Academic Perceptions of the Ideal Computer Science Student

Authors

  • Hannah Thinyane

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.18489/sacj.v50i1.165

Keywords:

higher education, computer science, ideal student

Abstract

This paper presents the results of a case study aimed at identifying the skills that lecturers in a computer science department value in an undergraduate student, and to determine if there is a departmental construction of an ‘ideal’ student. To answer this question, a case study was undertaken in the Computer Science Department at a small university in South Africa. Participants were asked to complete a questionnaire and to take part in an interview to solicit feedback on their notion of an ‘ideal’ student. This study found that participants valued the following skills within undergraduate student: creativity; computer playfulness; planning, analytical or abstract thinking, and problem solving; introverted personality; engagement in class; working independently; self efficacy; and responsibility. It also found a strong correlation between participant’s own performance as a student and their understanding of an ‘ideal’ student. These results are then discussed within the context of South African Higher Education, where student populations are becoming more diverse. The paper calls for academics to reflect on their own teaching, and the relevance of their practices to the present conditions of transformation in Higher Education in South Africa.

Downloads

Published

2013-07-28

Issue

Vol. 50 (2013)

Section

Research Papers (general)

License

Copyright of all work published here subsists in the authors. While SACJ retains right of first publication, subsequent re-publication is expressly permitted provided the original SACJ publication is acknowledged and cited, according to the terms detailed below. If plagiarism is detected during review, a paper may be summarily rejected and will not be accepted unless even minor infringements are corrected. Should plagiarism be detected after a paper is published, the Editor reserves the right to withdraw a paper from publication. We expect authors to be honest in representing work as their own, and to respect the time and effort our reviewers put in without an undue burden of policing plagiarism, and hence take violations seriously. SACJ applies the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial 4.0 License (CC BY-NC 4.0) to all papers published in this journal. Authors who publish with SACJ agree to the following:
  1. Authors retain copyright and grant SACJ right of first publication. The work is additionally licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License that requires others who share the work to acknowledge the work’s authorship and initial publication in SACJ. Should anyone else wish to make commercial use of the work, SACJ cedes the right to the author to negotiate terms and does not expect to be paid any royalties.
  2. Authors may enter into additional arrangements for non-exclusive distribution of the SACJ-published version of the work (e.g., post it to a repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgement of its initial publication in this journal.
  3. Authors are required to refrain from posting their work online prior to completion of reviews so as not to compromise double-blind reviewing or confuse plagiarism checks.