bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Internet nuggets
Authors: Thorson Mark
Published: October 2004

This column consists of selected traffic from the
comp.arch
newsgroup, a forum for discussion of computer architecture on the Internet-an international computer network.As always, the opinions expressed in this column are the personal views of the authors, and do not necessarily represent the institutions to which they are affiliated.Text which sets the context of a message appears underlined or in italics; this is usually text the author has quoted from earlier messages. The codelike expressions below the authors' names are their addresses on Internet.
Lessons from Chernobyl for IT
Authors: Martin C. Dianne
Published: October 2004

In 1986 I went to the former Soviet Union for the first time. As it happened it was just three months after the Chernobyl nuclear disaster. I recall bringing a suitcase full of tuna fish, Spam (the old kind!) and crackers with me due to concerns about the safety of the food supply. I encountered many Russians who were similarly concerned - young mothers who were afraid to give their children milk and many who did not trust the safety of fruits and vegetables grown in the Ukraine region. However, since that time what I have found out about the Chernobyl disaster is even more disturbing and represents a real object lesson for the IT profession.
Modeling mania
Authors: Henderson Peter B.
Published: October 2004

Invited Mike Huth, Imperial College London to be the guest editor for this column. What started as a simple idea evolved into a complete paper. I encourage you to read Mike's insightful article "Mathematics for the exploration of requirements" in this
inroads
issue. Below is a little background to ease you into an area that is becoming relevant and important in software systems development -
modeling.
Graphics and Java
Authors: Parlante Nick
Published: October 2004

Iremember way back in the old days, it was so easy to talk to other CSE people about CS1, since we basically all knew the plot of Cooper and Clancy's of
Oh Pascal!
I could talk about problems with "the var parameter lecture" and people pretty much knew what I was talking about since the basic layout of the course was so well understood.
Mathematics for the exploration of requirements
Authors: Huth Michael
Published: October 2004

The exploration of requirements is as complex as it is important in ensuring a successful software production and software life cycle. Increasingly, tool-support is available for aiding such explorations. We use a toy example and a case study of modelling and analysing some requirements of the global assembly cache of .NET to illustrate the opportunities and challenges that mathematically founded exploration of requirements brings to the computer science and software engineering curricula.
A brief water excursion
Authors: Berque Dave , Serlin Ian , Vlahov Atanas
Published: October 2004

This paper describes our experiences in incorporating a brief discussion of simple computations powered by water into the standard Computer Organization course. We describe our goals in introducing this concept to students, our methods for doing so, and our subsequent experiences in building a working 1-bit half-adder powered by water. We also describe a set of videos and Flash animations that can be used by others who wish to quickly demonstrate water based computations to their students via the world wide web.
A computer organization course project
Authors: Zhang Xuesong , Surendran Ken , Wang Ming
Published: October 2004

This paper describes a simulation project concerning a modern traffic signal control system that was carried out by students in a computer organization course and in a subsequent independent research course. The overall project required both hardware realization and software development for simulating the traffic flow using assembly language. The features of this control system, the project scope, a prototype implementation - both hardware and software - and the educational value of such a project are presented.
Saving weak programming students
Authors: Lui Andrew K , Kwan Reggie , Poon Maria , Cheung Yannie H. Y.
Published: October 2004

The Perform approach aims to improve the success rate of weak students in a first programming course. The approach, based on constructivism, takes a tight control on the mental model construction process in the weak students, and allows the students to navigate through many conceptual pitfalls in programming fundamentals. The paper covers a discussion of applying constructivism in programming, exposes common hazards in the learning process, illustrates why weak students are weak, and then suggests several guidelines that can help the weak students to attain at least foundation level programming. The paper ends with a summary of our experiences in the effect of the Perform approach.
Learning program organization through COBOL
Authors: Friedman William H.
Published: October 2004

Arguably, many computer languages have more panache and less verbosity than COBOL; but none has greater potential to inculcate the habits and techniques of advance planning for such things as structure, the byte-length of variables representing the results of computations, table/array size, fields that will be needed, and the like. To illuminate a program's logic one can add some judiciously chosen, even un-required, yet available reserved words. I have found that the COBOL language aids and encourages comprehension of logical structure to a greater degree than with other languages. Moreover, in COBOL, meaningful, if lengthy, names are actually desirable and serve to clarify the work that takes place in the various procedures. Finally, because the structure of a COBOL program is so determinate, it is possible to teach a series of steps leading up to the end product, which both foreshadow and greatly organize the process of coding. This habit of organization is easily transferable to other contexts.
Capstone course creates useful business products and corporate-ready students
Authors: Bruhn Russel E. , Camp Judy
Published: October 2004

Many engineering capstone courses require senior design projects involving teamwork. Our department's curriculum engages industries to provide meaningful design projects for student teams in real-world settings. One project resulted in students gaining professional skills, industry gaining products, and faculty gaining experience for developing its contemporary curriculum. Educators wanting to provide real-world experiences to graduating seniors may benefit from learning how we obtained corporate sponsors for projects, how we created student-consulting teams, and how we developed capstone courses incorporating system design theory. They may also gain insight from discussions about student evaluations and about lessons we learned from experimental capstone courses.
How
not
to go about a programming assignment
Authors: del Río Agustín Cernuda
Published: October 2004

Computer programming students invariably fall into more than one bad habit. It can be extremely difficult to eradicate them (and many lecturers and professional programmers keep succumbing to them time and again). I wrote this when, in the days leading up to an assignment deadline, I saw these things happening so often that I couldn't help but recall my classmates and I a decade earlier... doing exactly the same things as my students. This article is an attempt to show these irrational attitudes in an ironical way, intending to make our students aware of bad habits without admonishing them.
Abstract versus concrete computation on metric partial algebras
Authors: Tucker J. V. , Zucker J. I.
Published: October 2004

In the theory of computation on topological algebras there is a considerable gap between so-called abstract and concrete models of computation. In concrete models, unlike abstract models, the computations depend on the representation of the algebra. First, we show that with abstract models, one needs algebras with partial operations, and computable functions that are both continuous and many-valued. This many-valuedness is needed even to compute single-valued functions, and so abstract models must be nondeterministic even to compute deterministic problems. As an abstract model, we choose the "while"-array programming language, extended with a nondeterministic "countable choice" assignment, called the WhileCC* model. Using this, we introduce the concept of approximable many-valued computation on metric algebras. For our concrete model, we choose metric algebras with effective representations. We prove:(1) for any metric algebra A with an effective representation α, WhileCC* approximability implies computability in α, and (2) also the converse, under certain reasonable conditions on A. From (1) and (2) we derive an equivalence theorem between abstract and concrete computation on metric partial algebras. We give examples of algebras where this equivalence holds.
NEXP TIME-complete description logics with concrete domains
Authors: Lutz Carsten
Published: October 2004

Concrete domains are an extension of Description Logics (DLs) that allow one to integrate reasoning about conceptual knowledge with reasoning about "concrete qualities" of real-world entities such as their sizes, weights, and durations. In this article, we are concerned with the complexity of Description Logics providing for concrete domains: starting from the complexity result established in Lutz [2002b], which states that reasoning with the basic propositionally closed DL with concrete domains ALC(D) is PSpace-complete (provided that some weak conditions are satisfied), we perform an in-depth analysis of the complexity of extensions of this logic. More precisely, we consider five natural and seemingly "harmless" extensions of ALC(D) and prove that, for all five extensions, reasoning is NExpTime-complete (again if some weak conditions are satisfied). Thus, we show that the PSpace upper bound for reasoning with ALC(D) cannot be considered robust with respect to extensions of the language.
Proving correctness of timed concurrent constraint programs
Authors: De Boer Frank S. , Gabbrielli Maurizio , Meo Maria Chiara
Published: October 2004

A temporal logic is presented for reasoning about the correctness of timed concurrent constraint programs. The logic is based on modalities which allow one to specify what a process produces as a reaction to what its environment inputs. These modalities provide an assumption/commitment style of specification which allows a sound and complete compositional axiomatization of the reactive behavior of timed concurrent constraint programs.
Design and evolution of an undergraduate course on web application development
Authors: Yue Kwok-Bun , Ding Wei
Published: October 2004

Web technologies have become essential in the computing curricula. However, teaching a Web development course to computing students is challenging because of large bodies of knowledge, rapidly changing technologies, demanding support infrastructures and diverse background of audiences. This paper presents the evolution and the experiences we have gained in teaching a Web development course for the past seven years. We incorporate selected leading edge Web technologies as soon as they become mature and stable. The course covers a broad spectrum of Internet technologies to provide a solid conceptual framework. It also includes an in-depth study of a selected technology to provide the necessary depth and knowledge to build realistic Web applications. This paper describes the course design, our choice of topics, programming assignments, course delivery and our experience in coping with the rapidly changing Web technologies.
The backwash effect on SQL skills grading
Authors: Prior Julia Coleman , Lister Raymond
Published: October 2004

This paper examines the effect of grading approaches for SQL query formulation on students' learning strategies. The way that students are graded in a subject has a significant impact on their learning approach, and it is crucial that graded tasks are carefully designed and implemented to inculcate a deep learning experience. An online examination system is described and evaluated.
If diversity is a problem could e-learning be part of the solution?
Authors: Minton Liz , Boyle Roger , Dimitrova Vania
Published: October 2004

Diversity of students enrolling on Computing degrees is becoming increasingly important in higher education with the number of mature students noticeably increasing and the expectations for learning and teaching gradually changing. This year, the UK government has issued two policy documents; the first will in uence the make-up of the student body in the future, the second is pushing for a unified e-learning strategy within all education sectors which is driven by user needs and not by the technologies. This paper presents a study of two focus groups in a Computing department in a UK university, and discusses the needs of two diverse student groups, traditional and mature students. It is argued that if e-learning is to be driven by the needs of the users, then diversity should be a driving force behind the use of e-learning technology. Further, we suggest that participatory design would be extremely beneficial in developing effective e-learning.
Roles of variables as seen by CS educators
Authors: Ben-Ari Mordechai , Sajaniemi Jorma
Published: October 2004

Roles can be assigned to occurrences of variables in programs according to a small number of patterns of use that are both language- and algorithm-independent. Preliminary studies on explicitly teaching roles of variables to novice students have shown that roles are an excellent pedagogical tool for clarifying the structure and meaning of programs. This paper describes the results of an investigation designed to test the understandability and acceptability of the role concept and of the individual roles as seen by computer science educators. The investigation consisted of a short tutorial on roles, a brief training session on assigning roles to variables, a test evaluating the subjects' ability to assign roles, and a set of open questions concerning their opinions of roles. Roles were identified with 85 accuracy, and in typical uses of variables with 93 accuracy.
Accommodating field-dependence
Authors: Parkinson Adrian , Redmond James A. , Walsh Cathal
Published: October 2004

In a previous study, it was found that field-independent learners performed significantly better than field-dependent learners in a web based and in a computerised text-based environment. It was decided to adapt both a web interface and a traditional text to accommodate the Field-dependent learner so as to try to reduce the disparity in performance with Field-independents. Seventy Information Systems students were initially assessed for Field-dependence/Field-independence cognitive style using the Group Embedded Figures Test (GEFT). The group of students was divided up randomly into two halves. In Session one, group 1 studied using a Web interface Modules 1 - 9 of an Introductory Course in Artificial Intelligence. Group 2 studied the same material in hard copy form only (Text). All studied the material for one hour per week for six weeks. They were then assessed in a one-hour exam. After a period of 7 weeks, in Session 2, Group 1 studied Modules 10 - 18 using Text while group two studied the same material using the Web interface. The results showed that the performance of Field-dependent individuals, be it in text or web, to be comparable to Field-independents.
Project oriented student work
Authors: Melin Ulf , Cronholm Stefan
Published: October 2004

This paper evaluates students' experiences from learning and examination when using a project oriented work approach in an undergraduate information systems development course. The result in this paper shows that students' has an overall positive attitude towards project oriented work. It provides students with an arena for discussing different perspectives, peer-to-peer learning, social interaction and a dynamic work setting. Motivating factors are that the work is authentic, prepare students for working life and last but not least considered as fun. There is however an anxiety about unfair grading that needs to be dealt with. The individual performance must be measured and be a central part of examination and grading. The students must be provided with opportunities to demonstrate what they are able to do on a course, and get genuine feedback on that. This is a way of reducing the free rider syndrome.
Teaching operating systems administration with user mode linux
Authors: Davoli Renzo
Published: October 2004

User Mode Linux is a virtual machine running on a GNU-Linux operating system. It is the right choice for teaching operating systems' administration, as it does not need any dedicated hardware. It runs at user level (no need for root, i.e. administrator, access or possible security threats) and it does not have the performance problems of an emulator. This paper describes how to set up a laboratory for teaching operating systems' administration.
Mass production of individual feedback
Authors: Heaney David , Daly Charlie
Published: October 2004

We describe a system to improve the quality of feedback provided to an Introductory Programming course. The system uses web technology to create a graphical tool that the tutors can use to produce student-friendly feedback. It was used during the first semester in Autumn 2002. Analysis of exam results show that there was a statistically significant improvement and student surveys showed that they enjoyed using the system.
Automated assessment of GUI programs using JEWL
Authors: English John
Published: October 2004

This paper describes a system for the automated assessment of GUI-based programs. This uses the JEWL library, a set of Java packages designed for use by complete beginners to Java which allows students to build GUI-based programs from the 'Hello world' stage onwards. This paper describes how JEWL has also been designed so that it can be used to assess such programs automatically.
Frameworks
Authors: Christensen Henrik Bærbak
Published: October 2004

Design patterns have made a strong impact on how object-oriented software is designed, implemented, and communicated in industrial projects. Teaching patterns is therefore of great importance. Patterns, however, have a natural catalogue-like nature, that easily misleads us into to lecturing them one at a time. This leaves an impression of patterns as isolated solutions to independent problems. We present our experience with trying to counteract this problem by using a well-engineered framework, JHotDraw, as a case study in how patterns work together to define a flexible and compositional software system of high quality.
Curve and surface interpolation and approximation
Authors: Fisher John , Lowther John , Shene Ching-Kuang
Published: October 2004

This paper describes a knowledge unit and the use of a software tool, DesignMentor, for teaching a very challenging topic in computer graphics and visualization, namely: curve and surface interpolation and approximation. Topics include global and local interpolation, global approximation, and curve network interpolation. For the past six years, a junior-level course has successfully used this approach.
Experiences with teaching design patterns
Authors: Stuurman Sylvia , Florijn Gert
Published: October 2004

In this paper, we present an assignment for a course on Design patterns at the masters level, where students have to adapt an existing program to meet additional requirements. We describe the basic program, discuss the reasons why we decided for such an assignment, and show the results. The assignment proved to be very effective both to train students to work with design patterns and to assess that students have reached the learning goals. This was true both for students with a professional background and for students with academic interests.
Use of large databases for group projects at the nexus of teaching and research
Authors: Thomas Richard C. , Mancy Rebecca
Published: October 2004

Final year, group (capstone) projects in computing disciplines are often expected to fill multiple roles: in addition to allowing students to learn important domain-specific knowledge, they should reinforce computing and software engineering concepts and provide for the acquisition of transferable skills. For motivational and pedagogical reasons, it is clearly preferable that such projects respond to real needs, be those in research or industry. We describe two student projects based on a large repository of usage data and integrated into a course in Professional Computing. These projects fulfilled the objectives outlined above and were closely linked to the research of the first author. We suggest that similar projects based on large databases may offer a transferable paradigm for others to follow. Finally, we outline some important elements for a successful group project based on a large database.
Constructivist or instructivist: pedagogical concepts practically applied to a computer learning environment
Authors: McKenna Peter , Laycock Ben
Published: October 2004

This paper discusses an innovative use of information technology in supporting the learning and teaching of sampling and quantisation within the Multimedia Computing curriculum. Three parallel on-line learning resources were developed to teach the principles of sampling to Multimedia Computing undergraduates: one highly interactive Flash artefact was developed on the basis of constructivist principles; a second drill-based html resource followed instructivist principles; and a third combined the two strategies. This paper reports the practical and conceptual exploration of what it means to take a constructivist or instructivist, or mixed approach to the design of learning software.All three resources were tested with distinctive groups of students in order to explore and contrast the relative short-term benefits of the different pedagogical approaches to learning software development. The results indicated that a combined constructivist resource offered the learner a deeper knowledge of waveform sampling; the question of longer-term retention and transferable understanding can only be answered by means of longitudinal research.
Emergence of automated assignment conceptions in a functional programming course
Authors: Paz Tamar , Lapidot Tami
Published: October 2004

This paper reports a research into the performance of high school students while they were first exposed to the paradigm of functional programming. The findings have been organized using three categories. In this paper we will concentrate on the "Automated assignment to parameters" conception which was the most widespread conception found in the research. We will describe the conception and will discuss some possible factors that could influence its development.
What is lacking in curriculum schemes for computing/informatics?
Authors: van Veen Maarten , Mulder Fred , Lemmen Karel
Published: October 2004

In this paper we elaborate on the work done by IFIP Working Group 3.2 in 1997 and 2002 on various curriculum schemes for computing/informatics. It is the aim of this paper to contribute to this work by bringing in concepts and insights from curriculum research and curriculum theory. This offers an additional view on the curriculum schemes besides the more disciplinary content driven approach that mostly dominates the curriculum work. We analyze three curriculum schemes: Computing Curricula 2001 (CC2001), Informatics Curriculum Framework 2000 (ICF-2000) and Career Space (CSP) with two confronting exercises. The first exercise introduces the concepts of planned, enacted, experienced, and hidden curriculum and applies these to the process of development and implementation of curriculum schemes in general. The second exercise positions the three curriculum schemes in a generic set of curriculum components that is being used frequently in, for example, secondary education as well as in other disciplines. It appears that quite a few components are not included. The paper concludes with some suggestions for improving the development process of curriculum schemes.
Providing curricular assistance to a third world university computer science department
Authors: Paxton John , Heredia Karim
Published: October 2004

Helping third world universities to improve their computer science curricula is an important obligation that first and second world computer science departments have. For third world countries, a technically skilled workforce that can compete in today's modern world is imperative for sustainable development.In this paper, we will describe a liaison between Montana State University (USA) and Don Bosco University (El Salvador) that resulted in the first author teaching three advanced computer science topics at Don Bosco University. The pedagogy related to teaching advanced topics to students of a different culture while being translated is described.We hope that this paper will convey how rewarding such an experience can be and to encourage other liaisons between computer science departments in the developed and developing parts of the world. Although the specifics of the experience described in this paper will almost certainly differ from your own, we believe that many of our general observations might be useful should you have the chance to be involved in a similar experience.
Preliminary experiences with a tablet PC based system to support active learning in computer science courses
Authors: Simon Beth , Anderson Ruth , Hoyer Crystal , Su Jonathan
Published: October 2004

There has been much research on the benefits of active and collaborative learning and on its use in computer science courses. As classroom technology becomes more prevalent it is natural to develop systems that support the use of these techniques. We have developed such a system as an extension to Classroom Presenter [2], a Tablet PC-based presentation system. In our system students (or groups of students) are equipped with tablet computers and at various points during the lecture, are asked to solve a problem or respond to a question. Students respond by writing their solution on the tablet and submitting it wirelessly to the instructor. The instructor can view all student responses, select one or more to display to the class, and annotate responses with ink as they are being displayed. Student responses can be saved for review after lecture by the instructor or made available electronically to the students. In this paper we describe the system and our initial experiences using the system in two classes (CS1 and Computer Ethics) at the University of San Diego in Fall 2003.
Promoting undergraduate research
Authors: Quade Ann M.
Published: October 2004

This paper describes a computer science course designed to develop and enhance undergraduates' research skills. The course pedagogy served to significantly reduce the faculty mentor's tedious task of building the mentee's research-related skill set, yet facilitated the establishment of partnerships between mentors and mentees.
A refreshing approach to an academic seminar course
Authors: Ragonis Noa
Published: October 2004

This paper describes a creative approach for the computer science (CS) academic seminar course. The seminar goal is to gain integration between the curriculums learnt topics, thus clarifying and enriching CS students' conceptual maps.
Learning O-O concepts in CS I using game projects
Authors: Leska Chuck , Rabung John
Published: October 2004

Teaching object-oriented design and programming in CS1 can benefit from problems that stimulate student interest, that yield to natural analysis under an object-oriented approach, and that provide a basis for extension and reuse. Our project endeavors to design, develop, and implement a set of games that spawn such problems spanning nearly the entirety of concepts presented in our CS1 course.
Student-oriented examination in a computer architecture course
Authors: Larsson Erik , Larsson Anders
Published: October 2004

Learning is a highly individual process.Some prefer learning by reading the course material, others learn best by listening to a lecture, while some like to learn in a trial-and-error way by themselves in a laboratory assignment. A good learning scheme is individual. A scheme that is good for some persons might not at all be good scheme for someone else. It is important to understand your own personal way to learn, but also when organizing a course individual learning alternatives should be acknowledged.Examination in a course can be seen as a test occasion or as a learning occasion. Traditionally, examination has been an occasion where knowledge is tested. Written exams can be used to test the theory and laboratory work to test practical aspects of the course material. For laboratory work the distinction between learning and test of learning is somewhat unclear.The learning and the test of learning are mixed. However, in general,examination can be seen as an occasion to learn and/or to test knowledge.We have, in a Computer Architecture course, taken the view that (1) learning is an individual process, and (2) that examination is a learning occasion. The consequence of our view (1) + (2) is basically that examination should be individual, or student-oriented. Alternatives to traditional examination is also supported when taking gender, cultural, and age perspectives. We therefore developed two examination tracks where the students in the beginning of the course decided what track to follow. Common for both tracks is that credits are given that can be counted for in the written exam. The students, individually or in pair, define their own laboratory task related to a course topic such as cache-memories or pipelines, solve the task and present the results in front of the class. Each student designs individually a multiple-choice pre-exam question (specifying what it tests, the question and correct answer). A student friend corrects the question and might improve it if needed. The teaching assistant selects questions for the multiple-choice pre-exam. Each student also creates individually one exam question, which a student friend corrects and if needed improves. Each part (lab presentation, creation and evaluation of pre-exam questions, pre-exam, and creation and evaluation of exam question) is given credits that are included in the written exam.
In the realm of si piuh
Authors: Bianco Giovanni M. , Tinazzi Simonetta
Published: October 2004

Teaching computer science to children is a big priority among the most of the EU Countries. Nevertheless, off-the-shelf Computer Science books are not particularly tailored to children, who rather need their own language, which is based on fantasy, self-identification, analogy, play, and diverse other features which characterize their bubbling world. These are the main motivations for the introduction of a novel and more children-oriented approach to Computer Science.The manual in use at the University of Verona illustrates the hardware components of a PC. It is composed of eight Chapters. Under the child's point of view, the PC is a Realm where diverse Subjects coexist together. The Realm is lead by His Majesty whose name is Si Piuh. The Mother and the servants are necessary for Si Piuh to complete the job. In this work we'll examine some features of the first chapter where the principal hardware components are presented.The hardware components can be imagined as people who live in a Realm. All the people of the Realm are Goblins, each one devoted to a particular role.With a bit of fantasy, in a Realm there are exactly the same relationships one can find in a PC: gates to the external world, artists who produce paintings and sounds, Masters who guide the whole process, libraries to store material, buses to transport material, ambassadors who know communication protocols, servants and as many other Subjects as one can imagine.The PC (i.e. the Realm) is lead by the CPU, i.e. His Majesty. The name of the king is Si Piuh, which stands for the Italian pronounce of CPU (fig. 1). Synchronizing all the activities inside the PC is a very hard work. By analogy, leading the Realm is not as easy as one can think.
Common environment for undergraduate computer programming
Authors: Price Colin , Price John
Published: October 2004

We present an Integrated Environment suitable for learning and teaching computer programming which is designed for both students of specialised Computer Science courses, and also non-specialist students such as those following Liberal Arts. The environment is rich enough to allow exploration of concepts from robotics, artificial intelligence, social science, and philosophy as well as the specialist areas of operating systems and the various computer programming paradigms.
Teaching OOP
Authors: Borge Richard
Published: October 2004

Last year, an experiment was conducted on six novice students, attempting to teach them OOP (Object Oriented Programming) in 2.5 days using Karel J. The students learnt making their own subclasses with methods after 8 hours. A follow-up experiment will be attempted, spanning over more days using children in elementary school.
OOP via C++, C#...?
Authors: Nodelman Vladimir
Published: October 2004

This presentation describes our experience in transition from C++ to C# while teaching object-oriented programming.
Approaches to object persistence in java projects
Authors: Paterson James H. , Haddow John
Published: October 2004

This presentation discusses and demonstrates the advantages and limitations of a range of object persistence strategies for use in student projects.
Addressing professional issues at postgraduate level
Authors: Joyce Donald , Young Alison
Published: October 2004

This paper reviews the authors' experiences of addressing professional issues with postgraduate computing students (at both masterate and doctorate levels).
The US national science foundation and the ITiCSE effort
Authors: Cunningham Steve , McDuffie Ernest , Taylor Harriet
Published: October 2004

We describe several National Science Foundation programs that support educational efforts in computer science.
Service based framework for knowledge portals
Authors: Ramakrishnan S. , Cambrell A.
Published: October 2004

This paper describes our work on establishing an on-line learning community to facilitate the interactions of the student (teams) in their group projects. It is illustrated with a Portal in the capstone project of our Bachelor of Software Engineering (BSE) course. [2] reported on our Monash University Software Engineering (MUSE) Studio Lab and the innovative software engineering capstone project experience. Our student teams used to store the various artefacts, which were produced as part of the SE Studio (capstone) projects on the servers in the studio lab. However, these SE product and process artefacts were not accessible uniformly through a web browser in a MUSE Portal. The Portal environment is aimed at providing a virtual learning space, knowledge aggregation and user management. In this paper, we provide details of our pedagogical service based framework, which has been designed and built to provide features to Portal users. The framework supports services such as group/team collaboration, task tracking, and project planning.The collaboration and learning services available from our Knowledge Portal is based on the learning activities as defined by [1] Nonaka1994. Nonaka defines: socializing to exchange views and develop trust between team members, dialoguing to share mental models and develop common vocabulary, systemising to combine knowledge by visualising interactions and constructing artifacts and exercising to communicate and reflect on outcomes. We follow a similar approach to enable team members to discuss and reflect on group findings with respect to SE processes & products during the year long SE Studio project, and reflect over individual thesis components.A pedagogical service based framework can service the current pedagogical needs of the SE group projects, other related subjects, and SE Honours research projects and is also extendible with more services on a demand basis. The focus has been on allowing custom subject specific services to be created without having the inherent overheads.A pedagogical framework with service based architecture has been built to provide services to the Portal users. The Portal Environment is the front-end through which services are exposed. Examples of services are: task tracking and project planning in group projects; collaboration between team members in a group project in a subject unit; knowledge repository of product/project assets; calendar facility etc. Support infrastructure services of user authentication, role and service allocation etc. are also managed via the portal environment.We show how on-line learning communities can be supported using the MUSE knowledge portal. The framework supports services such as team collaboration, task tracking, and project planning. The url for MUSE Portal is http://museportal.csse.monash.edu.au:8080/MUSEPortalWeb/.
Technology infrastructure supporting a medical & bioinformatics masters degree
Authors: Tusch Guenter , Leidig Paul , Wolffe Greg , Elrod David , Strebel Carl
Published: October 2004

Grand Valley State University has recently created a new Masters program in Medical & Bioinformatics. The M.S. degree, along with related degrees in Biostatistics and Biotechnology, are components of the "Professional Science Masters" development and implementation initiative supported by the Sloan Foundation. Key features of the new curriculum include an interdisciplinary framework with common core courses, the promotion and development of "soft skills" through teamwork and project management experiences, and an applied research focus highlighted by a mandatory business/industry internship. Instrumental to achieving these goals is a strong lab component to the curriculum that incorporates familiarity with industry-standard software packages. The laboratory infrastructure will be utilized by multiple courses, thus interconnecting different foci of the program and providing a complete experience for students.
Program animation in jeliot 3
Authors: Moreno Andrés , Myller Niko , Ben-Ari Mordechai , Sutinen Erkki
Published: October 2004

Jeliot is a family of program animation systems [1]. It has been
successfully used to improve the teaching of intro- ductory
programming by supplying a concrete language in which to explain
programming structures and concepts [2]. Jeliot 3 [4] retains the
novice-oriented GUI and animation display of the previous version,
Jeliot 2000. Both versions automatically visualize the execution of
user-written Java programs.Jeliot 3 introduces a new kind of design
in order to make the system extendable and to add new features [5].
The front-end of system has been replaced by the DynamicJava
interpreter, which was instrumented to produce an intermediate
code, MCode, describing the program's runtime trace. The MCode
trace is then rendered by the graphics back-end. The previous
version of Jeliot animated variables, expressions, I/O and static
method calls. Jeliot 3 is also capable of animating concepts for
object-oriented programming: objects, class inheritance,
constructors, method calls, instance fields, and reference
semantics of arrays and objects. Jeliot 3 is intended to be a
simple tool to be used in different kinds of learning scenarios
[3]. It can be used to show and teach the basics of programming
during a lecture. The lecturer can explain different concepts and
show their corresponding animations with Jeliot. Students may use
Jeliot 3 by themselves after the lectures to complete and
understand the follow-up assignments related to the concepts
learned at the lectures. Jeliot 3 can be used as a tool in
interactive laboratory sessions. The visual display of the program
can be used to facilitate communications about the errors. It can
also support virtual courses, as where Jeliot 3 provides a tool
that can assist students when external help is not available.
Jeliot 3 is available under the GPL for downloading at
http://www.cs.joensuu.fi/jeliot/. We intend to form a community
around Jeliot 3, where teachers, students and developers could
propose ideas and solutions in order to im- prove Jeliot 3 and the
teaching of programming. The forum is available on the website and
open for anyone interested. There are also plans for further
development, for example, a new tool called JeCo (Jeliot
Collaborative) [3] aims to integrate Jeliot 3 into a co-authoring
environment where students can develop and visualize their programs
together.
A learning object generator for programming
Authors: Ford Lindsey
Published: October 2004

We introduce a general tool for creating small learning scenarios (Learning Objects) that can be used by teachers and students for teaching/learning Java.
Using CITIDEL to develop and share class plans
Authors: Cassel Lillian N. , Fox Edward A. , Lee JAN , Pérez-Quiñones Manuel A. , Knox Deborah , Impagliazzo John , Giles Lee
Published: October 2004

This demonstration will illustrate the use of existing and proposed tools in CITIDEL for finding existing resources to integrate into a course and for developing well structured descriptions of class and laboratory activities for sharing with the computing community.
A single CASE environment for teaching and learning
Authors: Dixon Mark
Published: October 2004

This synopsis provides a description of a CASE Environment used within the education of software engineers.
Helicobacter pylori lipopolysaccharide activates Rac1 and transcription of NADPH oxidase Nox1 and its organizer NOXO1 in guinea pig gastric mucosal cells
Authors: Kawahara Tsukasa , Kohjima Motoyuki , Kuwano Yuki , Mino Hisano , Teshima-Kondo Shigetada , Takeya Ryu , Tsunawaki Shohko , Wada Akihiro , Sumimoto Hideki , Rokutan Kazuhito
Published: October 2004

Primary cultures of guinea pig gastric mucosal cells express NADPH oxidase 1 (Nox1), a homolog of gp91 phox, and produce superoxide anion (O2−) at a rate of ∼100 nmol·mg protein−1·h−1 in response to Helicobacter pylori ( H. pylori) lipopolysaccharide (LPS) from virulent type I strains. The upregulated O2− production also enhances H. pylori LPS-stimulated tumor necrosis factor-α or cyclooxygenase-2 mRNA expression, which suggests a potential role for Nox1 in the pathogenesis of H. pylori-associated diseases. The H. pylori LPS-stimulated O2− production in cultured gastric mucosal cells was inhibited by actinomycin D as well as cycloheximide, suggesting that the induction is regulated at the transcriptional level. The LPS treatment not only increased the Nox1 mRNA to a greater extent but also induced expression of the message-encoding, Nox-organizing protein 1 (NOXO1), a novel p47 phox homolog required for Nox1 activity. In addition, H. pylori LPS activated Rac1; i.e., it converted Rac1 to the GTP-bound state. A phosphoinositide 3-kinase inhibitor, LY-294002, blocked H. pylori LPS-induced Rac1 activation and O2− generation without interfering with the expression of Nox1 and NOXO1 mRNA. O2− production inhibited by LY-294002 was completely restored by transfection of an adenoviral vector encoding a constitutively active Rac1 but not an inactive Rac1 or a constitutively active Cdc42. These findings indicate that Rac1 plays a crucial role in Nox1 activation. Thus the H. pylori LPS-stimulated O2− production in gastric mucosal cells appears to require two distinct events: 1) transcriptional upregulation of Nox1 and NOXO1 and 2) activation of Rac1.
Differential regulation of voltage-gated K+ channels by oxidized and reduced pyridine nucleotide coenzymes
Authors: Tipparaju Srinivas M. , Saxena Nina , Liu Si-Qi , Kumar Rajiv , Bhatnagar Aruni
Published: October 2004

The activity of the voltage-sensitive K+ (Kv) channels varies as a function of the intracellular redox state and metabolism, and several Kv channels act as oxygen sensors. However, the mechanisms underlying the metabolic and redox regulation of these channels remain unclear. In this study we investigated the regulation of Kv channels by pyridine nucleotides. Heterologous expression of Kvα1.5 in COS-7 cells led to the appearance of noninactivating currents. Inclusion of 0.1–1 mM NAD+ or 0.03–0.5 mM NADP+ in the internal solution of the patch pipette did not affect Kv currents. However, 0.5 and 1 mM NAD+ and 0.1 and 0.5 mM NADP+ prevented inactivation of Kv currents in cells transfected with Kvα1.5 and Kvβ1.3 and shifted the voltage dependence of activation to depolarized potentials. The Kvβ-dependent inactivation of Kvα currents was also decreased by internal pipette perfusion of the cell with 1 mM NAD+. The Kvα1.5-Kvβ1.3 currents were unaffected by the internal application of 0.1 mM NADPH or 0.1 or 1 mM NADH. Excised inside-out patches from cells expressing Kvα1.5-Kvβ1.3 showed transient single-channel activity. The mean open time and the open probability of these currents were increased by the inclusion of 1 mM NAD+ in the perfusate. These results suggest that NAD(P)+ prevents Kvβ-mediated inactivation of Kv currents and provide a novel mechanism by which pyridine nucleotides could regulate specific K+ currents as a function of the cellular redox state [NAD(P)H-to-NAD(P)+ ratio].
Skeletal muscle fiber atrophy: altered thin filament density changes slow fiber force and shortening velocity
Authors: Riley D. A. , Bain J. L. W. , Romatowski J. G. , Fitts R. H.
Published: October 2004

Single skinned fibers from soleus and adductor longus (AL) muscles of weight-bearing control rats and rats after 14-day hindlimb suspension unloading (HSU) were studied physiologically and ultrastructurally to investigate how slow fibers increase shortening velocity ( V0) without fast myosin. We hypothesized that unloading and shortening of soleus during HSU reduces densities of thin filaments, generating wider myofilament separations that increase V0 and decrease specific tension (kN/m2). During HSU, plantarflexion shortened soleus working length 23%. AL length was unchanged. Both muscles atrophied as shown by reductions in fiber cross-sectional area. For AL, the 60% atrophy accounted fully for the 58% decrease in absolute tension (mN). In the soleus, the 67% decline in absolute tension resulted from 58% atrophy plus a 17% reduction in specific tension. Soleus fibers exhibited a 25% reduction in thin filaments, whereas there was no change in AL thin filament density. Loss of thin filaments is consistent with reduced cross bridge formation, explaining the fall in specific tension. V0 increased 27% in soleus but was unchanged in AL. The V0 of control and HSU fibers was inversely correlated ( R = −0.83) with thin filament density and directly correlated ( R = 0.78) with thick-to-thin filament spacing distance in a nonlinear fashion. These data indicate that reduction in thin filament density contributes to an increased V0 in slow fibers. Osmotically compacting myofilaments with 5% dextran returned density, spacing, and specific tension and slowed V0 to near-control levels and provided evidence for myofilament spacing modulating tension and V0.