WCCCE '97 

2nd
WESTERN CANADIAN CONFERENCE 
ON COMPUTING EDUCATION

MAY 1st and 2nd 1997 

Malaspina University College
Nanaimo, BC

Sponsored by

British Columbia Computers in Education Committee

Supported by

Malaspina University College
School of Computing & Academic Studies, BCIT
Computer Information Systems, University College of the Fraser Valley
Computer Science Department, University of Victoria
Computer Science Department, University of British Columbia

A Word from the WCCCE Chair

Welcome to the 2nd Western Canadian Conference on Computing Education. Our conference has successfully overcome the turbulence of its inaugural year and increased its recognition at the national level. With the generous support of Malaspina University College, the Department of Computer Information Systems of the University College of the Fraser Valley, the School of Computing and Academic Studies of BCIT, and the Computer Science departments of UBC and UVic, we managed to achieve our goals.

This year, we started the conference announcement earlier and had the opportunity to advertise it in all the major universities and colleges across the country. We received papers from the University of Alberta, University of Calgary and Acadia University. Our goal for next year is to attract papers from the US institutions and the Pacific Rim countries.

The paper review and selection process was slightly different this year. In the first phase we asked the authors to submit extended abstracts of their work. The abstracts were initially reviewed by two reviewers. If the recommendations of both reviewers were compatible, we followed them. In the case of conflicting recommendations, a third reviewer was selected to resolve the conflict. In the second phase, the completed papers that had been accepted were reviewed again for additional suggestions and comments. The process was time consuming, but it produced excellent results in terms of preserving the quality of the papers presented in this session. 

The conference committee would like to thank all the authors who submitted papers in keeping with high quality standards. We also owe thanks to the dedicated reviewers who offered their valuable knowledge and suggestions that further improved the papers.

The other important aspect of this year's program is to include discussions on gender related issues in Computing Education. We are fortunate that Maria Klawe has accepted our invitation to initiate the gender issues thread of our program with the keynote address this year. 

WCCCE '97 would not be possible without the efforts of many volunteers. The program committee would like to express its gratitude and appreciation to our coordinator, Holly Mitchell, for her energy and commitment to attending to all the details and keeping everyone in sync. We also appreciate the continuous effort and attention of Dominique Roelants who took care of the final details and the local arrangements. 

Finally, we would like to emphasize that your participation is equally important. Your comments, discussions and interactions is a fundamental ingredient for the success of our conference.

Thank you for coming to Nanaimo!

George K. Tsiknis

Program Committee

Charles G. Brown , Math & CS, UNBC ( brownc@unbc.edu ) 

Rick Gee, CS, OUC ( gee@admin.okanagan.bc.ca ) 

Murray Goldberg, CS, UBC ( goldberg@cs.ubc.ca ) 

Richard Hewko, Phys Math & CS, COTR ( hewko@cotr.bc.ca ) 

Vince Manis, CS Langara College ( manis@cs.ubc.ca ) 

Ken Takagaki, Computing &Academic Studies, BCIT (FTKAK429@BCIT.BC.CA) 

George K. Tsiknis (chair), CS, UBC ( tsiknis@cs.ubc.ca ) 

Local Arrangements 

Dominique Roelants, CS, MUC ( droelant@mala.bc.ca) 

Conference Program

Thursday, May 1, 1997

5:00-6:00 pm Registration and Welcome

6:00-10:00 pm Get-together BCCEC/WCCCE dinner at a local restaurant 

Friday, May 2, 1997

8:00 - 8:45 am Registration & Coffee

8:45 - 9:00 am Opening Remarks 

George Tsiknis, UBC and Dominique Roelants, MUC

9:00 - 10:15 am Paper Session A 
Chair: Ian Cavers, University of British Columbia

10:15 - 10:30 am Break

10:30 - 11:20 pm Paper Session B
Chair: Charles Brown, University of Northern British Columbia

11:20 - 11:30 am Break

11:30 - 12:15 am Keynote Address
Introduction: Murray Goldberg, University of British Columbia 

Keynote Speaker: Maria Klawe, Vice President, Student & Academic Services, University of British Columbia 

12:15 - 1:45 pm Lunch

1:45 - 3:00 pm Paper Session C 
Chair: John Blackwell, Douglas College

3:00 - 3:15 pm Break

3:15 - 4:30 pm Paper Session D
Chair: Nou Dadoun, Langara College

4:30 pm Closing Remarks 

POSTER SESSION