Member spotlight

In this feature of the Bulletin, we highlight members of the SIGCSE community. In this issue, Bulletin co-editor Charles Wallace interviewed Dr. Brett Becker, Assistant Professor in the School of Computer Science at University College Dublin (UCD) in Ireland. Brett double-majored in Computer Science and Physics at Drew University in New Jersey. He then moved to Ireland and completed an M.Sc. in Computational Science and a Ph.D. in Computer Science (Heterogeneous Parallel Computing) at UCD. Since then, he has completed three postgraduate qualifications in Teaching & Learning including an MA in Higher Education. His research interests include the psychology and other human factors of learning programming, including how novices interact with programming languages and environments. In 2020, he received a Teaching and Learning Research Fellowship from the Irish National Forum for the Enhancement of Teaching and Learning in Higher Education - the highest individual national distinction the sector offers to those teaching in higher education. Brett is active in all four SIGCSE conferences including serving as Chair of the CompEd Steering Committee and Co-chairing ITiCSE 2022 in Dublin next summer. He has co-authored several award-winning papers including best computing education research papers (SIGCSE Technical Symposium 2019, 2021) and best reviewed paper (ICER 2020). Brett is chair of the Ireland ACM SIGCSE Chapter and recently co-authored a textbook aligned with the Irish national second-level Computer Science curriculum.

Experiences of doctoral students enrolled in a research fellowship program to support doctoral training in Africa (2014 to 2018): The Consortium for Advanced Research Training in Africa odyssey

Background The Consortium for Advanced Research Training in Africa (CARTA) aims to transform higher education in Africa. One of its main thrusts is supporting promising university faculty (fellows) to obtain high quality doctoral training. CARTA offers fellows robust support which includes funding of their attendance at Joint Advanced Seminars (JASes) throughout the doctoral training period. An evaluation is critical in improving program outcomes. In this study; we, CARTA fellows who attended the fourth JAS in 2018, appraised the CARTA program from our perspective, specifically focusing on the organization of the program and its influence on the fellows’ individual and institutional development. Methods Exploratory Qualitative Study Design was used and data was obtained from three focus group discussions among the fellows in March 2018. The data were analyzed using thematic approach within the framework of good practice elements in doctoral training–Formal Research Training, Activities Driven by Doctoral Candidates, Career Development as well as Concepts and Structures. Results In all, 21 fellows from six African countries participated and all had been in the CARTA program for at least three years. The fellowship has increased fellows research skills and expanded our research capacities. This tremendously improved the quality of our doctoral research and it was also evident in our research outputs, including the number of peer-reviewed publications. The CARTA experience inculcated a multidisciplinary approach to our research and enabled significant improvement in our organizational, teaching, and leadership skills. All these were achieved through the well-organized structures of CARTA and these have transformed us to change agents who are already taking on research and administrative responsibilities in our various home institutions. Unfortunately, during the long break between the second and the third JAS, there was a gap in communication between CARTA and her fellows, which resulted in some transient loss of focus by a few fellows. Conclusion The CARTA model which builds the research capacity of doctoral fellows through robust support, including intermittent strategic Joint Advanced Seminars has had effective and transformative impacts on our doctoral odyssey. However, there is a need to maintain the momentum through continuous communication between CARTA and the fellows all through this journey.

Pre-pregnancy Diet Quality Is Associated With Lowering the Risk of Offspring Obesity and Underweight: Finding From a Prospective Cohort Study

Objectives To examine the association between maternal diet quality before pregnancy and childhood BMI in offspring. Methods We included 1936 mothers with 3391 children from the Australian Longitudinal Study on Women's Health (ALSWH) and the Mothers and their Children's Health study (MatCH). Maternal diet was assessed using a semi-quantitative and validated 101-item food-frequency questionnaire (FFQ). We used the healthy eating index (HEI-2015) score to explore maternal diet quality before pregnancy. Children over 2 years of age were categorized as underweight, normal, overweight, and obese based on age and sex-specific BMI classifications for children. Multinomial logistic regression with cluster-robust standard errors was used for analyses. Results Greater adherence to maternal diet quality before pregnancy was associated with a lower risk of offspring underweight after adjustment for potential confounders, highest vs lowest quartile (RRR = 0.68, 95% CI: 0.49, 0.96). Higher adherence to pre-pregnancy diet quality was also inversely associated with the risk of offspring obesity (RRR = 0.49, 95% CI: 0.24, 0.98). This association was, however, slightly attenuated by pre-pregnancy body mass index (BMI) in the full adjusted model. No significant association was observed between pre-pregnancy diet quality and offspring overweight. Conclusions This study suggests that better adherence to maternal diet quality before pregnancy is associated with a reduced risk of childhood underweight and obesity. Funding Sources The ALSWH is funded by the Australian Government Department of Health. MatCH is funded by the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) project grant. Dereje Gete is supported by the University of Queensland Research Training Scholarship. Gita Mishra holds the Australian Health and Medical Research Council Principal Research Fellowship.

Mediterranean Diet and Lifestyle Index Development for Older Adults

Objectives The Mediterranean diet is associated with many health benefits, yet it is typically only the food pattern that is assessed without consideration for lifestyle attributes that accompany a Mediterranean way of life. The Mediterranean diet pyramid includes lifestyle activities at the base of the pyramid such as regular physical activity (PA), adequate rest, conviviality, biodiversity and seasonality, traditional local and eco-friendly products, and culinary activities. The purpose of this study was to design and pilot test a Mediterranean diet and lifestyle index for older adults in the U.S. Methods The Harvard Food Frequency Questionnaire was used to determine the alternative Mediterranean Diet Score (aMed). The short version of the Minnesota Leisure Time PA questionnaire and additional Mediterranean diet-related dietary habit and lifestyle questions were piloted in 75 older adults attending senior centers. Results Participants were primarily women (80.6%) and Caucasian (68%) with an average age of 71.89+/−7.60 years. A 27-item index including the aMed food groups, dietary habits, PA, culinary activities, purchasing of local and seasonal foods, and adequate rest resulted in a reliable score (α = 0.75). Individual index factors correlated with the overall Mediterranean diet and lifestyle score. Conclusions While this Mediterranean diet and lifestyle index resulted in good internal consistency; assessment of conviviality, especially for older adults in the time of Covid-19, need be re-evaluated as a lifestyle measure that can impact dietary intake and overall health. Funding Sources Eastern Michigan University Faculty Research Fellowship Award.