
Dr Rita Garcia
Lecturer
School of Computer Science
Faculty of Sciences, Engineering and Technology
My research interests are in the field of Computer Science Education (CSE) and in supporting diversity in the fields of Computer Science and Software Engineering. My work focuses on helping Computer Science (CS) students build problems-solving skills that will help them organise and plan programming solutions. Through my research, I developed a pedagogy that introduces introductory programming students to the software design process earlier in their studies. This pedagogy was applied within Canvas, a Learning Management System (LMS), so that students could be supported in a learning environment with minimal supervision. My research also investigates the presentation of programming assignments designed to help CS students identify the problem's goals and provide additional assistance to students to better understand the problem. My experience in industry has motivated me to expand my research to study students' collaboration processes performed during group work. The goal of this work is to help reduce language during group work that might exclude women and underrepresented minorities from pursuing careers in the Tech field.
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Awards and Achievements
Date Type Title Institution Name Country Amount 2022 Fellowship Higher Education Academy (HEA) Fellow Higher Education Academy United Kingdom 2021 Fellowship IEEE FIE New Faculty Fellow IEEE Frontiers in Education (FIE) United States USD$1000 2018 Award Best Demonstration ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education (SIGCSE) United States -
Education
Date Institution name Country Title 2016 - 2020 University of Adelaide Australia Doctor of Philosophy, Computer Science University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee United States BS, Computer Science University of California, Santa Cruz United States MS, Computer Science -
Research Interests
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Journals
Year Citation 2018 Garcia, R., Falkner, K., & Vivian, R. (2018). Systematic literature review: Self-Regulated Learning strategies using e-learning tools for Computer Science. Computers and Education, 123, 150-163.
Scopus59 WoS48 -
Conference Papers
Year Citation 2022 Garcia, R., & Alexander, B. (2022). Using Assignment Design as an Instrument to Collect Student Voice. In Proceedings of the 53rd ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education (SIGCSE, 2022) Vol. 1 (pp. 223-229). Providence, RI, USA: Association for Computing Machinery.
2022 Garcia, R., Liao, C. -J., Pearce, A., & Treude, C. (2022). Gender Influence on Communication Initiated within Student Teams. In Proceedings of the 53rd ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education (SIGCSE, 2022) Vol. 1 (pp. 1-7). New York, NY, United States: Association for Computing Machinery.
2021 Garcia, R. (2021). Student Voice in the Assignment Design Process. In Proceedings of EdMedia + Innovate Learning (pp. 346-355). Waynesville, NC, United States: Association for the Advancement of Computing in Education (AACE). 2021 Garcia, R. (2021). Evaluating Parsons Problems as a Design-Based Intervention. In 2021 IEEE Frontiers in Education Conference (FIE) Vol. 2021-October (pp. 1-9). online: IEEE.
2021 Garcia, R. (2021). Assignment Presentation Framework for CS1 Programming Problems. In 2021 IEEE Frontiers in Education (FIE) Vol. 2021-October (pp. 9 pages). USA: IEEE.
2019 Garcia, R., Falkner, K., & Vivian, R. (2019). Instructional framework for CS1 question activities. In Annual Conference on Innovation and Technology in Computer Science Education, ITiCSE (pp. 189-195). online: ACM.
Scopus1 WoS22019 Garcia, R., Falkner, K., & Vivian, R. (2019). Understanding Problems through Assignment Presentation: A Replication Study. In IEEE Frontiers in Education Vol. 2019-January (pp. 1-8). online: IEEE.
Scopus12018 Garcia, R., Falkner, K., & Vivian, R. (2018). Scaffolding the design process using parsons problems. In ACM International Conference Proceeding Series (pp. 1-2). online: ACM.
Scopus12017 Garcia, R. (2017). Codification pedagogy for introductory courses. In ICER 2017 - Proceedings of the 2017 ACM Conference on International Computing Education Research (pp. 263-264). online: ACM.
Scopus1
Current Grants
Student communication during group projects: Reporting on gender bias language. R.Garcia, Primary Researcher, SIGCSE Special Project Grants ($3900) (2021)
Prior Grants
Extending Canvas/H5P to Support Adaptive Learning in Large Programming Course. C. Pope, C. Ortega, R.Garcia, Postdoc Researcher, Learning Enhancement and Innovation, University of Adelaide, ($4225) (2020)
Semester 1 2022:
- COMP SCI 4405 Research Methods in Software Engineering and Computer Science (course coordinator, lecturer)
- COMP SCI 4023 Software Process Improvement (course coordinator, lecturer)
Semester 2 2021:
- COMP SCI 1102 Object Oriented Programming (lecturer)
- COMP SCI 1106 Introduction to Software Engineering (course coordinator, lecturer)
Semester 1 2021:
- COMP SCI 7210 Foundations of Computer Science - Python A (course coordinator)
- COMP SCI 7211 Foundations of Computer Science - Python B (course coordinator)
- COMP SCI 1102 Object Oriented Programming (course coordinator, lecturer)
Trimester 3 2020:
- COMP SCI 1102 Object Oriented Programming (course coordinator, lecturer)
Semester 2 2020:
- COMP SCI 1102 Object Oriented Programming (course coordinator, lecturer)
- COMP SCI 1106 Introduction to Software Engineering (course coordinator, lecturer)
Prior teaching experience as an Adjunct Faculty member at Skyline College (San Bruno, California), City College of San Francisco (San Francisco, California), and Foothill College (Los Altos, California) between 2001-2004. Taught a variety of CS and IT courses, such as Advanced Java, Unix/Shell Scripting, web development, and introductory programming courses.
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Community Engagement
Date Title Engagement Type Institution Country 2021 - ongoing Breaking the Glass Ceiling: Women in Leadership Public Community Engagement University of Adelaide -
Event Participation
Date Event Name Event Type Institution Country 2021 - ongoing IEEE Frontiers in Education (FIE) Conference IEEE Frontiers in Education (FIE) 2021 - ongoing ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education(SIGCSE) Conference ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education(SIGCSE) 2019 - ongoing IEEE Frontiers in Education (FIE) Conference IEEE Frontiers in Education (FIE) 2019 - ongoing ACM Conference on Innovation and Technology in ComputerScience Education (ITiCSE) Conference ACM Conference on Innovation and Technology in ComputerScience Education (ITiCSE) 2018 - ongoing 18th Koli Calling InternationalConference on Computing Education Research Conference 18th Koli Calling InternationalConference on Computing Education Research 2018 - ongoing ACM Technical Symposium on ComputerScience Education (SIGCSE) Conference ACM Technical Symposium on ComputerScience Education (SIGCSE) -
Offices Held
Date Office Name Institution Country 2018 - 2020 Senior Infrastructure Engineering Consultant Marvel Studios United States 2018 - 2018 Senior Software Engineer Method Studios Australia 2016 - 2017 Senior Infrastructure Engineer Rising Sun Pictures Australia 2012 - 2016 Senior Infrastructure Engineer Weta Digital New Zealand 2003 - 2011 Infrastructure Engineer Pixar Animation Studios United States
Connect With Me
External Profiles