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Now showing 1 - 10 of 13
  • Article
    Citation - WoS: 20
    Citation - Scopus: 24
    A Study on the Key Soft Skills for Successful Participation of Students in Multinational Engineering Education
    (Tempus Publications, 2017) Fernandez-Sanz, Luis; Teresa Villalba, Maria; Amelio Medina, Jose; Misra, Sanjay; Computer Engineering
    Soft-skills have proved to be a necessary complement to technical skills in today's multinational workplaces. As universities are facing the challenge of promoting internationalization and mobility in students and teachers, they have to decide how to help their students in developing these skills as well as increase their awareness on the cultural differences in multinational settings. After a long trajectory of participation in multinational educational experiences, the authors launched a survey to check if their previous findings on the preferred soft skills by educational experts and managers still remain valid after 5 years. Another goal of the study was the analysis of the link between preference for specific soft skills and cultural background in each country as characterized by Hofstede's indicators. The data collected from 123 experts from 45 different countries have confirmed the existence of a stable core set of preferred soft skills at global level and also for European countries. Results have also shown links between specific cultural indicators and preference for some soft skills.
  • Article
    Citation - WoS: 11
    Citation - Scopus: 13
    Assessing Team Work in Engineering Projects
    (Tempus Publications, 2015) Mishra, Deepti; Ostrovska, Sofiya; Hacaloglu, Tuna; Mathematics; Computer Engineering; Information Systems Engineering
    Team work is considered a valuable teaching technique in higher education. However, the assessment of an individual's work in teams has proved to be a challenging task. Consequently, self-and peer-evaluations are becoming increasingly popular for the assessment of individuals in a team work, though it is essential to determine whether students can judge their own as well as their peer's performance effectively. Self-and peer-evaluations have been applied in different disciplines and their authenticity with regard to teacher's assessment has been evaluated in the literature but this issue has not been investigated in the field of engineering education so far. In this study, a peer-and self-assessment procedure is applied to the evaluation of a project work conducted in teams of 3 or 4 students. The participants were engineering students taking two similar courses related with database design and development. It is found that a majority of the students were unable to assess themselves as objectively as their instructor. Further, it is observed that successful students tend to under-estimate, whereas unsuccessful students tend to over-estimate, their own performance. The paper also establishes that the results of self-assessments are independent from the gender factor.
  • Article
    Citation - WoS: 2
    Citation - Scopus: 8
    It Service Management (itsm) Education and Research: Global View
    (Tempus Publications, 2015) Yazici, Ali; Mishra, Alok; Kontogiorgis, Paul; Software Engineering
    This article provides an overview of Information Technology Service Management (ITSM) and investigates the education and research activities in this discipline from a global perspective. The objectives of the study are to inform the training organizations (e.g., universities, training institutes) on the current status of the educational activities in ITSM at undergraduate and graduate levels; and to guide the researchers by providing quantitative data on the research activities conducted in the field. In the educational arena, the statistical data showed that, stand-alone undergraduate/graduate programs are becoming popular among the high school graduates with elevated expectations of the market place, in addition to the appreciation of the IT service management area by the IT sector and the public. The results of the research findings provide guidelines for curriculum developers in the design and implementation of courses for the de facto interdisciplinary ITSM degree/certificate training programs and motivate and guide the researchers by providing the most recent quantitative data on the ITSM field. It is one of the first studies to provide education and research trends in ITSM area. The present study adds to this important stream of emerging research area and contributes by advancing the understanding of ITSM education and research issues. This paper advances the current state of knowledge on ITSM education and explores recent research trends in this area which is becoming standard towards providing quality IT services in enterprises.
  • Article
    Citation - Scopus: 1
    Analyzing Students' Academic Success in Pre-requisite Course Chains: A Case Study in Turkey
    (Tempus Publications, 2018) Karakaya, Murat; Eryilmaz, Meltem; Ceyhan, Ulas; Computer Engineering
    There are several principles which have been accepted as approaches to successful curriculum development. In spite of the differences in the proposed sequencing of topics, all approaches basically depend on the pre-requisite chains to implement their educational approach in the curriculum development for specifying the order of the subjects. In this research, two prerequisite chains representing two different curriculum development approaches are taken into consideration in a case study. The first research question considered is whether academic success in a follow-up course is positively related to success attained in the pre-requisite course. The second one is whether or not the selected curriculum development approach for deciding the chains has a significant impact on the academic success relationships between a pre-requisite and its follow-up course. To answer these questions, course data of 441 undergraduate students who graduated from the Atilim University between Fall 2001 and Spring 2015 semesters were collected and analyzed. The results indicate that the succes levels gained in a pre-requisite and its follow-up course are corelated. Moreover, different cirriculum development methods can affect this corelation. Thus, cirriculum developers should consider appropriate approaches to improve student success for deciding chaining courses and their contents.
  • Article
    Citation - WoS: 1
    Citation - Scopus: 1
    Integration of Social Media Into Engineering Education: a Comparative Study on Perceptions of Faculty and Students
    (Tempus Publications, 2018) Turhan, Cigdem; Akman, Ibrahim; Software Engineering; Computer Engineering
    For a number of years, the effects of incorporating social media into education systems has invoked the interest of researchers, academicians and students. Yet, the enthusiasm of students in utilizing social media for learning is met with reluctance on the faculty's part in abandoning the traditional ways of teaching. This study compares the students' and faculty's acceptance of the utilization of social media in engineering education from different perspectives. A survey approach has been used for this purpose and 57 faculty and 85 students from the engineering faculties participated in the study. The research model used was tested using the least square regression technique. The results show existence of significant diversity between the faculty and students in the factors affecting the ethical usage. Concerning the general usage, this diversity exists in only the awareness. These results are expected to provide insight into the issues that act as barriers towards a more open, collaborative and learner-centered higher education platform.
  • Article
    Citation - WoS: 6
    Citation - Scopus: 7
    Teaching Software Verification and Validation Course: a Case Study
    (Tempus Publications, 2014) Mishra, Deepti; Hacaloglu, Tuna; Mishra, Alok; Computer Engineering; Software Engineering; Information Systems Engineering
    Software verification and validation (V & V) is one of the significant areas of software engineering for developing high quality software. It is also becoming part of the curriculum of a universities' software and computer engineering departments. This paper reports the experience of teaching undergraduate software engineering students and discusses the main problems encountered during the course, along with suggestions to overcome these problems. This study covers all the different topics generally covered in the software verification and validation course, including static verification and validation. It is found that prior knowledge about software quality concepts and good programming skills can help students to achieve success in this course. Further, team work can be chosen as a strategy, since it facilitates students' understanding and motivates them to study. It is observed that students were more successful in white box testing than in black box testing.
  • Article
    Citation - WoS: 3
    Citation - Scopus: 3
    Online Learning Perceptions Amid Covid-19 Pandemic: the Engineering Undergraduates' Perspective
    (Tempus Publications, 2022) Eryilmaz, Meltem; Kalem, Guler; Kilic, Hurevren; Tirkes, Guzin; Topalli, Damla; Turhan, Cigdem; Yazici, Ali; Information Systems Engineering; Computer Engineering; Software Engineering
    The COVID-19 pandemic caused face-to-face education in just about all universities worldwide to shift to online education. For most students, this educational model was a compulsory first experience. In this study, the survey results are analyzed and discussed related to a group of students in the Engineering Faculty of a university in Turkey regarding their online education perceptions. Briefly summarized, the findings of the study indicate that: (a) most of the students still prefer face-to-face learning, which is also favored if accompanied by distance learning; (b) the concentration level of the students has dropped due to the concerns about the COVID-19 pandemic which affects their learning negatively; and (c) around half of the students participating in the study feel that the online exams conducted without a secure exam software, is considered unsafe. Additionally, the study's results were further extended to evaluate the questionnaire results and reported along with the suggestions of necessary actions in emergency online learning (EOL).
  • Article
    Citation - WoS: 3
    Citation - Scopus: 2
    Designing Senior Graduation Project Course for Computing Curricula: an Active Learning Approach
    (Tempus Publications, 2010) Kilic, Hurevren; Kılıç, Hürevren; Koyuncu, Murat; Koyuncu, Murat; Rehan, Mohammad; Rehan, Mohammad; Kılıç, Hürevren; Koyuncu, Murat; Rehan, Mohammad; Computer Engineering; Computer Engineering; Information Systems Engineering; Information Systems Engineering; Computer Engineering; Information Systems Engineering
    This paper proposes an active learning-based design approach to senior graduation project courses for computing curricula. The proposed approach focuses mainly on course requirements including increasing the interaction between instructor and project team members; providing better and fair student/team performance assessment; encouraging students to practise life-cycle driven development; preparing students for role-based team-working; motivating students to communicate with experts from industry and supporting cooperation between students. It is observed that implementation of the proposed approach increases the student course satisfaction level while higher quality student projects are achieved.
  • Article
    Citation - WoS: 11
    Citation - Scopus: 12
    A Comprehensive Assessment Plan for Accreditation in Engineering Education: A Case Study in Turkey
    (Tempus Publications, 2015) Turhan, Cigdem; Sengul, Gokhan; Koyuncu, Murat; Information Systems Engineering; Software Engineering; Computer Engineering
    This paper describes the procedure followed by Computer Engineering and Software Engineering programs at Atilim University, Ankara, Turkey, which led to the granting of five years of accreditation by MUDEK, the local accreditation body authorized by The European Network for Accreditation of Engineering Education (ENAEE) to award the EUR-ACElabel, and a full member signatory of Washington Accord of International Engineering Alliance (IEA). It explains the organizational structure established for preparation, determination and measurement of the educational objectives, program outcomes, course outcomes, and the continuous improvement cycle carried out during the preparation period. The aim of the paper is to share methods and experiences which may be beneficial for the other programs that are intended for accreditation.
  • Article
    Citation - WoS: 6
    Citation - Scopus: 7
    An Enhanced Course in Digital Communications
    (Tempus Publications, 2014) Kara, Ali; Cagiltay, Nergiz Ercil; Dalveren, Yaser; Department of Electrical & Electronics Engineering; Software Engineering
    Today technological improvements provide several alternatives and opportunities for improving traditional educational systems. However, integrating these technologies in an appropriate and successful way into the curriculum of traditional systems is a challenge. This work presents the enhancements added to an undergraduate course on Digital Communications which is an introductory course offered to senior undergraduates or first year graduate students. The Digital Communications course covers some essential stages in a typical digital communication system, namely, signal formatting such as analog to digital conversion, baseband modulation and bandpass modulation by concentrating on demodulation and detection at the receiver end. The enhancements include computer simulations, web-based simulation tools and remote laboratory experiments along with several out of class activities. The enhancements have improved the course significantly by supporting constructivist and blended learning methods. The improvement to the course was demonstrated over two years, from the student progress assessed from the collated results of the student evaluation forms and a questionnaire on the course learning outcomes, and a comparison of their performance in the written exams. The results show that there is a significant improvement both in the progress and satisfaction of the students on the enhanced course curriculum. This study shows how different technologies have been successfully integrated to the curriculum of Digital Communications course in a higher education organization and concludes its success factors.