CS-ED.org 2005-01-27T13:15:15Z tag:www.cs-ed.org,2005://3 Movable Type Copyright (c) 2005, mjadud Student needs in the classroom 2005-01-27T13:15:15Z 2005-01-27T11:51:11Z tag:www.cs-ed.org,2005://3.564 2005-01-27T11:51:11Z Recently on the PLT Scheme mailing list, a question came up regarding the DrScheme editor pane and students with particular vision needs. Students with vision difficulties often increase text size and reverse colors for higher contrast; the question was whether... mjadud http://www.cs-ed.org/blogs/mjadud/ matt@jadud.com Teaching Recently on the PLT Scheme mailing list, a question came up regarding the DrScheme editor pane and students with particular vision needs. Students with vision difficulties often increase text size and reverse colors for higher contrast; the question was whether or not this was possible in DrScheme.

The answer is that yes, in the currently-beta-but-usable-and-soon-to-be-released version, it is possible to completely invert the colors.

drscheme-dark.jpg

As pedagogic IDEs take their place in the classroom (as opposed to introducing students to programming using a professional environments like Eclipse, or with no support at all, like the command line), it will become more important that these kinds of needs are addressed.

(Alas, there is an error in the Scheme code above. Had it followed the methodology laid out in How to Design Programs, the mistake might have been avoided!)

]]> Programming for the Blind 2005-01-13T03:19:33Z 2005-01-13T03:19:12Z tag:www.cs-ed.org,2005://3.544 2005-01-13T03:19:12Z Recently asked on the SIGCSE mailing list was about tools for supporting blind programmers (students). A few things came to light that are worth mentioning; if anything else should be added, please let us know. In no particular order: The... mjadud http://www.cs-ed.org/blogs/mjadud/ matt@jadud.com Teaching Recently asked on the SIGCSE mailing list was about tools for supporting blind programmers (students). A few things came to light that are worth mentioning; if anything else should be added, please let us know.

In no particular order:


  • The new Mac OSX (10.4) has "screen reading" built into the OS. That is, out-of-the-box, it should provide a rich spoken interface. Called VoiceOver, we don't have any first-hand experience with it at this time.

  • Silias Brown has a webpage with some good resources; he is partially sighted himself.

  • JAWS was mentioned more than once; a Windows-based solution.

  • The work of Gary Bishop at UNC Chapel Hill was mentioned.

  • Lambda the Ultimate had a live thread on a similar topic at the same time the question was asked. In that thread, a pointer to the Harmonia project at Berkely was made. "Programming by Voice" is perhaps a quick summary, but this is a rich project that can't be captured in just a few words; take a look.

  • Dasher was discussed as well, but someone would need to develop either A) a language model that worked for programming, or B) a yacc-like language model that supported all languages. Currently, Dasher is only an n-gram based model that predicts n-gram+1.

]]> Site move 2004-08-23T17:23:48Z 2004-08-23T17:22:05Z tag:www.cs-ed.org,2004://3.326 2004-08-23T17:22:05Z CS-ED.org has moved servers; some hiccups will certainly happen, and will be dealt with in due time. This move was carried out primarily to enable more, interesting projects to happen here. "More" means "any," although there are two in the... mjadud http://www.cs-ed.org/blogs/mjadud/ matt@jadud.com CS-ED.org has moved servers; some hiccups will certainly happen, and will be dealt with in due time. This move was carried out primarily to enable more, interesting projects to happen here.

"More" means "any," although there are two in the pipe, so I guess that counts.

]]> CFP: CREU Program 2004-08-22T22:01:50Z 2004-05-16T09:23:56Z tag:www.cs-ed.org,2004://3.294 2004-05-16T09:23:56Z Deadline: July 1, 2004 Please refer to http://www.cra.org/craw/creu for details on eligibility, evaluation criteria, proposal format, and submission information. The Computing Research Association's Committee on the Status of Women in Computing Research (CRA-W), in conjunction with the Coalition to Diversify... mjadud http://www.cs-ed.org/blogs/mjadud/ matt@jadud.com Research Deadline: July 1, 2004

Please refer to http://www.cra.org/craw/creu for details on eligibility, evaluation criteria, proposal format, and submission information.

The Computing Research Association's Committee on the Status of Women in Computing Research (CRA-W), in conjunction with the Coalition to Diversify Computing (CDC), is pleased to announce a program that involves undergraduate students in research. The goal of this initiative is to increase the numbers of women and minorities who continue on to graduate school in computer science and engineering.

The program, called Collaborative Research Experience for Undergraduates (CREU), is designed to provid positive research experiences for teams of undergraduates who will work during the academic year at their home institutions. Formerly administered as the CREW program, the program has been expanded to encourage young computer scientists and engineers from all underrepresented groups to consider graduate school, either directly or indirectly.

]]>
Students will work with one or two sponsoring faculty members on a project for which monetary support is typically not available. Students will each receive a stipend of $1,000 for their work. Each project will also receive $500, to be used for special equipment, travel, supporting materials, or as an honorarium for the faculty member(s).

At the end of the project, students will be required to submit a one-page summary of their work. These summaries will be posted on the CRA-W web site. In addition, students are also encouraged to submit papers and to present their work to other appropriate journals and conferences.

Teams consisting of all women or all underrepresented minorities are especially encouraged to apply. In order to support the exchange of shared common experiences, individual teams should be homogeneous with respect to minority status or gender.

TIMELINE
Application Deadline*: June 14, 2004 - EXTENDED to July 1, 2004
Notification of Awards: August 2, 2004
Project Research: September 1, 2004 - June 1, 2005
Final Summary Report: June 1, 2005

* Proposals after this date will be considered this first year up until October 1, 2004, subject to funding availability.

NOTE: If you have already submitted your application for the 2004 CREW program to Mary Lange or Joan Francioni, you do not need to resend your application. Your application will be evaluated for the CREU Program.

SPONSORSHIP
This initiative is sponsored by the Computing Research Association Committee on the Status of Women in Computing Research (CRA-W) in cooperation with the National Science Foundation, USENIX and the National Science Foundation's Partnership for Advanced Computational Infrastructure's Education, Outreach and Training program.

]]> Fulbright Scholar Program 2004-08-22T22:01:50Z 2004-05-04T14:49:14Z tag:www.cs-ed.org,2004://3.293 2004-05-04T14:49:14Z The Fulbright program is an excellent opportunity for recent graduates and young faculty to travel and experience academic environments. From the Fulbright website: For over 50 years, the Council for International Exchange of Scholars (CIES) has helped administer the Fulbright... mjadud http://www.cs-ed.org/blogs/mjadud/ matt@jadud.com Research The Fulbright program is an excellent opportunity for recent graduates and young faculty to travel and experience academic environments. From the Fulbright website:

For over 50 years, the Council for International Exchange of Scholars (CIES) has helped administer the Fulbright Scholar Program, the U.S. government's flagship academic exchange effort, on behalf of the United States Department of State, Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs. Founded in 1947, CIES is a private organization. It is a division of the Institute of International Education (IIE).

CIES annually recruits and sends nearly 800 U.S. faculty and professionals to 140 countries on its traditional program and brings 800 foreign faculty and professionals to the U.S.

Mentioned recently on the SIGCSE mailing list, a number Fulbright programs are listed for the 2005-2006 academic year. If you're in the USA (and looking to get out), this can be an excellent (career-enhancing, life-enriching) way to do so.

Links:

]]> CFP: Special issue of CSE (Doctoral Research in CS-ED) 2004-08-22T22:01:49Z 2004-05-02T12:08:16Z tag:www.cs-ed.org,2004://3.292 2004-05-02T12:08:16Z Special issue of the Journal of Computer Science Education Dissertation Doctoral Research CS Education September 2005 Guest Editors: Sue Fitzgerald, Metropolitan State University Mark Guzdial, Georgia Institute of Technology Submission Deadline: June 15, 2004 Journal Information: http://www.szp.swets.nl/szp/journals/cs.htm Research undertaken in... mjadud http://www.cs-ed.org/blogs/mjadud/ matt@jadud.com CFP Special issue of the Journal of Computer Science Education
Dissertation Doctoral Research CS Education
September 2005

Guest Editors:
Sue Fitzgerald, Metropolitan State University
Mark Guzdial, Georgia Institute of Technology

Submission Deadline: June 15, 2004
Journal Information: http://www.szp.swets.nl/szp/journals/cs.htm

Research undertaken in pursuit of a doctorate degree in any field is important because it is the first work of the next generation of researchers and highlights the areas of particular interest for the field. Doctoral research in our field is particularly interesting because the researchers have a different perspective. Most of the research in CS Education is undertaken by teaching-active faculty. Doctoral students have the opportunity to reflect on our field from the perspective of studying the teaching and learning practice, often apart from being the actual teacher or learner. Thus, doctoral research offers a particularly interesting lens from which to view our field.

The guest editors invites authors to submit manuscripts for a special issue devoted to dissertation doctoral research on areas pertaining to computer science education. This issue will feature completed doctoral research from the past four years that reports novel contributions to the field of computer science education and meets high academic standards. Manuscripts should include a description of the problem worked on, appropriate background research, method of data collection and analyses, findings, open problems, and future research.

]]> CFP: SIGCSE 2005 2004-08-22T22:01:49Z 2004-05-01T23:11:14Z tag:www.cs-ed.org,2004://3.291 2004-05-01T23:11:14Z The 36th ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education St. Louis, Missouri. URL: http://www.ithaca.edu/sigcse2005/ Deadline for papers, panels, special sessions, and workshops: Submission deadline Friday, Sept. 10, 2004 Acceptance notification Monday, Nov. 8, 2004 Camera-ready copy due Tuesday, Nov. 23,... mjadud http://www.cs-ed.org/blogs/mjadud/ matt@jadud.com CFP The 36th ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education
St. Louis, Missouri.

URL: http://www.ithaca.edu/sigcse2005/

Deadline for papers, panels, special sessions, and workshops:


  • Submission deadline
    Friday, Sept. 10, 2004

  • Acceptance notification
    Monday, Nov. 8, 2004

  • Camera-ready copy due
    Tuesday, Nov. 23, 2004

]]>