The enrolment problem and the changing nature of prospective students and informatics

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The enrolment problem and the changing nature
of prospective students (and informatics)
Attracting (more) Students to the Informatics
Discipline

• J. van Leeuwen
• Utrecht University
• Informatics Europe

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Informatics was

• about computing, data processing and process
  control
• centered once around mainframes and minis

Now is

• about designing and creating processes and
  systems and their interactions with the world
• centered around networks, embedded systems and
  intelligent (information/software) environments
• critical in everything (science, business,
  society)
• used by everyone, everywhere
• business domain of many information and software
  companies (large and small)
• major factor in economy, innovation and of ICT
  policies
• challenging future ethics, privacy, security
• major intellectual discipline of this century (cf
  Constable 2005) and.. a household word!

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Informatics education was

• focussing on programming languages,
  datastructures, database systems, logic (and
  math..), program construction
• organized in 4-5 year diploma programs

Now is

• focussing on algorithmic thinking, concepts in
  context, object/agent/ web/service-oriented
  programming, algorithms, multimedia, embedded
  systems, distributed intelligence, cognition,
  system architecture
• with amazing software technologies,
  unleashing/augmenting creativity
• embedded in multidisciplinary contexts (game
  design, bio-informatics, technology management,
  etc.) and experiential learning
• organised in broad 3-year Bachelor and
  specialised 2-year Master programs
• more application- than theory-oriented
• using unlimited digital information, changing the
  face of scholarship in many fields
• constantly adapting to progress in ICT
• in great demand in all branches of science,
  business, industry, ...

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The Information Age?

• New world
• We are all connected
• Digital communities, new forms of communication
• Triple play (mobile) high speed internet,
  television, telephone
• E-skills, smart environments, serious gaming
• Everything is informatised
• New economy
• Information technology industries
• Company- and society-wide system applications
• Networked, with worldwide interchange of
  data/documents/
• Globalization of production, goods and services,
  trade, finance
• New science
• Creative tools in learning
• Information system structures in all sciences
• Programs and computation as most powerful model
• Knowledge discovery from massive data
• Virtual laboratories, e-journals, digital
  libraries
• Instant dissemination of research and ideas
• ?The Informatics Age??

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• From the 1960s until 2000, engineering and CS
  have been
• popular, no extra mile had to be taken to attract
  students to
• universities.
• AND YET
• While nowadays our youth is using new
  technologies fluently, the
• number of CS students in first-year university
  has declined
• alarmingly in North-America and Europe. Although
  according to
• some (national) statistics the number of
  graduating students
• increased from 2005 to 2006, enrolments have
  dropped 49 from
• their height in 2001/02. The number of female
  undergraduate
• students in CS is low. The alarming trend of
  declining enrolment
• exists despite a desperate need for computer
  scientists in industry
• and a popular debate on the topic in the media.
• 
  Cf. Dagstuhl Perspectives Workshop 2009

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• We must provide students an engaging
  curriculum that goes beyond programming and
  represents the imaginative, creative,
  collaborative, and complex character of
  Informatics/Computing.
• Cf. Comm. ACM (Nov 2008).

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Do we promote Informatics effectively?
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Interesting students for Informatics problems
relate along the whole educational chain

• Primary education
• Secondary education
• Bachelor programs
• (Vocational programs)
• Master programs
• PhD programs
• Science, industry, business, services

Challenges at level X not only a problem of
level X-1.. Also distinguish input, throughput,
output And, what is keeping women out of
academic programs in Informatics cq Computing (in
some countries)?
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Example career motivators for studying
Informatics

• Based on external factors and later..
• Informatics is a fascinating field that brings
  together software technology, logic, design,
  psychology, management science and mathematics,
  and drives scientific, technological and societal
  change touching every aspect of daily life.
• In 2007, Informatics (CS/CE) jobs ranked the top
  five for average starting salary offers among
  graduates.
• The US Bureau of Labor Statistics expects the IT
  workforce to grow at more than twice the rate of
  the overall workforce from 2006-2016.
• The US Bureau of Labor Statistics estimates that
  of the top six fastest growing occupations, three
  are computer science-related jobs, such as
  computer software engineers, systems analysts,
  and network systems and data communication
  analysts.
• Informatics graduates work in a variety of
  different areas, such as healthcare, Internet
  development, homeland and military security,
  space exploration, transportation, robotics,
  virtual reality, gaming, and more!
• 
  Cf. Various
  University sites

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Example academic motivators for studying
Informatics

• Informatics is part of everything we do
• Expertise in Informatics enables you to solve
  complex challenging problems
• Informatics enables you to make a positive
  difference in the world
• Informatics offers many types of lucrative
  careers
• Informatics jobs are here to stay, regardless of
  where you are located
• Expertise in Informatics helps you even if your
  primary career choice is something else
• Informatics has space for both collaborative work
  and individual effort
• Informatics is an essential part of well-rounded
  academic preparation
• Future opportunities in Informatics are without
  boundaries
• Cf. ACM Top 10 Reasons

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Example one of the most exciting disciplines to
study, where you can have an impact on real world
problems

• Informatics is
• a science, based on deep ideas that you will
  discover, apply and can even invent as an
  undergraduate.
• highly suited to people who are creative, enjoy
  solving puzzles, like to design and build things.
  
• an ideal discipline for students who have broad
  interests, because it can be applied to so many
  other fields. is an ideal place for
  interdisciplinary studies
• open to students with or without programming
  experience
• one of the most employable degrees you can get,
  and now is a particularly great time to be a
  computer scientist.
• Cf. Computer Science, Univ. of Toronto.

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Example Why study Informatics here?

• Identify your departments unique selling points!
  Illustrate with demos,
• videos, and creative web presence.
• Earn a degree from a top-ranked program
• Immerse yourself in an excellent curriculum
• Explore exceptional non-CS courses
• Great academic options pursue outstanding
  research opportunities for undergrad and grad
  students
• Learn in world-class facilities, from excellent
  teachers
• Take advantage of the events and
  extra-curriculars which the university has to
  offer
• Live in a vibrant, scenic city
• Explore the world through study abroad
• Land your dream job
• Start your own business through the universitys
  entrepreneurial resources
• Cf. CS, U Michigan

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Why students dont (seem to ..) choose Informatics
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Paradox of value

• Version 1 Student interest for majoring/working
  in science (CS) declines as science and
  technology are more developed in a country.
• Cf. Schreiner Sjøberg, Project ROSE,
  Oslo, 2005.
• Version 2 As IT gets embedded in everything and
  becomes ordinary, the less students see a
  challenge in studying Informatics.
• Cf. V. Frissen 2008.
• Version 3 Nothing wrong with Informatics but
  working in IT does not have an attractive image
  (IT work will be boring).
• Cf. BITKOM 2007, CRAC Study 2008.
• Version 4 Students believe that the IT industry
  will hire them no matter what they have studied.
  So, why not study what you like now and learn
  computers later.
• Cf. C. de la Higuera (at IEEIII 2008).
• Version 5 ICT research in neighboring
  disciplines appears to grow faster than in the
  ICT disciplines themselves.
• Cf. Technopolis Study 2008.
• Version 6 Unlike other sciences, ICT researchers
  can pursue certain lines of research only if
  somebody else considers them useful.
• Cf. Santini (2006)
• What does this tell us?

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Other arguments, often re- and re-discovered

• Its the economy.. (e.g. present labor market
  concerns).
• Disappointment with secondary school view of
  Informatics.
• Poor career advice and misunderstanding of the
  field (incl. job futures) by friends, parents,
  school advisors, public perception, etc.
• Forced view of later jobs students are not
  (very) interested yet in what they will be, but
  rather in whom they will be later.
• IT issues and e-skills dominate over societally
  accepted scientific challenges of the field.
• Gap between creative and technological aspects of
  the discipline is felt to be large.
• Computer science students interested in computers
  but not in science.
• Rather study Y (Biology, Math, ..) with a minor
  in Informatics than Informatics with a minor in
  Y.
• Lack of inspiring role models in reach, no
  understanding of what informaticians cq
  Informatics graduates do.
• Studying (computer) science is perceived as
  passive and too much solitary learning and focus
  on competition. Cf. Tobias (1990).
• Perceptions of the curriculum as being difficult
  (too much content, too much math), not
  inspiring (low sense of relevance), or too
  academic (not related to profession or
  practice).
• CS programs have not adapted quickly enough. Cf.
  ICTC Study 2008.
• Not an interesting environment (dull building, no
  gender balance, no view of student projects that
  stimulate exploring and discovering, no social
  binding, ).
• Not appealing to large communities (women,
  non-science majors, minorities, ).
• Misconceptions (image, its just about tools,
  will become a technologist, ).
• Or, no subject interest other career options
  appear to be more interesting or rewarding.

Pieces of the same puzzle. Work needed on every
item.
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Cf. J. Margolis
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Ten reflections ...

• Need longer term visions for the field as a
  science (why study it) and appealing challenges
  to address that are not just engineering or
  technology-oriented but aimed at the fundamental
  understandings of natural or man-made processes.
• Name the problem you want to solve (image,
  more (female) students, student retention
  after year 1,) and take it serious make
  someone responsible for results. Campaign widely,
  involve current students.
• Education follows research look at all your
  Informatics research programs and professors and
  position (all of) them to inspire potential
  students. Sense of relevance and passion for
  the profession begin here.
• If its a matter of marketing (profiling), decide
  what you want to market, why students will (not
  should) be interested in it, and how you want to
  do it. Then do it and stay closely involved.
• Recognize that Informatics is multi-faceted, thus
  multidisciplinary technical skills and insights,
  design skills and insights, soft skills, and
  science (biology, physics,..) and/or business
  insights have to be balanced. Make choices but
  involve at least three dimensions. Cf. ITU
  Copenhagen.
• Only then reconsider the curriculum and its
  pedagogy it should reflect the the reality
  students face after graduation as well as the
  passions for the field. Let courses live. Bind
  students academically (tutors).

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to attract (more) students

• Recognize that (potential) Informatics students
  have varied interests and vocations that follow
  the changes in the discipline design threads
  to offer students their preferred view of
  informatics now and their path of interest
  through the program. Use the right focus terms
  that are sure to grab their interest (and that of
  women etc). Cf. Georgia Tech CS Program.
• Informatics is a science by itself. Do not let
  mathematics fill the basics. Expose the
  conceptual richness of Informatics itself, with
  the eigen math of analysis, logic and reasoning
  that derive from the discipline. Dont use what
  you learned as a student (and how) as a
  criterion students live with systems and
  software that didnt even exist a few years ago
  and now view them as normal. They want to study
  whats next.
• Make Informatics courses engaging and fun apply
  a concept-in-context approach, use real world
  challenges in programming and architecture,
  well-motivated CS-theory rather than just math,
  group projects, autonomy in choosing advisors,
  etc.
• Have interesting and living websites, clear
  procedures (for admission), helpful
  administrations, good facilities, software labs,
  sports accommodations etc if not, upgrade them
  as they are your front office for future
  students.
• Recognize that students are different every year
  (more e-skills, less math skills..) and
  anticipate this. Bind students socially.
• Upgrade informatics programs and teacher
  backgrounds and capabilities at all levels X with
  X lt 3.
• Keep adjusting after every two years.

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Why study it II it is (not) all about
programming?

• People have said you dont understand
  something until youve taught it in a class. The
  truth is you dont really understand something
  until youve taught it to a computer, until
  youve been able to program it.
• Attributed to G.F. Forsythe by D.E. Knuth,
  Comm ACM Aug 2008.

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Core subjects of the Information Age

• The Internet
• Packet communications
• Protocols (TCP/IP)
• Web/Mobile code
• Java
• High-level PLs research
• Exchange languages
• Complexity
• Algorithm design
• Computational complexity
• Cryptography
• Data analysis
• Data mining
• Semantic web
• Multimedia
• Data compression algorithms
• Computational geometry
• Game design
• Web science

• Computational systems
• Algorithmics
• Multi/many-core programming
• Parallel compilation
• E-science
• Virtual laboratories
• Diagnostic systems
• Life science informatics
• Cognitive systems
• Computational theory of mind
• Intelligent systems
• Sensor networks and robots
• Human-computer interaction
• Information systems
• Transaction systems
• Operations research
• Value chain informatisation
• E-business
• Information security

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Cf. Informatik Göttingen
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What are the questions of knowledge in
Informatics
Classical examples (how to use them?)

• How to capture the (natural or man-made) world?
• What is information?
• What is computable?
• What is complexity?
• What is intelligence?
• What can be (efficiently) automated?
• What are the limits of the finite, using current
  technology?
• What are the principles of the web?
• How can one build complex systems?
• Specifiability, programmability
• Understandability, usability
• Maintainability, evolution
• Embeddability in industry/business/services
• How to serve mankind with them and improve
  qualities
• What are the information system principles of
  living cells?
• How to represent the natural world in the digital
  one?
• More as far as the imagination can reach.
• Need a (new) philosophy of informatics.

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Summary Attracting students in the Informatics
Age...

• Recognition that the science of information goes
  deeper than any science before
• Rethink the orientation and pedagogy of Bachelor
  and Master programs (in Informatics)
• Interdisciplinary flexibility (from math to
  humanities)
• Broad informatics/information science curricula
  with variety of well-motivated and modern
  pathways that are visible upfront
• Up-to-date research programs that appeal to
  students and that give room for participation and
  personal growth for them (not only at the MSc
  level).
• Increased funding and sponsoring, e.g. to create
  (more) research assistantships and stipends for
  students.
• More student mobility across (national)
  boundaries.
• Female students!
• Outreach action plan
• And a comprehensive philosophy of informatics...

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