A Handbook for Teaching and Learning in Higher Education Enhancing academic and Practice

296 ❘
Teaching in the disciplines
use a network application at the same time, and five minutes before a deadline,
then the possibilities for system failure are immense. Computer crashes and
network failures are common, and the scalability of the software is tested to
the limit. Departmental processes, such as deadline enforcement, must be flexible
to accommodate this, and it is prudent to have competent staff available at
crucial times to deal with the unexpected. The software has been made open
source, and documentation and software downloads are available at
sourceforge.net/projects/cobalt/.
(Dr Mike Joy, University of Warwick)
Student support
ICS programmes attract entrants from a wide variety of traditional and vocational
educational backgrounds, resulting in a diverse student population. Furthermore, as in
many disciplines, an increasing percentage of the student population is international and
in many cases English may not be their first language. Support mechanisms need to be
in place to ensure that all students reach the recognised and accepted standards of
attainment. How institutions support the student learning experience is a key issue in
ensuring continuing enrolment of students on computing science programmes.
Student motivation is crucial to this and how students are motivated to learn can
depend on the individual. Some are quite content with traditional learning of theoretical
principles at lectures, others prefer practical activity; yet others respond to greater
challenges and problems, to application-oriented or research activity. It is important that
they encounter a diversity of activity in the learning environment. Active learning is
recognised in computing science as a strong motivating force, and provides the challenges
to stimulate learning. It is important that all assessment is structured to enhance learning
through timely and constructive feedback in order to generate self-confidence.
The computing discipline demands high standards in a number of skills including
report writing, software development, analytical thinking, teamworking and presentations.
Students need to know what will be expected of them throughout their programme
and student induction has a key role to play in conveying this to the student population.
Student induction should take place at entry to higher education. This often has the
necessary role of introducing them to the institution in general but students also need to
be informed of what is expected of them in the discipline and this needs to be reinforced
throughout their course. For example, as students progress they need to take greater
responsibility for their own learning. Again, constructive feedback on completed work
can continually convey the message over of how progression can be ensured and
excellence achieved.
Technology within the domain of the student must be recognised as a tool to support
student learning. Most students have mobile phones and many engage in social
networking. The accessibility of information driven by modern technology has influenced