Referent: Prof. Antonio Celesti
Email: antonio.celesti@unime.it
tel: 090/676 5472
The activity carried out by the Computer Science Degree Course at the University of Messina as part of the Computer Science PLS has been organized with the aim of alleviating the issues highlighted by the academic community (gathered by the National Computer Scientists Group, GRIN). The actions taken are aimed at addressing some of the problems affecting computer science university studies, such as:
- Widespread confusion regarding the scientific status of computer science disciplines;
- Progressive gender imbalance;
- Low presence of computer science professionals in secondary schools.
Specifically, the Computer Science Degree Course aims to implement 6 actions, as outlined below:
ACTION 1. "Orientation to enrollments, favoring gender balance". Organization of orientation activities and educational workshops both in-person and online. Particular emphasis is placed on the role that computer science plays in any work environment today, with the aim of encouraging gender balance and stimulating female interest in this scientific discipline.
ACTION 2. "Reduction of dropout rates". Organization of tutoring activities aimed at reducing the dropout rate of students. The objective is to enhance support for teaching mathematics and programming subjects.
ACTION 3. "Training, support, and monitoring of tutor activities". In order to promote more effective and lasting learning in orientation, scientific dissemination, and tutoring activities, the aim is to actively involve Master's Degree students as tutors. These figures are crucial, on the one hand, to minimize any distances between teachers and students, and on the other hand, to extend the approach to curricular courses.
ACTION 4. "Laboratory for teaching basic sciences". The objective is to organize training experiences both in the Computer Science Degree Course laboratories and in those of the involved schools. The laboratories focus on innovative topics (such as Cloud computing, Internet of Things (IoT), Big Data, Artificial Intelligence, etc.) in order to try to engage students in the study of computer science disciplines.
ACTION 5. "Educational activities for self-assessment". The objective is to organize self-assessment activities for students through discussions in "round tables", questionnaires, and the development of papers on the topics covered.
ACTION 6. "Teacher training". The objective is to organize training events to enrich the professional growth of secondary school teachers in advanced computer science subjects, considering, for example, Cloud computing, Internet of Things (IoT), Big Data, Artificial Intelligence, etc.
The Computer Science Degree Course, as part of the Computer Science PLS, involves various secondary schools in the Metropolitan City of Messina every year, as well as some schools in Reggio Calabria. In the implementation of educational workshops, teachers from the Computer Science Degree Course, teachers from secondary schools, and tutors selected through calls issued by the department where the Computer Science Degree Course is located are involved.