The Shape of Informatics

1. The Shape of Informatics Su WhiteUniversity of Southampton Alastair IronsNorthumbria Universityhttp://www.ics.heacademy.ac.uk/education_europe/Session_4/17_Su_White.doc/ Informatics Education EuropeMontpellier November 2006

2. Southampton & Northumbria We are looking for a perspective ..in Europe….in the world… Informatics Education EuropeMontpellier November 2006

3. Informatics:The science of information “ Informatics is the science of information. It studies the representation, processing, and communication of information in natural and artificial systems. Since computers, individuals and organizations all process information, informatics has computational, cognitive and social aspects. Used as a compound, in conjunction with the name of a discipline, as in medical informatics, bio-informatics, etc., it denotes the specialization of informatics to the management and processing of data, information and knowledge in the named discipline”. International Encyclopaedia of Information and Library Science. Routledge (2002) extended version at http://publish.inf.ed.ac.uk/publications/online/0139.pdf Informatics Education EuropeMontpellier November 2006

4. Motivations and perspectives • Falling numbers • Changing assumptions • what do we understand about our discipline) • BCS/ACM • Accreditation and expectation • Bologna • Making us think about change • International Curricula • Global Mobility • Strategic…. and vulnerable Informatics Education EuropeMontpellier November 2006

5. These areas were identified among UK universities Informatics Education EuropeMontpellier November 2006

6. 1 Representation of information 2 Formalism in information processing 3 Information modelling 4 Algorithmics 5 System design Software development Potentials and limitations of computing and related technologies 8 Computer systems and architectures 9 Computer-based communication 10 Social and ethical implications 11 Personal and interpersonal skills 12 Broader perspectives and context (includes links with other disciplines) Curriculum Framework IFIP/UNESCO's Informatics Curriculum Framework 2000 for Higher Education. UNESCO Informatics Education EuropeMontpellier November 2006

7. Current Educational Practice • two year foundation degrees • a relatively new and small offering; • three year undergraduate degrees (BA, BSc, BEng) • the most frequently occurring; • four year undergraduate masters degrees (MEng) • Bologna Headache • one year post-graduate masters degrees (MSc) • Top up or conversion How does this compare with the experience in the rest of Europe? Informatics Education EuropeMontpellier November 2006

8. Survey at HEA-ICS 2006 Curriculum over burdened with CS theory Curriculum breadthCS, IT, Multimedia, Library and Information Science, Information Sciences, Electronic Publishing and Knowledge Management. balance between education and training? What is the role of programming Policy declining student numbers proportion of male and female students gender distribution of academic staff. enhancing the discipline’s public reputation school experience of ICT misleads students’ understanding of what our students study the skills knowledge and understanding they gain Academics’ Perspective Informatics Education EuropeMontpellier November 2006

9. Academics’ Perspectives Learning and Teaching • Academic integrity and student plagiarism • How do students go about learning, and how do we engage students more? • Thinking beyond assessments • Project work and integrated assessment • The relationship between student learning and feedback • What techniques are most appropriate for which topics? • How can we exploit and understand new and emerging technologies • Rethinking physical learning environment • Understanding the relationship between the physical environment and motivation of students Informatics Education EuropeMontpellier November 2006

10. When we map Informatics Our picture needs to look beyond the syllabus and curriculum Informatics Education EuropeMontpellier November 2006

11. Perspectives for future discussion • Policy • Governmental, • stakeholders eg: HPCS, BCS, • departmental • Curriculum • Levels (content, core, future proofing), • Content (and process) • Learning and teaching, • Educational practice Informatics Education EuropeMontpellier November 2006

12. Conclusions We should begin designing Informatics for the Future Take into accoung • Research • Science of the Web • increasing pan-European collaborations Observations… • Will be accelerated by administrative changes: Bologna • Gains to be made from collaborative working and learning equip our students to be the researchers and informed decision makers of the future Informatics Education EuropeMontpellier November 2006

13. Future work Pan European collaboration? Future sources of funding? Possible issues • A contour map of European Informatics • Relationship between teaching and research • Web Science and Tomorrow’s Curriculum Informatics Education EuropeMontpellier November 2006

14. Thank You  Dr Su White Electronics and Computer Science University of Southampton saw@ecs.soton.ac.uk Informatics Education EuropeMontpellier November 2006

15. References [1] Berners-Lee, T., Hall, W., Hendler, J., Shadbolt, N., Weitzner, D.J., Creating a Science of the Web. Science 11 August 2006 313:5788 (2006) 769 - 771 [2] Fincher, S., Lister, R., Pears, A., Sheard, J., Tenenberg, J., Young, A., Multi-Institutional Teaching Communities in Computer Education. [3] Fourman, M., Informatics. In: Feather, J., Sturges, P. (eds.): International Encyclopaedia of Information and Library Science. Routledge (2002) extended version at http://publish.inf.ed.ac.uk/publications/online/0139.pdf [4] HEFCE, The Roberts Report on Strategically Important and Vulnerable Subjects: HEFCE 24/05. Higher Education Funding Council for England, Bristol (2005) [5] Kay, D.G., van der Hoek, A., Richardson, D.J., Informatics: A Focus on Computer Science in Context. Proceedings of the 36th SIGCSE technical symposium on Computer science education (2005) 551-555 [6] Montgomery, T., Informatics Knowledge Mapping and Curriculum Design: A Clear Role for IFIP and UNESCO. Teleteaching’98: Distance Learning, Training & Education Proceedings of the XV IFIP World Computer Congress (1998) 747–758 [7] Mulder, F., van Weert, T., IFIP/UNESCO's Informatics Curriculum Framework 2000 for Higher Education. UNESCO, Paris (2000) [8] Mulder, F., van Weert, T., Informatics Curriculum Framework 2000 for Higher Education. Proceedings of Conference on Educational Uses of information and Communication Technologies, pp151-156, at 16th World Computer Congress, Beijing, August (2000) 21-25 [9] Shackelford, R., McGettrick, A., Sloan, R., Topi, H., Davies, G., Kamali, R., Cross, J., Impagliazzo, J., LeBlanc, R., Lunt, B., Computing Curricula 2005: The Overview Report. ACM SIGCSE Bulletin 38:1 (2006) 456-457 [10] Tenenberg, J., Wang, Q., Using Course Portfolios to Create a Disciplinary Commons across Institutions. Journal of Computing Sciences in Colleges 21:1 (2005) 142-149 [11] van Weert, T.J., Mulder, F., Modern Curriculum Development for Informatics (Computing Science). Proceedings of the IFIP TC3/WG3. 1&3. 2 Open Conference on Informatics and The Digital Society: Social, Ethical and Cognitive Issues on Informatics and ICT (2002) 285-296 Informatics Education EuropeMontpellier November 2006