In this study, the majority of sampled undergraduate students recognize the importance of teamwork within the Computer Science discipline. However, a number of students have not had the opportunity to work in teams or, if so, some have had negative experiences with teamwork. Within the context of a database systems course, teamwork is actively supported in the classroom by providing in-class activities that students complete in assigned teams. A pedagogical methodology known as SCALE-UP (Student-Centered Activities for Large Enrollment Undergraduate Programs) was modified while redeveloping the extant curriculum to satisfy instructor, student and course requirements. The results of the concurrent evaluation surpassed expectations both with regard to course delivery and student perception of teamwork. While this work is primarily exploratory, the results of the evaluation plus recommendations for redeployment are offered in order to encourage further investigation.

The material taught in a Formal Languages course is mathematical in nature and requires students to practice proofs and algorithms to understand the content. Traditional Formal Languages textbooks are heavy on prose, and homework typically consists of solving many paper exercises. Some instructors make use of finite state machine simulators like the JFLAP package. JFLAP helps students by allowing them to build models and apply various algorithms on these models, which improves student interaction with the studied material. However, students still need to read a significant amount of text and practice problems by hand to achieve understanding. Inspired by the principles of the Programmed Instruction (PI) teaching method, we seek to develop a new Formal Languages eTextbook capable of conveying these concepts more intuitively. The PI approach has students read a little, ideally a sentence or a paragraph, and then answer a question or complete an exercise related to that information. Based on the question response, students can continue to other information frames or retry to solve the exercise. Our goal is to present all algorithms using algorithm visualizations and produce proficiency exercises to let students demonstrate understanding. To evaluate the pedagogical effectiveness of our new eTextbook, we conduct time and performance evaluations across two offerings of the course CS4114 Formal Languages and Automata. In time evaluation, the time spent by students looking at instructional content with text and visualizations versus with PI frames is compared to determine levels of student engagement. In performance evaluation, students grades are compared to assess learning gains with text and paper exercises only, with text, visualizations with exercises, and with PI frames. / Doctor of Philosophy / Theory textbooks in computer science are hard to read and understand. Traditionally, instructors use books that are heavy on mathematical prose and paper exercises. Sometimes, instructors use simulators to allow students to create, simulate, and test models. Previously, we found that students tend to skip reading the text presented in the books. This leads to less understanding of the topics taught in the course. To increase student engagement, we developed a new eTextbook for the Formal Languages course. We used pedagogy based on Programmed Instruction, presenting the content in the form of short bits of prose followed by the related question. If students can solve the question correctly, this means that they understood the content and are ready to move forward. To help both instructors and students, we developed a new Formal Languages simulator named OpenFLAP. OpenFLAP allows instructors to create many exercises, and OpenFLAP can grade these exercises automatically.

Name of the thesis: Pedagogical evaluation of the annual training program 800m runner in 2010 and 2011. Author: Bc. Michal Novák Tutor: odb. as. Aleš Kaplan Aims of the thesis: A descriptive analysis of a two years-long training cycles from the perspective of the different training means, load characteristics and the relations between the sport performance and its efficiency. Methodology: In this thesis the method of pedagogical evaluation using the qualitative analysis of the training documents was applied. Results: Using tempo and special endurance throughout the racing season was achieved maximum efficiency in both monitored zones. Despite his health problems, the racer achieved his personal bests during the second season (2011), which was reached by improving the section of his speed and very through rehabilitation, which facilitated his quick comeback after the injury Key words: pedagogical evaluation, qualitative analysis, 800m run, general training index, special training index