scholarly journals Rhetorical strategies in PhD conclusions of computer science

Author(s):  
Carmen Soler-Monreal

Abstract This study investigates the predominant moves and move patterns used in the separate final conclusion chapters of 48 PhD theses of computer science at a UK university. The focus is on the most salient connections of steps in the review of the study (Move 1) with steps for the consolidation of research space (Move 2). The most common combinations relate (1) a summary of the thesis work to the product and the evaluation of the product, (2) the purpose, thesis statement or hypothesis to the findings or results, (3) the research questions to the methodology, product or claim, (4) a problem or need to a specific methodology, a new product and/or a claim, and (5) a summary of the work done in each thesis chapter to the findings and claims. Some findings are specific of the field of computer science. The study has pedagogical implications for courses of English for Academic Purposes (EAP).

2022 ◽  
Vol 22 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-46
Author(s):  
Sarah Heckman ◽  
Jeffrey C. Carver ◽  
Mark Sherriff ◽  
Ahmed Al-zubidy

Context. Computing Education Research (CER) is critical to help the computing education community and policy makers support the increasing population of students who need to learn computing skills for future careers. For a community to systematically advance knowledge about a topic, the members must be able to understand published work thoroughly enough to perform replications, conduct meta-analyses, and build theories. There is a need to understand whether published research allows the CER community to systematically advance knowledge and build theories. Objectives. The goal of this study is to characterize the reporting of empiricism in Computing Education Research literature by identifying whether publications include content necessary for researchers to perform replications, meta-analyses, and theory building. We answer three research questions related to this goal: (RQ1) What percentage of papers in CER venues have some form of empirical evaluation? (RQ2) Of the papers that have empirical evaluation, what are the characteristics of the empirical evaluation? (RQ3) Of the papers that have empirical evaluation, do they follow norms (both for inclusion and for labeling of information needed for replication, meta-analysis, and, eventually, theory-building) for reporting empirical work? Methods. We conducted a systematic literature review of the 2014 and 2015 proceedings or issues of five CER venues: Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education (SIGCSE TS), International Symposium on Computing Education Research (ICER), Conference on Innovation and Technology in Computer Science Education (ITiCSE), ACM Transactions on Computing Education (TOCE), and Computer Science Education (CSE). We developed and applied the CER Empiricism Assessment Rubric to the 427 papers accepted and published at these venues over 2014 and 2015. Two people evaluated each paper using the Base Rubric for characterizing the paper. An individual person applied the other rubrics to characterize the norms of reporting, as appropriate for the paper type. Any discrepancies or questions were discussed between multiple reviewers to resolve. Results. We found that over 80% of papers accepted across all five venues had some form of empirical evaluation. Quantitative evaluation methods were the most frequently reported. Papers most frequently reported results on interventions around pedagogical techniques, curriculum, community, or tools. There was a split in papers that had some type of comparison between an intervention and some other dataset or baseline. Most papers reported related work, following the expectations for doing so in the SIGCSE and CER community. However, many papers were lacking properly reported research objectives, goals, research questions, or hypotheses; description of participants; study design; data collection; and threats to validity. These results align with prior surveys of the CER literature. Conclusions. CER authors are contributing empirical results to the literature; however, not all norms for reporting are met. We encourage authors to provide clear, labeled details about their work so readers can use the study methodologies and results for replications and meta-analyses. As our community grows, our reporting of CER should mature to help establish computing education theory to support the next generation of computing learners.


2018 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 156
Author(s):  
Isra Irshad ◽  
Behzad Anwar

<p><em>The aim of this study was to design English for Academic Purposes (EAP) course for University students enrolled in the Computer Science Department. For this purpose, academic English language needs of the students were analyzed by using a 5 point Likert scale questionnaire. Additionally, interviews were also conducted with four faculty members of the department and the data were analyzed qualitatively. Thus, mixed methods were used for collection and analyses of data. The results of the analysis of questionnaire and interviews indicate that the four language skills, namely listening, speaking, reading and writing are frequently used in students’ academic context and among the four, speaking is the most frequently used skill. Students are deficient in writing and speaking skills as compared to listening and reading; therefore, speaking and writing should be given preference while designing the syllabus.</em></p>


2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 4
Author(s):  
Andrea C. Burrows ◽  
Mike Borowczak ◽  
Bekir Mugayitoglu

Computer science, cybersecurity education, and microcredentials are becoming more pervasive in all levels of the educational system. The purpose of this study was partnering with precollegiate teachers: (1) to investigate the self-efficacy of 30 precollegiate teacher participants towards computer science before, during, and after three iterations of a cybersecurity microcredential, and (2) to make changes to the cybersecurity microcredential to improve its effectiveness. The authors explored what teachers need in a microcredential. The first Cohort (n = 5) took the microcredential sequence over 28 days in the summer of 2020, the second Cohort (n = 16) took it over 42 days in the fall of 2020, and the third Cohort (n = 9) took it over 49 days in the summer of 2021. The authors investigated three research questions and used a systems thinking approach while developing, evaluating, and implementing the research study. The researchers used quantitative methods in the collection of a self-efficacy subscale survey to assess whether the precollegiate teachers’ beliefs about computer science changed, and then used qualitative methods when conducting semi-structured teacher participant interviews to address the research questions. The findings show that the precollegiate teachers’ self-efficacy scores towards computer science increased, and that there are areas in need of attention, such as resources and implementation, when creating microcredentials. The implications of this research include the importance of purposefully crafting microcredentials and professional developments, including aspects of creating effective partnerships.


2015 ◽  
Vol 19 (05) ◽  
pp. 1550061 ◽  
Author(s):  
MURRAY R. MILLSON ◽  
JONGBAE KIM

This study explores the potential differences between the relationships relating the market success of new products, the proficiency with which new product development (NPD) activities are executed during NPD processes, and the degree of organisational integration among various groups during NPD processes in the (U.S.) and Korea. This research addresses three major research questions: (1) Does NPD process proficiency impact new product market success in U.S. and Korean firms? (2) Does organisational integration impact new product market success in U.S. and Korean firms? and (3) Does country moderate the relationships between NPD process proficiency and new product market success, and between organisational integration and new product market success? This study is based on NPD data related to new product projects from the heavy construction equipment industries in the U.S. and Korea. Based on our combined model, it was found that NPD process development proficiency significantly impacts new product market success but organisational integration does not impact new product market success. Additionally, it was found that country moderates the NPD process proficiency-NPD market success and NPD organisational integration-NPD market success relationships. Study implications and recommendations are provided for NPD managers based on this research.


Author(s):  
Heinrich C. Mayr ◽  
Bernhard Thalheim

AbstractWe understand this paper as a contribution to the “anatomy” of conceptual models. We propose a signature of conceptual models for their characterization, which allows a clear distinction from other types of models. The motivation for this work arose from the observation that conceptual models are widely discussed in science and practice, especially in computer science, but that their potential is far from being exploited. We combine our proposal of a more transparent explanation of the nature of conceptual models with an approach that classifies conceptual models as a link between the dimension of linguistic terms and the encyclopedic dimension of notions. As a paradigm we use the triptych, whose central tableau represents the model dimension. The effectiveness of this explanatory approach is illustrated by a number of examples. We derive a number of open research questions that should be answered to complete the anatomy of conceptual models.


2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 69 ◽  
Author(s):  
Adrienne Decker ◽  
Monica McGill

There has been considerable investment in pre-college educational interventions for all areas of STEM (including computer science). The goal of many of these initiatives is to engage and interest students early in their educational career. In this study, a systematic literature review was undertaken to determine the demographic and program data collected and reported for the field of computing education and for other STEM disciplines for activities that were not designed as part of the formal in-class curriculum (e.g., outreach activities). A comparison-contrast analysis of the resulting 342 articles found similarities and key differences in the reporting of this data as well as overarching characteristics of missing or incomplete reporting across disciplines. Authors from both fields reported equally well in the four categories studied: information about evaluation, participant gender, participant race and/or ethnicity, and activity demographics. However, the computing education articles were more likely to have clearly stated research questions and comparative analysis based on demographic characteristics. They were less likely to include the number of participants in the study, participant age/grade level, socioeconomic status, disability information, location of intervention, and instructor demographics. Through this analysis, it was determined that reporting can be improved across all disciplines to improve the quantity of data needed to replicate studies and to provide complete data sets that provide for the comparison of collected data.


1979 ◽  
Vol 8 (100) ◽  
Author(s):  
Niels Henrik Frey

<p>This paper reports the results of an experimental study, made by Henrik Andersen and the author at the Department of Computer Science of Aarhus University as a part of their Masters' Thesis work.</p><p>A comparison is made between a light pen and a joystick, when used for free-hand drawing on a CRT-screen. The joystick proved superior for drawing horizontal and vertical lines, but hardly for anything else. The light pen proved to be an all-round instrument for free-hand drawing.</p><p>The subjects of the experiment were 52 undergraduate students at the Department, each of whom carried out two sessions of drawing a predefined set of images on the screen. After each session the students filled in a questionnaire on their own evaluation of the resulting images.</p><p>The paper contains a discussion of some of the methodological problems which arise in the planning and execution of investigations into man- computer interaction.</p>


2020 ◽  
Vol 45 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Benoit Cordelier ◽  
Audrey-Anne Desaulniers

Background  This research aims to study partnerships between commercial brands and the cultural field. More specifically, it focuses on the process of agreement between marketing representatives and artists in the implementation of partnerships through sponsorship and branded content. Inspired mainly by the work done on cities by Luc Boltanski and Laurent Thévenot in On Justification: Economies of Worth, certain research questions can be identified: how do artists and communication or marketing professionals agree to create partnerships? How do these two worlds communicate and what arguments do they have to justify their association? Analysis  The selected methodology proposes a survey based on comprehensive interviews in the context of two Quebec case studies: the sponsorship of an interactive work produced as part of a Montreal cultural festival and the production of a television program with branded content. Conclusions and implications  The analysis reveals tensions existing between each partner that nevertheless are subject to different types of mediation between companies and artists which we propose to qualify as formal and informal mediation.Contexte  Cette recherche vise à étudier les partenariats entre les marques commerciales et le domaine culturel. De façon plus précise, elle s’intéresse aux modalités d’accord entre les représentants du marketing et les artistes dans la mise en œuvre de partenariats à travers des outils tels que la commandite et le contenu de marque. S’inspirant majoritairement du travail sur les cités de Luc Boltanski et Laurent Thévenot dans leur ouvrage De la justification : les économies de la grandeur, certaines questions de recherche peuvent être dégagées : comment les artistes et les professionnels en communication ou en marketing s’entendent-ils pour la création de partenariats? Comment ces deux mondes communiquent-ils et quels arguments entretiennent-ils pour justifier leur association? Analyse  La méthodologie retenue propose une enquête à partir d’entretiens compréhensifs dans le cadre de deux études de cas québécoises : la commandite d’une œuvre interactive réalisée dans le cadre d’un festival culturel montréalais et la production d’une émission télévisée avec du contenu de marque. Conclusions et implications  L’analyse révèle les tensions existantes entre chacun des partenaires faisant néanmoins l’objet de différents types de médiation du côté des entreprises et des artistes que nous proposons de qualifier d’intermédiations formelle et informelle.


2001 ◽  
Vol 22 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter McBurney ◽  
Simon Parsons

Formal dialogue games have been studied in philosophy since at least the time of Aristotle. Recently they have been applied in various contexts in computer science and artificial intelligence, particularly as the basis for interaction between autonomous software agents. We review these applications and discuss the many open research questions and challenges at this exciting interface between philosophy and computer science.


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