Adjustment of the Curricula for the BSc Degree “Professor of Informatics” With the Recommendations of the Bologna

declaration and the Process of European integration at the University Level of

Education

Project Head: Prof. Dr Mirjana Ivanović Members: dr Zoran Budimac

mr Ljubomir JerinićZoran Putnik

Adoption of the New Curricula

During the academic year 2002/03 at the Faculty of Science in Novi Sad, Department of mathematics and Informatics, a new curricula have been started for several BSc degrees.Adopted curricula are compatible with the Bologna declaration and principles of the european integration concerning the establishing of the european zone of high education.

Basic characteristics of the curricula 1/2

One of the adopted curricula is for a BSc degree of a four-year study “Professor of Informatics” – a degree educationg the future teachers at both elementary and secondary school level.

Majority of subjects IS one-semester;Student projects – seminars – are introduced;Elective courses are introduced ...

Basic characteristics of the curricula 2/2

The most important characteristics of this degree compared to the other degrees is by far the relationship of a curriculum as a whole to the curricula of “other” degrees in informatics:

“lightened” compared to other degrees in informatics;Almost all of the courses are one-semester;Three “Software practices” are introduced – creating exercise for these students, probably the most important for them.

Predmet zimski s. letnji s. npUvod u programiranje 2+2+1 puAnaliza I 3+3 puSociologija 3+0 uKombinatorika i teorija grafova 3+3 2+2 puOsnovi algebre 3+3 3+3 puStrukture podataka i algoritmi I 2+1+1 puAnaliza II 3+3+1 puFinansijska matematika I 3+3 pr

Linearna algebra 3+3 puAnaliza algoritama 3+3 puFinansije 3+3 uProgramski jezici 2+1+1 2+1+2 prStrukture podataka i algoritmi II 2+1+1 2+1+2 puOrganizacija računara 2+1+1 puSoftverski praktikum 3+0+3 prRačunovodstvo 3+3 pr

Operativni sistemi I 2+2+1 prBaze podataka I 2+2+2 prVeštačka inteligencija I 2+2+1 prNumerička analiza 3+3 suVerovatnoća i statistika 2+2 2+2 puIzborni predmet I 2+1+2 *Računarska grafika i geometrija I 3+2+2 prIzborni seminar 3+0+3 suMetode odlučivanja 2+2 su

Informacioni sistemi I 2+2+1 prKonstrukcija kompajlera I 2+2+1 prOperaciona istraživanja 3+3 prSoftversko inženjerstvo 2+1+1 2+1+1 prEngleski jezik 2+0 2+0 uIzborni predmet II 2+2+1 *Upravljanje softverskim projektima 2+2+1 suFinansijska matematika II 3+0+3 suDiplomski rad 0+4 0+4

C3I

go

din

aII

go

din

aII

I g

od

ina

IV g

od

ina

Izborni predmet I:Operativni sistemi II (u)Baze podataka II (su)Veštačka inteligencija II (su)Teorija grafova II (u)Matematički osnovi informatike (u)

Izborni predmet II:Konstrukcija kompajlera II (pr)Informacioni sistemi II (su)Računarska grafika i geometrija II (pr)Simulacije (su)Primenjena algebra (su)

Softverski praktikum:Kancelarijsko poslovanjeSimboličko računanjeInternet alatiVizuelno programiranje

Financing of curricula adjustment until now

Adjustment of curricula is partially financed by the Ministry of Education of Autonomous Province of Vojvodina,The first phase of the project is creation of a curriculum for the courses “Methodics of Informatics” and “Educational Software”, while in the future, creation of curricula for ALL the other courses for this degree is planned.Financial support was requested (and gained) by different foreign institution – WUS project for the development of curricula for the mentioned courses.

Current situation with the project

(Financed by other sources) the basic literature has been bought.(Financed by other sources) several educational software packages have been bought.The draft version of the scripts has been created for both courses. Additional finances for the publishing of those books is required.A plan has been created for transformation of lessons into PowerPoint presentations. Additional finances for the actual creation of presentations is required.

The main aim of the subject is to prepare the future lecturer for teaching methods and principles of informatics at the elementary and secondary school level.Curriculum for the degree “Professor of Informatics” for both “Methodics of Informatics” and “Educational Software” courses, require 30 lecture hours by the professor accompanied by 30 PRACTICAL lecture hours at the computer laboratory.This requirement demands implicitely much greater number of computers and peripherals for teaching.

Existing curricula MUST be changed in order to adopt:

New teaching methodologies

New presentation techniques – computers, video-beams, multimedia CS’s, tutoring systems …

Contemporary tendencies and new results achieved in the fields of pedagogy, methodics, psychology and cognitive sciences, concerning the educational process.

Methodics of informatics depends highly on the area of informatics being taught – operating systems, programming languages, application programming, or elements of computer literacy

According to this – different approaches have to be defined and planned to be used for various courses, schools, or professions.

Also, for courses “Educational Software 1 and 2”, additional effort is needed for preparation of future teachers to master two aims:

How to use computers in their teaching practice, and

How to define, plan, implement, and use educational software in teaching.

Additional motivationA contact has been established with the foreign colleagues: three Universities from United Kingdom, and Universities from Austria and Greece, with a written letter of support.There has been a common understanding that throughout the whole Europe, there is a relatively small number of courses, curricula, and institutions for acquiring a degree “Professor of Informatics” according to the contemporary methodology and using modern information technology.

Real needs of a projectWe are very thankful to the Ministry of Education of Autonomous Province of Vojvodina for the support, since this is THE ONLY official governmet support acquired for this purpose. Still, we have to add, that these finances were not sufficient.Real needs assume additional information technology, literature, and software.Real needs assume additional work and people for practical execution of planned activities.

Accordint to the curricula, mentioned subjects will be taught for the first time in the academic year 2004/05. The need for immediate action and definition of appropriate courses is obvious. In the future, we hope for greater help from Autonomous Province of Vojvodine, but also from other domestic institutions. Those resources should provide means for up-to-date teaching and education of quality, europeanly competitive teachers.