| Title of proposal | Decolonising Computing – Building a UK wide Computer Science Educators’ Network |
| Name(s) and institution(s) of Awardee | Dr Syed Mustafa Ali, The Open University |
| Date of Award | 3 November 2022 |
| Amount of Award | £4,800 |
| Description | A national workshop hosted at the University of Leicester is scheduled for May 2023 with invited contributions and interactive sessions to discuss approaches to decolonising computing curricula. Outputs will include the development of a set of resources for the HE sector collating good practice in decolonising computing education, and the establishment of a network of decolonising computing educators. |
| Title of proposal | Evaluating student and lecturer perception of the importance of ethics education within computer science degree programmes |
| Name(s) and institution(s) of Awardee | Dr Karen O’Shea, University of Central Lancashire |
| Date of Award | 6 December 2022 |
| Amount of Award | £3,800 |
| Description | The purpose of this project is to investigate students’ perception of ethics and the inclusion and delivery of ethics education within computer science degree programmes. Evaluation and incorporation of ethical design into software systems, particularly artificial intelligence (AI) within industry poses great challenge. Further, this study will provide an opportunity to carry out a data mining exercise from the educator perspective to construct a list of the topics currently covered, clarify gaps in the curriculum and propose intervention strategies. There will be opportunities to develop content to better serve lecturing staff, students and wider educational settings thus, sharing good practice. |
| Title of proposal | Gendered microaggressions and computing students |
| Name(s) and institution(s) of Awardee | Dr Hannah Dee, Aberystwyth University Prof Clem Herman, The Open University |
| Date of Award | 14 November 2022 |
| Amount of Award | £4,050 |
| Description | The project will explore the lived experience of women and non-binary students in UK Computing departments to gain a deeper understanding of the day to day microbehaviours which contribute to this situation (we define the term microbehaviours as a catch-all term to include deliberate or unconscious use of slights and insults, including activities referred to in the literature as microinequities, microaggressions, microassaults, microinsults, and microinvalidations). Through focus groups, a broader questionnaire study and some in-depth interviews we will investigate the experience of women and non-binary students in computing departments in the UK. |
| Title of proposal | What’s the point of Software Engineering in Higher Education? |
| Name(s) and institution(s) of Awardee | Dr Ashley Williams, Manchester Metropolitan University |
| Date of Award | 7 November 2022 |
| Amount of Award | £3,050.40 |
| Description | There are multiple routes into Software Engineering (SE), with an increasing number of engineers favouring hyper-focused bootcamps and online training programmes over the traditional undergraduate degree. This, combined with early year curriculums now ensuring that all students can code in two different programming languages by the age of 11, means that SE in HE needs to consider its role going forward if it is to remain relevant. Such relevance appears to be heavily discussed in industry, yet barely in academia. In this project, we aim to better understand the gap between academia and the software industry through conducting a Grey Literature Review (GLR) of practitioner-generated social media. |
| Title of proposal | Problem-based `Scavenger Hunts’ for On-campus Student Engagement |
| Name(s) and institution(s) of Awardee | Dr David Kohan Marzagão and Dr Josh Murphy, King’s College London |
| Date of Award | 3 November 2022 |
| Amount of Award | £2,250 |
| Description | We propose a problem-based ‘scavenger hunt’, in which first-year students work together in small groups to solve discipline-specific problems, all the while exploring the university campus. The activity will take place as part of the welcome week for first-year students in computer science and artificial intelligence programmes and co-organised by more senior students. By working together, students foster relationships across year groups and programmes, supporting a closer departmental community. Further, through the event, students are introduced to the physical campus environments, to familiarise them with the physical spaces, and to ensure they feel welcome as part of the university. |
CPHC 