EPSRC logo

Details of Grant 

EPSRC Reference: EP/D507219/1
Title: Computer Science Inside... - enthusing and informing potential computer science students
Principal Investigator: Cutts, Professor Q
Other Investigators:
Calder, Professor M Dickman, Dr P
Researcher Co-Investigators:
Dr M Brown
Project Partners:
Royal Society of Edinburgh, The SETPOINT Spartan Solutions Ltd
University of Glasgow
Department: School of Computing Science
Organisation: University of Glasgow
Scheme: PPE PreFEC
Starts: 05 December 2005 Ends: 04 June 2009 Value (£): 155,531
EPSRC Research Topic Classifications:
Fundamentals of Computing
EPSRC Industrial Sector Classifications:
Information Technologies
Related Grants:
Panel History:  
Summary on Grant Application Form
The number of students entering undergraduate and research studies in Computer Science is dropping, with consequent effects on academia and industry. This is due in large part to a gross lack of understanding about the nature of the discipline amongst school pupils, who often confuse the use of information technologies, ever more pervasive in schools, with the science that underpins those technologies. This project will produce, in close collaboration with teachers, a range of presentation and workshop materials for use by both academics and science communicators on school visits and teachers within their classes. The materials, of a style pioneered in a successful pilot study, aim to alert the students to the power of fundamental computer science to transform their lives, and invite them to be lead players in this transformation. They also give the students the experience of working with the fundamental building blocks of the science - the ideas and algorithms that when realised in programming code lead to the amazing technologies all around us. CPD materials will be developed to assist teachers in the delivery of the materials, acknowledging a recognised shortfall in resources for computing teachers. The project will be thoroughly evaluated, both qualitatively and quantitatively, during and at its conclusion, along three principal strands: the presentation and workshop materials themselves, the additional CPD materials and how well they support teachers, and the longitudinal effects on pupils' viewpoints of CS.
Key Findings
This information can now be found on Gateway to Research (GtR) http://gtr.rcuk.ac.uk
Potential use in non-academic contexts
This information can now be found on Gateway to Research (GtR) http://gtr.rcuk.ac.uk
Impacts
Description This information can now be found on Gateway to Research (GtR) http://gtr.rcuk.ac.uk
Summary
Date Materialised
Sectors submitted by the Researcher
This information can now be found on Gateway to Research (GtR) http://gtr.rcuk.ac.uk
Project URL:  
Further Information:  
Organisation Website: http://www.gla.ac.uk