Computer Science Concepts Research Articles

Easy Coding in Biology: Pilot Workshop Design and Experiences from Block-Based Programming with in Secondary Education

Block-based coding is a way to teach Computer Science (CS) concepts and Computational Thinking (CT) skills to K-12 students. Nowadays, there are more and more educational applications (learning apps) to teach programming in STEM subjects, but detailed studies on which and how these can be used successfully in Biology classes are still lacking, because apps and tasks promoting CS and CT concepts in combination with biological teaching content are missing. This mixed-method study aims to close this gap and presents six elaborated exercises of the workshop “Easy Coding in Biology”, employing two task formats (TF), <i>Building Cubes </i>and<i> Drone AR</i>, of the new learning app <colette/>. The app utilizes block-based coding and an additional augmented reality (AR) function to describe several topics in secondary education, for example in the subject Biology. After presenting the workshop and task design, preliminary results of the successful use of the app and the tasks are presented. The pilot workshop was carried out with 51 participants at a Slovakian grammar school. After the implementation in class, 34 students filled in a questionnaire, consisting of open-ended and closed-ended questions. Qualitative data shows on the one hand AR malfunctions and on the other that participants liked the workshop concept. Quantitative findings indicate that the introduced TF <i>Building Cubes </i>and<i> Drone AR </i>of <colette/> have the potential to successfully convey CS and CT concepts in Biology. In addition, the tasks encouraged the female participants in particular to work together because they found the tasks/app interesting, motivating, and fun.

Simulating gravitational motion, gas dynamics, and structure in the cosmos

We provide introductory explanations and illustrations of the N-body hydrodynamics code Charm N-body GrAvity solver (ChaNGa). ChaNGa simulates the gravitational motion and gas dynamics of matter in space with the goal of modeling galactic and/or cosmological structure and evolution. We discuss the algorithm for leapfrog integration and smoothed particle hydrodynamics and computer science concepts used by the program, including the binary data structure for the particle positions. Our presentation borrows from the doctoral dissertation of J. Stadel, U. Washington, 2001. Problems are provided in order to use ChaNGa to learn or solidify some cosmological concepts.

The Search for Computer Science Concepts in Coding Animated Narratives: Tensions and Opportunities

Coding is increasingly popular in schools around the world and is often taught by non-specialist teachers as an integrated task with other subject areas. In this article, we explore the relationship between computer science (CS) concepts and students’ multimodal expression in a coding animated narrative (CAN) task in the context of an integrated English-Technology unit of learning. Through this collective case study, we explore how CS concepts underpin semiotic elements of an animated narrative, analyse the factors that influence the extent to which students exercise those concepts, and reveal the tensions and opportunities that a CAN task may present for learning computer science concepts in regular, non-specialist, cross-curricular classrooms. The findings suggest that CAN tasks are unique in presenting opportunities for students to learn challenging CS concepts such as synchronisation and parallelism. At the same time, CAN tasks present tensions for teaching CS concepts in non-specialist classrooms, where student projects are often judged on their visual qualities. In such settings, procedural, rather than conceptual knowledge, may be a more efficient route to creative outcomes. It also means that drawing skills need to be prioritised. Role specialisation often led to better quality projects but at the expense of individual students’ conceptual development in computer science.

Arte Programmata: Freedom, Control, and the Computer in 1960s Italy by Lindsay Caplan

Reviewed by: Arte Programmata: Freedom, Control, and the Computer in 1960s Italy by Lindsay Caplan W. Patrick McCray (bio) Arte Programmata: Freedom, Control, and the Computer in 1960s Italy By Lindsay Caplan. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 2022. Pp. 312. In the 1960s, an array of art-and-technology projects, exhibitions, and collaborations burst forth from artists' workshops, corporate laboratories, and museum galleries in the United States, Great Britain, Europe, Japan, and elsewhere. Lasers, miniaturized electronics, and new multimedia environments all became materials for artistic experimentation. One of the new technologies that most intrigued artists was the digital computer. Engineers and artists alike experimented with using computers to [End Page 609] generate images and music. At the same time, artists and curators displayed an increasing interest in abstract concepts like cybernetics, systems, and information. Given the often-rudimentary nature of the visual artworks produced, critics often attacked them on aesthetic and ontological grounds. Were they computer art or merely computer-generated forms? And if a computer made it, was it still art? The idea that machines might substitute for artistic originality paralleled contemporary concerns about the dehumanizing and deskilling effects of computers. To date, much scholarly attention on the art-and-technology movement (including work by this reviewer) has focused on large-scale efforts in the United States by groups such as Experiments in Art and Technology. Arte Programmata—written by Lindsay Caplan, an art historian at Brown University—expands that geographic coverage in provocative new directions. As her subtitle suggests, ideas of freedom and control along with computer science concepts such as "programming" and "information" were central topics for her historical actors. Unlike many of their counterparts in the United States, for example, the artists who joined collectives such as Gruppo N engaged with politics in more explicit and combative ways. Caplan does a wonderful job of situating their artistic activities in the context of the enormous political and economic shifts that Italy experienced in the 1960s. Throughout her narrative, we see artists' activities framed in various oppositional modes: the individual vs. the collective; capitalist vs. socialist economies; and, perhaps most notably, free or programmed spectators who experienced various interactive sensory "environments" (ambienti) created by artists in the mid-1960s. Despite having "computer" in the title, Caplan's book is less about using machines to make art and instead is more concerned with varying definitions of "programming." Although concepts like "cybernetics" and "information theory" were originally developed during World War II in response to specific engineering problems, Caplan describes how artists and curators embraced them in ways that someone like cybernetician Norbert Wiener might have found disquieting. While Max Bense and Abraham Moles suggested how one might quantify an artwork's "aesthetic information," the idea would likely have puzzled Claude Shannon (who placed information theory on a mathematical footing only to later write a brief but acerbic essay called "The Information Bandwagon"). Nonetheless, the spread of cybernetics and systems thinking into such diverse fields affords us an opportunity to look more deeply at how and where histories of technology and art overlap. Caplan's book takes up this opportunity most notably in her chapter on "The Politics of Information." She asks, for example, why the artists of the Arte Programmata movement "abandoned computers" around 1968, even as their creative colleagues elsewhere were just starting to embrace the technological possibilities. She locates the answer in the specific political circumstances and ideologies of Italian artists. Caplan focuses on "computer art's most contested, mutable, and socially relevant" issue, which was the [End Page 610] "meaning of information" (p. 131). In doing so, we get a glimpse of the ways in which cybernetics and information theory were understood, deployed, and exploited in varying national contexts. Well-written and relatively jargon-free, Arte Programmata is a welcome addition to the growing literature on the intersection of art and technology (and artists and engineers). Historians of technology may take issue with some of the factual infelicities that crop up occasionally: Wiener's first book on cybernetics came out in 1948, not 1946, and Olivetti's Programma 101 was not a personal computer, for example. I personally would have welcomed more discussion about how the...

Readiness for Artificial Intelligence in Biobanking

Readiness for Artificial Intelligence in Biobanking

Developing Coding Instruction Videos for K12 Hearing Impaired Students Using American Sign Language

Disability Inclusion and Accessibility in technology has today emerged as a necessity of national importance. NSF funded projects like AccessCSforALL, Bootstrap, and CSforAll are making efforts to make computer science (CS) inclusive to the 7.4 million K-12 students with disabilities. Bringing people with disabilities into the tech workforce would not only create equal opportunities for all but would also better equip the society to serve its diverse population. Our proposed project focuses on making CS concepts accessible to K-12 students who are deaf or hard-of-hearing (D/HH).

Examining middle school students’ attitudes toward computing after participating in a physical computing unit

ABSTRACT Providing greater access to computer science (CS) education for K-12 students in the United States (U.S.) has increased interest in integrating CS concepts within authentic science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) contexts. Physical computing is one method that has demonstrated promising results in other countries (e.g. England) and has been receiving growing attention in the U.S., yet there remains limited research on physical computing within the U.S. Therefore, this study utilized a modified version of the Computing Attitude Questionnaire (Yadav, A., Mayfield, C., Zhou, N., Hambrusch, S., & Korb, J. T. (2014). Computational thinking in elementary and secondary teacher education. ACM Transactions on Computing Education, 14(1), 1–16) to examine changes in 71 middle school students’ attitudes toward computing after participating in a four-week physical computing unit. Students reported significant gains in all five computing attitude constructs (definition, comfort, interest, classroom applications, and career/future use). Further analyses revealed male students had significantly greater gains than females in the career/future use construct, and there were no significant differences when controlling for completion of prior engineering design coursework (PEDC). Additionally, while the majority (77%) of students indicated they preferred physical computing over screen-based experiences for future computing lessons, analyses found gender and PEDC were not significant predictors of students’ preference for learning computing concepts. This study provides implications for improving computer science instruction within authentic STEM contexts.

The communicative dimension of graphic design elements - Such as infographics

The purpose of the current study is to address a research question about the role that visual design elements have in communication. The data were collected based on their technical relevance, which highlights the general description of the field of research that includes graphics, infographics in the field of communication, and elements of visual design Review of the relevant literature and concepts: To begin with, we must consider the communication aspects of the design in order to produce truly successful visual design elements. The communicative dimension of graphic design elements such as infographics are invaluable in conveying information in a clear and engaging way. Two opened the way for the expansion of the use of visual elements in the manufacture of the media message. This study discusses the communicative dimensions of visual design elements, in general, and infographics in particular, as infographic is part of information visualization. This study discusses the communicative dimensions of visual design elements, in general, and infographics in particular, as Infographic is part of information visualization, in addition to that it is a research field related to communication as it focuses on patterns and trends in abstract data sets, and the field of infographic design, and information visualization combines the concepts of computer science, data mining, cognitive sciences and graphic design, this is important in controlling and measuring the quality of communication because the ability to collect, store and manage data, despite the increasing pace of its updating, remains our ability On their understanding relatively constant. The size, shape, and color of visual design elements can also play a role in communication. According to the results obtained, it was determined that the use of graphs as a visual communication tool was effective in evaluation, understanding and continuity.

The interdisciplinary implementation of poly-universe to promote computational thinking: Teaching examples from biological, physical, and digital education in Austrian secondary schools.

Today's teaching and didactical methods are progressively aiming to integrate digital technologies, computational thinking (CT), and basic computer science concepts into other subjects. An innovative and creative way of combining and integrating CT and teaching cross-curricular skills without digital devices is to include the game Poly-Universe (PolyUni). According to previous research, the game is expected to have a positive effect on visual perceptual progress, including isolation, and the development of shape-background skills. So far, however, comparatively few attempts have been made to explore the educational possibilities of PolyUni for different school levels and subjects, besides mathematics. Therefore, this article aims to close this gap by exploring how PolyUni can be used to promote CT in three subjects: physical education (PE), digital education (DGE), and biology (B). Furthermore, it evaluates whether the pre-defined learning objectives in those subjects have been achieved, and examines how PolyUni combines the requirements of the different curricula in Austrian secondary school, based on self-designed tasks. Additionally, further aspects of PolyUni such as engagement and collaboration are discussed. To explore the above-mentioned benefits, a mixed-methods study was implemented, whereas the workshops and accompanying teaching materials (e.g., worksheets) were developed based on the COOL Informatics concept. The participant observation method was employed for qualitative data collection, and a self-designed assessment grid as well as additional picture analysis were used for the quantitative data. PolyUni was introduced in three different workshops at Austrian secondary schools with 80 students observed and analyzed. Based on the present data, it can be assumed that PolyUni supports achieving the requirements of the different curricula and pre-defined teaching and learning objectives in a playful way. Furthermore, the game not only promotes CT in secondary school but also encourages enjoyment and collaboration between peers in biological, digital, and physical education lessons.

Sierpinski Graflarının Tepe-Ayrıt Temelli Derece Özellikleri Üzerine

Network science and graph theory are two important branches of mathematics and computer science. Many problems in engineering and physics are modeled with networks and graphs. Topological analysis of networks enable researchers to analyse networks in relation some physical and engineering properties without conducting expensive experimental studies. Topological indices are numerical descriptors which defined by using degree, distance and eigen-value notions in any graph. Most of the topological indices are defined as by using classical degree concept in graph theory, network and computer science. Recently two novel degree parameters have been defined in graph theory: Vertex-edge degree and Edge-vertex degree. Vertex-edge degree and edge-vertex degree based topological indices have been defined as parallel to their corresponding classical degree counterparts. Generalized Sierpinski networks have an important place of applications in view of engineering science especially in computer science. Classical degree based topological properties of generalized Sierpinski graphs have been investigated by many studies. In this article, vertex-edge degree based topological indices values of generalized Sierpinski graphs have been computed.

The Distance Spectral Radii of Hypercacti

Hypergraphs can model many concepts in computer science, engineering, psychology, etc. The spectral theory is an important research topic, which is widely used in combinatorial mathematics, computer science and social science. This paper mainly concerns the structure of extremal hypergraphs determined by the distance spectral of hypergraphs. A hypercactus is a connected k-uniform hypergraph with any two cycles sharing at most one common vertex. For hypercacti with a fixed number of vertices and cycles, we completely determine the hypercactus structure with minimum distance spectral radius.

Who creates our computational worlds? A review of Critically Conscious Computing: Methods for secondary education

Despite growing attention to the social and ethical dimensions of Computer Science (CS), few practical resources exist to teach and learn CS through the lens of social responsibility. In Critically Conscious Computing Ko and colleagues provide a comprehensive overview of foundational computing concepts with a sharp and sorely needed critical perspective. In this review, we attend not only to the content of the book, but also to its format as a free, online, “living” text. The book is commendable for its tight integration of technical and socio-critical aspects of computing, approachable conversational style, and collection of flexible and practical resources for teachers. It would benefit from refinement of the integration chapters and a more explicit model for how educators themselves can approach new or different CS concepts through a critical frame. Overall, we strongly recommend this book for CS Educators at all levels for its balance of depth and practicality.

Non-Local Parallel Processing and Database Settlement Using Multiple Teleportation Followed by Grover Post-Selection

Quantum information applications emerged decades ago, initially introducing a parallel development that mimicked the approach and development of classical computer science. However, in the current decade, novel computer-science concepts were rapidly extended to the fields of quantum processing, computation, and communication. Thus, areas such as artificial intelligence, machine learning, and neural networks have their quantum versions; furthermore, the quantum brain properties of learning, analyzing, and gaining knowledge are discussed. Quantum properties of matter conglomerates have been superficially explored in such terrain; however, the settlement of organized quantum systems able to perform processing can open a new pathway in the aforementioned domains. In fact, quantum processing involves certain requisites as the settlement of copies of input information to perform differentiated processing developed far away or in situ to diversify the information stored there. Both tasks at the end provide a database of outcomes with which to perform either information matching or final global processing with at least a subset of those outcomes. When the number of processing operations and input information copies is large, parallel processing (a natural feature in quantum computation due to the superposition) becomes the most convenient approach to accelerate the database settlement of outcomes, thus affording a time advantage. In the current study, we explored certain quantum features to realize a speed-up model for the entire task of processing based on a common information input to be processed, diversified, and finally summarized to gain knowledge, either in pattern matching or global information availability. By using superposition and non-local properties, the most valuable features of quantum systems, we realized parallel local processing to set a large database of outcomes and subsequently used post-selection to perform an ending global processing or a matching of information incoming from outside. We finally analyzed the details of the entire procedure, including its affordability and performance. The quantum circuit implementation, along with tentative applications, were also discussed. Such a model could be operated between large processing technological systems using communication procedures and also on a moderately controlled quantum matter conglomerate. Certain interesting technical aspects involving the non-local control of processing via entanglement were also analyzed in detail as an associated but notable premise.

Spread complexity and topological transitions in the Kitaev chain

A number of recent works have argued that quantum complexity, a well-known concept in computer science that has re-emerged recently in the context of the physics of black holes, may be used as an efficient probe of novel phenomena such as quantum chaos and even quantum phase transitions. In this article, we provide further support for the latter, using a 1-dimensional p-wave superconductor — the Kitaev chain — as a prototype of a system displaying a topological phase transition. The Hamiltonian of the Kitaev chain manifests two gapped phases of matter with fermion parity symmetry; a trivial strongly-coupled phase and a topologically non-trivial, weakly-coupled phase with Majorana zero-modes. We show that Krylov-complexity (or, more precisely, the associated spread-complexity) is able to distinguish between the two and provides a diagnostic of the quantum critical point that separates them. We also comment on some possible ambiguity in the existing literature on the sensitivity of different measures of complexity to topological phase transitions.

Penguatan Metode Computational Thinking untuk Guru Madrasah dalam Rangka Meningkatkan Minat Belajar Siswa Pasca Pandemi Covid-19

Madrasah teachers are currently considered to have lower cognitive competence when compared to formal school teachers in general, although this statement is not entirely correct. Researchers have conducted computational thinking training in several madrasa of Central Java Provinces, like MIN 1 Kendal, MTs N 1 Jepara, and MAN 1 Grobogan. Computational Thinking (CT) involves problem solving and system design by breaking it down into several stages that are effective, efficient, and comprehensive, including decomposition, pattern recognition, abstraction, and algorithms which are some of the basic concepts of computer science. The purpose of this study is the implementation of CT by madrasa’ teachers on each lesson to students in order to increase student learning interest. The research method used is blended learning which is a combination of an online course (introduction to Bebras Indonesia and CT) and an onsite course (training on CT and implementation of CT to students). The results showed that there was an increase in the average score of the trainees between the pre-test and post-test of the teachers at MIN 1 Kendal, MTs N 1 Jepara, and MAN 1 Grobogan i.e. 70.23%, 70.01% and 80. 64%, respectively. Furthermore, student testimonials after the implementation of CT in subjects taught by the majority of teachers at 66.79% filled in very interesting so that CT learning was very effective in increasing student learning interest in madrasah.

BIOPLAG: An Approach to Detect Programming Plagiarism.

This paper creates an approach to the automatic detection of plagiarism in programming by combining the interdisciplinary knowledge from bioinformatics with techniques such as: tokens of programming language elements, tokens mapping in synthetic biological sequence, and alignment of biological sequences. This solution, named BIOPLAG, contemplates different levels of modifications in source code, and its functioning depends on concepts of computer science as well. Through the realization of three experiments with students and programmers, a total of 168 real examples of plagiarism evaluated the implementation of BIOPLAG with the usage of 336 source codes in C language divided into seven scenarios. The evaluation process compared to other tools known as references in the literature: MOSS and JPLAG. The evaluative metrics used are precision, recall, and fmeasure. As a result, BIOPLAG showed to be the best in four and equal in three out of seven test scenarios. Its average score on the metrics in the evaluation process was 0.95 against MOSS with 0.83 and JPAG with 0.87.

Metric Basis of Four-Dimensional Klein Bottle

The Metric of a graph plays an essential role in the arrangement of different dimensional structures and finding their basis in various terms. The metric dimension of a graph is the selection of the minimum possible number of vertices so that each vertex of the graph is distinctively defined by its vector of distances to the set of selected vertices. This set of selected vertices is known as the metric basis of a graph. In applied mathematics or computer science, the topic of metric basis is considered as locating number or locating set, and it has applications in robot navigation and finding a beacon set of a computer network. Due to the vast applications of this concept in computer science, optimization problems, and also in chemistry enormous research has been conducted. To extend this research to a four-dimensional structure, we studied the metric basis of the Klein bottle and proved that the Klein bottle has a constant metric dimension for the variation of all its parameters. Although the metric basis is variying in 3 and 4 values when the values of its parameter change, it remains constant and unchanged concerning its order or number of vertices. The methodology of determining the metric basis or locating set is based on the distances of a graph. Therefore, we proved the main theorems in distance forms.

Informatické myslenie na Slovensku a v Európe

The paper is focused on computational thinking as a new paradigm for Computer Science education introduced from early age. Its need has been made more evident during the COVID-19 pandemic. The teaching of Computer Science concepts in formal school education has increasingly been supported and implemented by the Ministries of Education in European countries. However, questions remain regarding its implementation, specifically what Computer Science concepts should be taught, when and how.

DEVS 형식론을 이용한 PBL과 과정중심 피드백 기반 SW/AI 교육 프로세스 모델 개발

Computational thinking is about solving problems based on the basic concepts of computer science and is an essential skill for everyone. Computational thinking are needed in the future society in the face of the 4th industrial revolution. Therefore, In this paper, we study the educational method for cultivating computational thinking by providing active feedback and utilizing PBL in online SW/AI classes. In the method of using PBL in online SW/AI classes proposed in this study, students can select the difficulty of the project to be performed, which is expected to increase the likelihood that the students will complete the project. In addition, by using social media to actively communicate with students and provide Process-Focused feedback, it is intended to increase students

Cultural Viewpoint Metaphors Resignification to Teach Programming

Abstract Technologies permeate contemporary society, and the ability to use computer science concepts in problem-solving is essential to everyone. This paper presents an epistemic tool of semiotic engineering whose meaning is resignified to the context of teaching programming to initial learners. Aiming to help these students absorb programming concepts, we structured a gradual form of presentation using the interaction with a new system as a journey through a new culture, based on the Cultural Viewpoint Metaphors theory. After that, we applied this resignification in an introductory programming workshop using visual programming and the BBC Micro:bit embedded device. Results from the workshop revealed that this gradual introduction could help novices in the programming concepts learning process, showing the potential of this approach in teaching programming.