Keynote Speakers

Dr. Gary Poole, Director of the Centre for Teaching and Academic Growth at The University of British Columbia

Teaching in a Windstorm: Setting educational goals in a rapidly changing discipline

In this session, we will look at the implications of teaching in a discipline in which some of the knowledge changes rapidly. It has been said that some of the information presented in the first month of a computing science course is obsolete by the fourth month. This means that an important set of educational goals must address the development of lifelong learning skills and the ability to stay up on a rapidly changing field.

 

Dr. Bjarne Stroustrup , College of Engineering Chair in Computer Science Professor at Texas A&M University and creator of the C++ programming language.

Programming in an undergraduate CS curriculum

This talk argues for a fairly classical undergraduate computer science (CS) curriculum where "software" (programming and related topics) takes a bigger role than is often the case. Its primary aim is to be a foundation for professional work. The discussion is partly based on experience with an undergraduate curriculum change at Texas AM University, partly on 25 years in industry and continuing industrial interactions, and with developing a new freshman programming course. That freshman course is the central topic of this note.

Another talk open to general public:

Dr. Stroustrup will also be giving a talk on April 30 for the wider SFU community titled "A C++0x overview". This talk is open to the general public as part of the Computing Science Industrial Speaker Series at SFU.

Invited Speakers

Dr. Yan Xu, Senior Research Program Manager, Microsoft Research.

eScience Inspired CS Education

Rapid advances in computing technology has fundamentally changed the way scientists conduct research. Meanwhile, real-world computational challenges have become one of the major driving forces of computer science innovation. This interdisciplinary paradigm in research is making a significant impact to CS education and curriculum development. Microsoft Research has been deeply involved in computational science research (eScience) and education by collaborating with academia in over 50 disciplines. I will talk about how we are making an effort to facilitate pedagogy research to infuse computational thinking into science education, share with you what we have learned and achieved from our academic partners in CS and natural sciences, and discuss how we can work together to create a generation of interdisciplinary computational thinker.

 

Mr. Paul Denny, Senior Instructor, University of Auckland, Department of Computer Science.

PeerWise - students sharing and evaluating their MCQs

PeerWise is a web-based learning tool that supports students in the creation of MCQs with model answers and associated explanations. The questions are contributed to a shared repository, where they can be answered, rated and discussed by other students. The repository serves not only as a drill-and-test library for students, but also as a creative medium for engaging students in critical reflection and deep learning. This talk will present a summary of student utilization of PeerWise in several Computer Science courses and highlight potential benefits of its use to students and instructors.