Informatics in Education

In this article, we examine a case study of the Bachelor’s degree programme “Computer Science” at the University of Latvia. We explore several factors that enabled it to (a) obtain the European Informatics Quality Label three times, (b) be ranked first in the national employer survey as the most recommended educational Programme for nine years, and (c) adopt a student-centred approach. Using a case study methodology, we highlight several innovations that together make the Programme highly regarded both academically and in the labour market. At the end of the paper, we divide the key outcomes of the study into two sets of innovations. National-level solutions, such as learning outcome comparison and the development of industry terminology with student participation, are important primarily in the local context. Whereas (a) the framework for gaining both industry and academic experience through the Practice Course and Qualification thesis, and (b) curriculum expansion with Special Seminars and the creation of opportunities for students to acquire additional knowledge through Excellence Studies and Remedial Courses, can be transferred internationally.

In order to improve the learning process for students with different pre-knowledge, personal characteristics and preferred learning styles, a certain degree of adaptability must be introduced to online courses. In learning environments that support such kind of functionalities students can explicitly choose different paths through course contents or can be directed to different parts of the instructional material depending on the pace of their advancement in acquiring new knowledge. This paper presents the implementation of such an environment by extending open source learning management system Moodle.