Computer Science is a complex field, and even experts do not always agree how the field should be defined. Though a moderate amount is known about how precollege students think about the field of CS, less is known about how CS majors' conceptions of the field develop during the undergraduate curriculum. Given the difficulty of understanding CS, how do students make educational decisions like what electives or specializations to pursue? This work presents a theory of student conceptions of CS, based on 37 interviews with students and student advisers and analyzed with a grounded theory approach. Students tend to have one of three main views about CS: CS as an academic discipline focused on the mathematical study of algorithms, CS as mostly about programming but also incorporating supporting subfields, and CS as a broad discipline with many different (programming and non-programming) subfields. I have also developed and piloted a survey instrument to determine how prevalent each kind of conception is in the undergraduate population. I also present a theory of student educational decisions in CS. Students do not usually have specific educational goals in CS and instead take an exploratory approach to their classes. Particularly enjoyable or unenjoyable classes cause them to narrow their educational focus. As a result, students do not reason very deeply about the CS content of their classes when they make educational decisions. This work makes three main contributions: the theory of student conceptions, the theory of student educational decisions, and the preliminary survey instrument for evaluating student conceptions. This work has applications in CS curriculum design as well as for future research in the CS education community.

Please read the abstract in the section 00front of this document / Thesis (PhD (Educational Guidance and Counseling))--University of Pretoria, 2005. / Educational Psychology / unrestricted

This thesis documents an action research project that was carried out within the Department of Computing Sciences at the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University (NMMU), South Africa, from January 2010 to December 2011. The overall aim of the research was to foster an environment in which academics could explore ways to teach using an integrative approach to education. Previous research within the department had raised the concern that students were graduating without the type of high-level cognitive skills that were required in the workplace. While the students’ technical skills were perceived as being excellent, employers indicated that students would benefit from opportunities to develop or improve skills such as communication, teamwork, innovative thinking and time management. These skills include high-level cognitive skills, and are often referred to as “soft skills”. The academics participating in the research project came to believe that it was essential to develop teaching methods that would provide opportunities for students to develop these soft skills, in conjunction with the content and technical knowledge currently addressed in their courses. The research project followed the living theory approach to action research. A living theory action research project allows the researcher to investigate her own teaching, and develop a theory of practice. The theory of practice can be applied to the issues under investigation, to improve the situation or solve problems. At the same time, the theory of practice can contribute to the body of knowledge within the academic domain of the research. Action research is an iterative, cyclical process. There were four research cycles, each one semester in length, during the two years of the project. The project will continue, with a fifth research cycle, starting in January 2012. By the end of the fourth research cycle—Semester Two, 2011—there were eleven academics actively participating in the research group. The project had extended its influence to include academics from the Department of Mathematics at NMMU. The academics ranged from senior, long-serving professors to junior lecturing staff. The results of the research, or the researcher-practitioner’s living theory, explain the process by which an effective and enthusiastic community of practice, dedicated to improving the academics’ teaching and learning practice, was developed. The living theory is applicable to academics within a scientific discipline, desiring to explore and improve their education practice. My living theory explains the characteristics of the TLC (The Learning Community) space, and the action strategies for creating such a space. The explanation of the process of this project includes an analysis of the development process of the research group, typical characteristics of the environment or “space” of the group, and action strategies that other academics could use to create a similar community of practice.

Virtually all government and industry information and control systems rely upon computer professionals for systems development and maintenance. With the national workforce growing at only one percent annually and enrollments in computer and information sciences college programs declining, the need exists to obtain a continued contribution of good work from our existing workforce. A multiple-phase, multiple-case study research project was performed to develop an understanding of how technical currency is maintained, not as a discrete phenomenon, but within the setting of the work environment, considering project experiences, organizational relationships, professional preparation and continuing professional education, and individual motivation. Previous research indicated that project experiences contributed to, or provided a vehicle for, maintaining technical currency. Maintaining technical currency was found to require a continuous process involving organizational relationships, the individual's perceived value in the organization, constant assessments and evaluations of current and desired project involvement or position attainment, repeated and varied learning episodes, and actual project experiences. Individuals were motivated to take specific actions, such as participating in training courses, when such action was expected to yield a benefit. Project experiences alone were not sufficient to maintain technical currency, although they were an essential element. While formal education in preparation for a career was critical, formal courses did not contribute as significantly as other forms of continuing professional education to maintaining technical currency. A Technical Currency Model was generated that explains how individuals expend energy in one or more of five focus areas depending on their motivation at the time: (a) technical qualification for a project or position; (b) political qualification for a project or position; (c) performing on a project or in a position; (d) determining that change is appropriate; and (e) seeking the next project or position. / Ph. D.

The implementation of a learning environment for young African American males, called the Glitch Game Testers, was launched in 2009. The development of this program was based on formative work that looked at the contrasting use of digital games between young African American males and individuals who chose to become computer science majors. Through analysis of cultural values and digital game play practices, the program was designed to intertwine authentic game development practices and computer science learning. The resulting program employed 25 African American male high school students to test pre-release digital games full-time in the summer and part-time in the school year, with an hour of each day dedicated to learning introductory computer science. Outcomes for persisting in computer science education are remarkable; of the 16 participants who had graduated from high school as of 2012, 12 have gone on to school in computing-related majors. These outcomes, and the participants' enthusiasm for engaging in computing, are in sharp contrast to the crisis in African American male education and learning motivation. The research presented in this dissertation discusses the formative research that shaped the design of Glitch, the evaluation of the implementation of Glitch, and a theoretical investigation of the way in which participants navigated conflicting motivations in learning environments.

The human resource is constantly cited as an organisation's greatest asset. In a rapidly changing technological environment this is most applicable to the Information Technology (IT) function. Organisations are experiencing IT human resource problems such as low satisfaction, early plateauing, high turnover, burnout, limited advancement potential, nominal corporate commitment, supervisory aversion, poor organisational culture, and exceptional compensation. These problems are directly related to the IT professional's career. There is a lack of information and awareness surrounding IT careers to deal effectively with these problems. The research aims to create increased awareness of IT careers and the inherent problems through the development of a career management model. The research aims to identify the factors that influence IT careers, provide career management with a means to measure compatibility of the factors, and suggest solutions to incompatibility. The solving of this problem will be of mutual benefit to both organisations and individuals as they seek to better manage IT careers. After reviewing research literature relating to career anchors, IT job types, IT skills portfolios, and career dynamics a model for Effective IT Career Management (EITCM) has been constructed. The model represents the dynamic interactions between individual, organisational, and dependent factors. The model examines the compatibility of these interacting factors by measuring the levels of relevant career variables. The model suggests appropriate career management techniques to increase the compatibility of the interacting factors. An empirical study was designed and launched online to provide data that would confirm the seven Critical Success Factors (CSF) relating to the proposed model. The responses from the members of the Computer Society of South Africa (CSSA) allowed the seven hypotheses derived from the CSFs to be tested. The results of the empirical study were positive but required modification to five of the CSFs before they could be confirmed. The EITCM model was modified to reflect the improved CSFs. An awareness of career influencing factors combined with active career management is advantageous to both IT professionals and their organisations.