Speaker: Robert McCartney
Computer Science & Engineering, University of Connecticut
Monday, Febuary 6, 2006
11:00 am - 12:00 pm
EBU3B 4140

ABSTRACT
In this talk, I describe results from an analysis of student-generated software designs collected in a large multi-institutional, multi-national study. By using a semantic categorization, we are able to group software designs based on meaningful characteristics. Subsequent analysis suggests that students are not well-prepared for open-minded or under-defined tasks. This work is joint with Anna Eckerdal, Jan Erik Mostrom, Mark Ratcliffe, and Carol Zander.

Additionally, I will discuss some general issues concerned with Computer Science Education research while emphasizing multi-institutional, multi-national empirical studies.

BIO
Robert McCartney received B.S. and M.S. degrees in Natural Resources from the University of Michigan. After a number of years working in a photobiology laboratory at the Smithsonian Institution, he returned to school in Computer Science at Brown University, where he received Sc.M. and Ph.D. degrees in Computer Science. Since 1987 he as been a member of the Computer Science and Engineering department at the University of Connecticut. His research interests have included a broad range of topics in Artificial Intelligence: case-based reasoning, planning, legal reasoning, robotics, and diagrammatic reasoning. In recent years he has concentrated more on CS Education research, collaborating on a variety of projects with researchers in North America, Europe, and Australia, and serving on the editorial board of the journal Computer Science Education.