UC in the City Lecture Series - Engineering

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When:

Tue 9 Nov ’10, 6:00pm–7:00pm

Where: Christchurch Art Gallery - Te Puna o Waiwhetu, Cnr Worcester Boulevard and Montreal St, Christchurch City Show map

Restrictions: All Ages

Ticket Information:

Admission: Free

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Associate Professor Tim Bell (College of Engineering) presents “Mere users: computers that make people feel like dummies, and what we can do about it”

It's not unusual for people to feel frustrated or incompetent when using computers, and "digital immigrants" (those who started using computers later in life) often feel that the younger "digital natives" are naturally competent in computing. The reality is that the problem is often with poorly designed interfaces, and the "natives" have shallower knowledge than might be assumed. Parallel to this scenario we have had a significant increase in demand for people who are able to design and maintain digital systems, yet ironically we have had a massive decrease in the number of students studying computing as a discipline. This lecture will examine what is behind these issues, how they relate, and what is being done in New Zealand so avoid us becoming a nation of mere users.

Tim Bell is an Associate Professor and Deputy HOD in the Department of Computer Science and Software Engineering at the University of Canterbury. His research interests include computer science education, computers and music, and data compression. His "Computer Science Unplugged'' project is widely used internationally, and its books and videos have been translated into 12 languages. He has received several awards for science communication and teaching, including the Science Communicator Award from the NZ Association of Scientists and the University of Canterbury Teaching medal.

He has been an invited or keynote speaker at many Computing Education conferences and events, including SSS 2008 (Japanese computing educators' conference), NSF BPC meeting (Washington DC, 2009), CAS 2009 (UK computing educators' conference), and the NCWIT 2010 Summit on Women in Computing (Portland, OR, 2010).

He has published more than 90 refereed journal and conference papers, and three books. He is a Guest Professor of Huazhong University of Science and Technology in Wuhan, China. He is also a qualified musician, and performs regularly on instruments that have black-and-white keyboards.

The lecture is part of the 2010 UC in the City lecture series which showcases research coming out of the University's colleges, schools and research centres. Entry is free. As seating is limited, please arrive early to ensure your seat in the Philip Carter Family Auditorium.