| 1. |
- Dagiene, V., et al.
(författare)
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Reasoning on children’s cognitive skills in an informatics contest: Findings and discoveries from Finland, Lithuania, and Sweden
- 2014
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Ingår i: Informatics in Schools. - Cham : Springer Verlag. - 9783319099576 ; , s. 66-77
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Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- In this paper, we present the results from a multi-national study of students’ results in the international IT contest “Bebras”. Be-bras provides motivating and game-like tasks in the format of multiple-choice questions and interactive problems to students in grades 2-12. Our study focuses on the results of nearly 8 000 students aged 10-13 in Finland (n=852), Sweden (n=201) and Lithuania (n=7 022), using gender, task and country as the underlying variables. In addition to presenting the overall results of the three student groups, we also analyse a subset of tasks in common according to Blooms taxonomy and put forward detailed results for these tasks with regard to gender and country. The results show that there is no difference in performance between boys and girls in this age group. Our findings also indicate that there was a slight mismatch between the difficulty level of the tasks used in the contest and students’ actual abilities; finding more efficient and trustworthy ways of evaluating difficulty levels upfront and choosing a suitable task set is hence important for upcoming contests.
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| 2. |
- Drevinge, Christina, 1983, et al.
(författare)
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Perilipin 5 is protective in the ischemic heart
- 2016
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Ingår i: International Journal of Cardiology. - : Elsevier BV. - 0167-5273 .- 1874-1754. ; 219, s. 446-454
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Background: Myocardial ischemia is associated with alterations in cardiac metabolism, resulting in decreased fatty acid oxidation and increased lipid accumulation. Here we investigate how myocardial lipid content and dynamics affect the function of the ischemic heart, and focus on the role of the lipid droplet protein perilipin 5 (Plin5) in the pathophysiology of myocardial ischemia. Methods and results: We generated Plin5(-/-) mice and found that Plin5 deficiency dramatically reduced the triglyceride content in the heart. Under normal conditions, Plin5(-/-) mice maintained a close to normal heart function by decreasing fatty acid uptake and increasing glucose uptake, thus preserving the energy balance. However, during stress or myocardial ischemia, Plin5 deficiency resulted in myocardial reduced substrate availability, severely reduced heart function and increased mortality. Importantly, analysis of a human cohort with suspected coronary artery disease showed that a common noncoding polymorphism, rs884164, decreases the cardiac expression of PLIN5 and is associated with reduced heart function following myocardial ischemia, indicating a role for Plin5 in cardiac dysfunction. Conclusion: Our findings indicate that Plin5 deficiency alters cardiac lipid metabolism and associates with reduced survival following myocardial ischemia, suggesting that Plin5 plays a beneficial role in the heart following ischemia. (C) 2016 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ireland Ltd.
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| 3. |
- Engström, Gunnar, et al.
(författare)
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Pulmonary function and atherosclerosis in the general population : causal associations and clinical implications
- 2024
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Ingår i: European Journal of Epidemiology. - : Springer Nature. - 0393-2990 .- 1573-7284. ; 39:1, s. 35-49
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Reduced lung function is associated with cardiovascular mortality, but the relationships with atherosclerosis are unclear. The population-based Swedish CArdioPulmonary BioImage study measured lung function, emphysema, coronary CT angiography, coronary calcium, carotid plaques and ankle-brachial index in 29,593 men and women aged 50–64 years. The results were confirmed using 2-sample Mendelian randomization. Lower lung function and emphysema were associated with more atherosclerosis, but these relationships were attenuated after adjustment for cardiovascular risk factors. Lung function was not associated with coronary atherosclerosis in 14,524 never-smokers. No potentially causal effect of lung function on atherosclerosis, or vice versa, was found in the 2-sample Mendelian randomization analysis. Here we show that reduced lung function and atherosclerosis are correlated in the population, but probably not causally related. Assessing lung function in addition to conventional cardiovascular risk factors to gauge risk of subclinical atherosclerosis is probably not meaningful, but low lung function found by chance should alert for atherosclerosis.
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| 4. |
- Fuller, Ursula, et al.
(författare)
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A Computing Perspective on the Bologna Process
- 2006
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Ingår i: SIGCSE Bulletin: inroads. - : Association for Computing Machinery (ACM). - 0097-8418. ; 38:4, s. 115-131
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The Bologna process is intended to culminate in the formation of the European Higher Education Area (EHEA) by 2010. Its aim is to facilitate the mobility of people, the transparency and recognition of qualifications, quality and development of a European dimension to higher education, and the attractiveness of European institutions for third country students.This paper provides an overview of progress towards implementation in EHEA member states using official documents and interview data from faculty teaching computing in countries represented at the ITiCSE 2006 meeting. The key areas where the structures established by the Bologna process are problematic for computing education arise from the rapidly changing nature of the curriculum. It seems that the maturity and capability criteria, as well as the manner in which learning outcomes are specified, being developed within the Bologna process are too general. This endangers the properties of transparency and mobility that the process intends to promote.Progression and prerequisite knowledge in computing degrees can be very specific. For instance, generic learning outcomes for an introductory programming course quite rightly will not specify the programming language, or languages, used to implement algorithms. However, suppose a student intends to study an advanced algorithms and data structures course in which Java is the language of implementation which has an introductory course in programming as a prerequisite. If the introductory course language was Standard ML it is not clear that the prerequisite course actually provides the student with a suitable background. These types of complexities are typical of computing, where early subject curricula are not standardised nationally or internationally, and create significant hurdles for realising the Bologna objectives.
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| 5. |
- Färnqvist, Tommy, 1976-, et al.
(författare)
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Supporting Active Learning by Introducing an Interactive Teaching Tool in a Data Structures and Algorithms Course
- 2016
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Ingår i: Proceedings of the 47th ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education (SIGCSE 2016). - New York, NY, USA : ACM Publications. - 9781450336857 ; , s. 663-668
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Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- Traditionally, theoretical foundations in data structures and algorithms (DSA) courses have been covered through lectures followed by tutorials, where students practise their understanding on pen-and-paper tasks. In this paper, we present findings from a pilot study on using the interactive e-book OpenDSA as the main material in a DSA course. The goal was to redesign an already existing course by building on active learning and continuous examination through the use of OpenDSA. In addition to presenting the study setting, we describe findings from four data sources: final exam, OpenDSA log data, pre and post questionnaires as well as an observation study. The results indicate that students performed better on the exam than during previous years. Students preferred OpenDSA over traditional textbooks and worked actively with the material, although a large proportion of them put off the work until the due date approaches.
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| 6. |
- Färnqvist, Tommy, 1976-, et al.
(författare)
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Supporting Active Learning Using an Interactive Teaching Tool in a Data Structures and Algorithms Course
- 2015
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Ingår i: Proceedings of 5:e Utvecklingskonferensen för Sveriges ingenjörsutbildningar (UtvSvIng). ; , s. 76-79
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Konferensbidrag (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Traditionally, theoretical foundations in data structuresand algorithms (DSA) courses have been covered throughlectures followed by tutorials, where students practise theirunderstanding on pen-and-paper tasks. In this paper, we presentfindings from a pilot study on using the interactive e-bookOpenDSA as the main material in a DSA course. The goal was toredesign an already existing course by building on active learningand continuous examination through the use of OpenDSA. Inaddition to presenting the study setting, we describe findings fromfour data sources: final exam, OpenDSA log data, pre- and postcourse questionnaires as well as an observation study. The resultsindicate that students performed better on the exam than duringprevious years. Students preferred OpenDSA over traditionaltextbooks and worked actively with the material, although alarge proportion of them put off the work until the due dateapproaches.
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| 7. |
- Haglund, Pontus, et al.
(författare)
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Grasping the Unseen: TA Insights into Teaching Subtle Concepts in Computer Science
- 2024
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Ingår i: PROCEEDINGS OF THE 2024 CONFERENCE INNOVATION AND TECHNOLOGY IN COMPUTER SCIENCE EDUCATION, VOL 1, ITICSE 2024. - : ASSOC COMPUTING MACHINERY. - 9798400706004 ; , s. 157-163
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Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- Conquering fundamental programming concepts that subtly affect program behavior is a challenge for Computer Science (CS) students. Learning parameter passing, aliasing, scope, and references, how they work and being able to reason about them, is crucial for CS students. In this qualitative study we explore how these concepts are taught from the perspective of Teaching Assistants (TAs). Using phenomenographic analysis we find several areas that could be improved regarding the activities and assessments that students are exposed to during their studies. These findings include issues with consistent grading, the training of TAs, the support structures offered to TAs, and variations in the perceived focus on these concepts. Finally, our results highlight a need to explore how proficient TAs are with these concepts.
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| 8. |
- Haglund, Pontus, et al.
(författare)
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Understanding Students’ Failure to use Functions as a Tool for Abstraction – An Analysis of Questionnaire Responses and Lab Assignments in a CS1 Python Course
- 2021
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Ingår i: Informatics in Education. An International Journal. - : Vilnius University Press. - 1648-5831 .- 2335-8971. ; 20:4, s. 583-614
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Controlling complexity through the use of abstractions is a critical part of problem solving in programming. Thus, becoming proficient with procedural and data abstraction through the use of user-defined functions is important. Properly using functions for abstraction involves a number of other core concepts, such as parameter passing, scope and references, which are known to be difficult. Therefore, this paper aims to study students proficiency with these core concepts, and students ability to apply procedural and data abstraction to solve problems. We collected data from two years of an introductory Python course, both from a questionnaire and from two lab assignments. The data shows that students had difficulties with the core concepts, and a number of issues solving problems with abstraction. We also investigate the impact of using a visualization tool when teaching the core concepts.
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| 9. |
- Heikkilä, Mia, et al.
(författare)
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Debugging in Programming as a Multimodal Practice in Early Childhood Education Settings
- 2018
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Ingår i: Multimodal Technologies and Interaction. - : MDPI. - 2414-4088. ; 2:3
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The aim of this article is to broadly elaborate on how programming can be understood as a new teaching scope in preschools, focusing specifically on debugging as one of the phases involved in learning to program. The research question How can debugging as part of teaching and learning programming be understood as multimodal learning? has guided the analysis and the presentation of the data. In this study, and its analysis process, we have combined a multimodal understanding of teaching and learning practices with understandings of programming and how it is practiced. Consequently, the multidisciplinary approach in this study, combining theories from social sciences with theories and concepts from computer science, is central throughout the article. This is therefore also a creative, explorative process as there are no clear norms to follow when conducting multidisciplinary analyses. The data consist of video recordings of teaching sessions with children and a teacher engaged in programming activities. The video material was recorded in a preschool setting during the school year 2017–2018 and consists of 25 sessions of programming activities with children, who were four or five years old. The results show how debugging in early childhood education is a multimodal activity socially established by use of speech, pointing and gaze. Our findings also indicate that artefacts are central to learning debugging, and a term ‘instructional artefacts’ is therefore added. Finally, the material shows how basic programming concepts and principles can be explored with young children.
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| 10. |
- Heintz, Fredrik, 1975-, et al.
(författare)
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A Review of Models for Introducing Computational Thinking, Computer Science and Computing in K-12 Education.
- 2016
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Ingår i: Proceedings of the 46th Frontiers in Education (FIE). - : IEEE. - 9781509017904 - 9781509017911
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Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- Computing is becoming ever increasingly importantto our society. However, computing in primary and secondaryeducation has not been well developed. Computing has traditionallybeen primarily a university level discipline and there areno widely accepted general standards for what computing at K–12 level entails. Also, as the interest in this area is rather new,the amount of research conducted in the field is still limited. Inthis paper we review how 10 different countries have approachedintroducing computing into their K–12 education. The countriesare Australia, England, Estonia, Finland, New Zealand, Norway,Sweden, South Korea, Poland and USA.The studied countries either emphasize digital competenciestogether with programming or the broader subject of computingor computer science. Computational thinking is rarely mentionedexplicitly, but the ideas are often included in some form. Themost common model is to make it compulsory in primary schooland elective in secondary school. A few countries have made itcompulsory in both. While some countries have only introducedit in secondary school.
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