to http://mypad.northampton.ac.uk/stem/ and to get involved email stem@northampton.ac.uk

To find out the work done by the group on employability go to http://apslandt.blogspot.co.uk/2014/05/student-employability-skills-through.html

Sample screenshots from the blog:

To find out more go to http://mypad.northampton.ac.uk/stem/ and to get involved email stem@northampton.ac.uk



Related links

• Junkbots 
• Raspberry Pi Junkbot in Action
• Raspberry Pi in Northampton.

All views are the authors, and may not reflect the views of any organisation the author is connected with in any way.

student employability skills through STEM outreach

Enhancing student employability skills through partnership working in STEM outreach. from Scott Turner

A recent paper was presented by John Sinclair and co-authored by Stuart Allen, Linda Davis-Sinclair, Trish Goodchild, Julie Messenger, and Scott Turner at Northampton Learning and Teaching Conference 2014- Northampton 2018: Planning, Designing and Delivering Student Success about STEM outreach and employability.

Enhancing student employability skills through partnership working in STEM outreach

John Sinclair, Stuart Allen, Linda Davis, Trish Goodchild, Julie Messenger, Scott Turner

Contact details:

john.sinclair@northampton.ac.uk

Abstract:

For over a decade, University of Northampton staff and students have delivered successful STEM outreach activities, master classes and co-working opportunities to learners in schools and FE colleges.  In addition, the University works with the local STEMNET contract holder to gain national recognition for staff and students STEM Ambassadors and recognises STEM Ambassadors through awards (staff and student) as part of its annual celebration of volunteer achievement.  Both developments derive from a culture of empowering students as partners and enhancing the student journey.

The University has developed a co-ordinated programme of training and events to empower students and staff to engage with school and community outreach.  A cross-University STEM Steering Group (SSG) which features both management and grass roots-level representation from the across the University (Science and Technology, Health, Education, the Arts and its Centre for Employability and Engagement) manages the activities, including recruiting representation from the student body.  As such, SSG is uniquely well-placed to champion STEM activities across the University and to make these available to the wider community.  Local schools are able to access inspirational science activities, whilst University students gain employability-related skills in leadership, communication, project-delivery and self-motivation and staff gain valuable CPD.  Students also identify more strongly with the University.  The total package plays a major role in contributing to University aspirations in widening participation and is hugely popular with participants.  This paper will outline the project and will showcase the positive enhancements which it offers to University of Northampton students and school participants.

Some interesting papers from HEA STEM 2013

A selection of some interesting papers from the recently put online Proceedings of the HEA STEM Learning and Teaching Conference 2013:


Catherine Hack: Using Rubrics to Improve Marking Reliability and to Clarify Good Performance. Proceedings of the HEA STEM Learning and Teaching Conference. DOI: 10.11120/stem.hea.2013.0027

Gaye Lightbody and Peter Nicholl: Extending the Concept of the One Minute Paper (OMP) Model. Proceedings of the HEA STEM Learning and Teaching Conference. DOI: 10.11120/stem.hea.2013.0032

Chris Martin, Graeme W. Coleman, and Janet Hughes: Do Student-produced Videos Encourage Critical Reflection among Undergraduate Computing Students?. Proceedings of the HEA STEM Learning and Teaching Conference. DOI: 10.11120/stem.hea.2013.0007 

Michael James Scott and Gheorghita Ghinea: Educating Programmers: A Reflection on Barriers to Deliberate Practice.Proceedings of the HEA STEM Learning and Teaching Conference. DOI: 10.11120/stem.hea.2013.0005

Yongmei Bentley and Shamim Warwick: Students' Experience and Perceptions of Group Assignments. Proceedings of the HEA STEM Learning and Teaching Conference. DOI: 10.11120/stem.hea.2013.0028


These were a few of the papers that got my attention. A full list can be found at: http://journals.heacademy.ac.uk/doi/book/10.11120/stem.hea.2013

GIRLS INSPIRED TO GET INTO SCIENCE

Northampton | Anglia - ITV News: " GIRLS INSPIRED TO GET INTO SCIENCE
Northampton: Teenage girls encouraged to consider a career in science and engineering
They've seen fireballs, heard deafening explosions and heard the personal experiences of one of Britain's most famous female motorbike champions and now they're being encouraged to follow their dreams.

Around 100 14-year-old girls have spent time this week at the University of Northampton taking part in the 'Girls Going Global' event which aims to encourage more women into science and engineering.

Report from ITV News Anglia's Russell Hookey

'via Blog this'

UN celebrates two years of Lab_13 at Irchester Primary School

Taken from: http://www.northampton.ac.uk/news/un-celebrates-two-years-of-lab-13-at-irchester-primary-school

​​​The events focussed on science and technology as part of the celebration of two years of the primary school’s Lab_13 (@Lab_13Irchester). The lab is a dedicated science space in the School which is aimed to drive the imagination and curiosity of the students with a Scientist-in-Residence, Jennifer Hogan, in support.

Tricia Goodchild, STEM Diversity Co-Ordinator at the University of Northampton said; “The children are wonderful, really interested in STEM subjects, enthusiastic and work hard to sustain this area not only with their peers but throughout the school.”

The University has been supported Lab_13 for the past two years in various ways and this was a culmination of all the activities that have taken place. 

The workshops that took place by members of the University included investigating the hidden world through a Thermal Imaging camera; wind-power experiments; building towers with spaghetti and marshmallows; leather as a material; 3D imaging; drawing ‘bots’ and investigating germs.

Dr Scott Turner, the School of Science and Technology’s Widening Participation and Learning and Teaching Co-ordinator said; “Lab_13 is a great idea, and always a positive experience working with them.

Dr Gemma Marsden, Lecturer in Molecular Bioscience conducted scientific experiments with the children in order to see how clean or unclean their room was.

She said; “I had a wonderful experience working with Lab_13.  It was great to be met with such overwhelming enthusiasm about science and I hope the students enjoyed finding out how clean their class room was.”

STEM Outreach: prize-giving for children’s robot designs

Taken from: http://www.northampton.ac.uk/news/university-of-northampton-hosts-a-special-prize-giving-ceremony-for-school-children-s-robot-designs

​A group of school children were invited to the University of Northampton on 22 May for a prize-giving ceremony for a robot design competition that was set by the School of Science and Technology.

Pupils from six schools across Northamptonshire were selected to take part in an Engineering Extravaganza during National Science and Engineering Week in March, which was organised by Tricia Goodchild, STEM Co-ordinator from the University of Northampton.

As well as taking part in the fantastic workshops that the STEM Ambassadors carried out, the pupils were asked to design a special robot that could perform wonderful tasks.

The winners were Jaisie Burnett from Bugbrooke Primary School, who designed The Transporter 2000 and Millie Berrill from The Good Shepherd Catholic Primary School, who designed Mummy’s Little Helper. They both won a Mindstorm Lego Robot each.

Two runners up prizes were awarded to Elle Huckerby from Studfall Junior School for the Robo Teddy and Diane Petruhina from Vernon Terrace Primary for the Crazy Robot. Special awards for creativity and imagination went to Luke Smith and brother and sister team, Sophie and Luke O’Connor, all from Southend Infant School.

The prizes were presented by Professor Kamal Bechkoum, Executive Dean of the School of Science and Technology and Duncan Middleton, Chairman of the Northants Engineering Training Partnership and Technical Director of Festo UK.

The winning pupils were then able to see their robot designs in 3D in the High Definition Active Cube in the NVision Centre.

Tricia Goodchild organised the competition along with Jon Adams, Head of Engineering. She commented:”All 700 entries were wonderful, but the winners and runners up were fantastic. They were so enthusiastic and full of energy and were in awe of the inspiring immersive 3D modelling which NVision, particularly Kelly Sealy, had put together. To be able to get inside the robot they had designed on paper was an amazing experience.”

Conference Report - HEA STEM: Annual Learning and Teaching Conference 2013

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

Keynotes speeches

• Martyn Poliakoff - Martyn is a Research Professor in Chemistry at the University of Nottingham. The keynote revolved around te experiences of producing several hundred youtube video on chemistry. 
• Carl Gombrich  Programme Director, Arts and Sciences (BASc) since September 2010 discussed the experiences and challenges of running of an interdisciplinary arts and science course.

Sessions

10 parallel sessions covering discipline specific areas (such as biological sciences, chemistry, computing, engineering, mathematics,physics, psychology) as well more teaching and learning related (such as students as partners, problem-solving, contract cheating, employability). See http://www.heacademy.ac.uk/assets/documents/stem-conference/STEMconf-programme-11-4-13.pdf for more details.

Poster Sessions

32 posters covering similar subjects areas to the sessions. See http://www.heacademy.ac.uk/assets/documents/STEM/Conference_2013/STEMposters-10-4-13.pdf for more details.

Summary

Two papers from University of Northampton were presented (oral presentation by Rachel Maunder "Forming new relationships with students: Exploring the potential of staffstudent partnerships for undertaking pedagogic research" and my poster "junkbots")

My own 'take home points'

• Contract cheating - to help post your assignment on Turnitin before giving it to the students.
• Problem-solving and programming - most universities struggle with this one to a lesser or greater extent. So in other words there still more work needed here.
• Argument Mapping- reinforced the idea that I have been considering for a while about including argument mapping within my teaching (see whats-is-problem-with-problem-solving.
• OpenSim could make a good tool for teaching - possible AI?

Enhancing STEM Public Engagement Skills

Ed Drewitt, know for his involvement with the Bristol Dinosaur Project, University of Bristol (www.thebristoldinosaurproject.org.uk) and Nicholas Garrick from Director of Lighting up Learning Limited (www.lightinguplearning.com ) facilitated a lively, interactive and very fun CPD session on Public Engagement with Primary schools at the school of Science and Technology, University of Northampton, UK on 8th February 2013.

The audience was made of undergraduates, research students and staff from across the The University of Northampton (and also a colleague from the Open University). All came together to look at how they could offer their ideas for activities or outcomes of their research (not matter what their research area) to schools in general . Feedback from talking to participants was very positive; with a great number of student-lead potential activities being discussed in groups and some staff considering how some of their research may be used as outreach activities.

For me the take home messages from the session was - 

• be aware of what is happening in schools and some of their needs; but do something you are interested in; 
• think about how that could be delivered in schools (possibly across a whole range of age groups);
• but DO NOT tell teachers how to use it in their curriculum, they can work that out for their own particular case.

Last year The University of Northampton (TUoN) took part in Ed and Nick's Enhancing STEM Academics' Public Engagement Skills adopter programme sponsored by HE STEM South West Spoke to take concepts from their earlier work and for these to be applied in the outreach activity of other Universities.  This involvement lead to Ed and Nick offering this half day session to the The University of Northampton and other Universities involved with the earlier adopter programme.  Details of TUoN's outputs from the adopter programme and links to activities can be found at http://junkbots.blogspot.co.uk/2012/06/junkbot-project-case-study-and-session.html. 

More details can be found at: http://www.northampton.ac.uk/news/article/414/stem-workshop-on-public-engagement-with-added-dinosaurs

STEM networking event

Our next University STEM networking event will be a lively, interactive session given by Ed Drewitt, famous for his Bristol Dinosaur Project (www.thebristoldinosaurproject.org.uk) and Nicholas Garrick from Lighting up Learning Limited (www.lightinguplearning.com )

Both are trained practitioners and highly regarded in their field of expertise.

Friday 8 February 2013
Newton  Avenue Campus, University of Northampton, UK

• 1.15pm Tea and Coffee
• 1.30 start
• 5.00pm finish

The session builds on recognition that many scientists do not have the skills to interact effectively with school students (especially Key Stage 1 - 3 pupils). The aim of the session is: students, PhD students and STEM academics to be more involved with public engagement activities and to create and share a range of materials for workshops in primary schools.

This is a must for all STEM Ambassadors or those interested in improving their skills and techniques in public engagement and we encourage to you come to this free workshop.

More details can be found at: http://www.northampton.ac.uk/news/article/414/stem-workshop-on-public-engagement-with-added-dinosaurs

Girls into STEM | lab13network

A blog posted elsewhere about STEM and Widening Participation activities within the School of Science and Technology, University of Northampton.

Reposted from Girls into STEM | lab13network: "Girls into STEM
Posted on December 19, 2012 by lab13network



The University of Northampton ran a very exciting day for Northamptonshire girls last week. The Inspire Girls into STEM day consisted of many workshops, talks and interactive elements.

Tricia, the UoN STEM Diversity organiser, needed demonstrators for the workshops to inspire the girls to consider a career in STEM. And who better to inspire the girls than our Year 6 Committee girls Fran, Jess and Chloe. The three Lab_13ers ran two workshops and wowed the girls, their teachers and other adult demonstrators with their confidence, inspiring enthusiasm and wonderful hands-on experience.

Jess says “It was great to inspire the younger girls and to show them that you don’t have to be a grownup to enjoy science!”

Fran says “I can’t believe my first paying job was teaching when I was 10!”

Chloe says “I wish I could do this every day!”"

'via Blog this'

Details of other links between the School of Science and Technology and Irchester Community Primary School /Lab_13 can be found at:

• Dad's Lab
• Greenfoot

From more details about Lab_13 can be found at: http://lab13network.wordpress.com/ 

A diagrammatic language to build and share STEM teaching narratives

Dr Tina Wilson, Visiting Fellow with STRiPe (Science and Technology Research in Pedagogy) has recently had a paper published at the STEM Annual Conference 2012 at Imperial College and The Royal Geographical Society London 

Abstract

The general objective of this overall work is to propose a methodology for the creation of language-neutral multimedia materials (without audio or text), which can be directly embedded in STEM courses in any language. The overall design of this project was discussed in [1]

The design was based on four stages: 1) a very explicit design of the course, mainly on the dependence of the concepts, using Compendium, 2) the careful selection of icons for some key concepts, 3) the generation of short interrelated animations, which try to identify a suitable graphic language (with both formal syntax and semantics), 4) the proposal of metadata, some internal to each animation and other external, to interrelate them. The final export of this educational package would consist of animations and their metadata, which would help facilitate re-use, and embedding within other courses.

In this paper we focus on the third stage. In the types of short animations discussed, we detected two complementary vocabularies. The first one labels the intentionality of certain scenes: presentation of a formal definition, presentation of positive examples and negative examples. The 
second marks the dependence of the concepts and their construction process: for example, if one is a specialization of a previous one, or if you are graphically emphasizing the use of a universal or existential quantification at that point in the construction of the concept.

At this stage, as the ultimate goal, we hope to achieve a semi-automatic process of generating animations. From the definition of first order logic of a concept (or other less formal descriptions), through the graphic language that is being investigated. This is a goal to be achieved. But we trust 
that this contributes to the creation and reuse of materials in the STEM area beyond existing language barriers.




[1] J.L. Fernández-Vindel, and T. Wilson (2011). Multilingual media components directly embeddable 
in open educational resources in science and technology. International Conference on Education, 
Research and Innovation - ICERI 2011 14-16th November 2011, Madrid, Spain.



Paper can be found at: http://www.heacademy.ac.uk/assets/documents/stem-conference/Computing1/Jos%C3%A9-Luis_Fern%C3%A1ndez-Vindel_Tina_Wilson.pdf

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

• Catherine Redfern: Administrator for STEM

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