Oliver Kerr
Professional Tutor in Computing, Doctoral Researcher
School of Engineering and Computing
Oliver is a Professional Tutor in Computing and Doctoral Researcher currently studying methods of performance prediction within introductory programming courses.
Oliver is a Professional Tutor in Computing, specialising in Data Science and Programming where he acts as a lab tutor for a number of modules, as well as providing an additional support lecture for the First Year Programming modules. In addition to his work as a Professional Tutor, Oliver is undertaking his doctorate in which he is developing a method of predicting students’ performance in their introductory programming modules. It is his intention that his prediction method be used to to identify students most in need of additional support. Oliver actively participates in Computing outreach activities with both schools and colleges, and is always looking for new ways to engage and inspire younger audiences to study Computer Science.
Oliver originally attended UCLan as a student between 2014 and 2017 studying for a degree in Computing. During his degree, he developed an interest for researching the factors that make learning to program difficult and as such, published his first journal article and attended his first international conference during his second year of study. Oliver graduated with first-class honours and commenced his PhD research. Oliver also worked as a part-time Senior Demonstrator in Computing for a number of years before joining the Faculty full-time in 2020.
- PhD in Computer Science, UCLan, 2018 - present
- BSc. (Hons) Computing, UCLan, 2017
- World Congress on Education Best Paper Award, 2017
- School Prize for Most Outstanding Student on BSc. (Hons) Computing, 2017
- School Prize for Best Undergraduate Project, 2017
- Artificial Intelligence
- Educational Data Mining
- Learning Analytics
- Intelligent Tutoring System Design
- Computing Pedagogy
- BSC, The Chartered Institute for IT
- Computing At School (CAS)
- ACM Special Interest Group on Computer Science Education
Much of my current research relates to the development of a predictive algorithm capable of identifying students who are likely to struggle to learn to program. This research draws of the subjects of Software Development, Machine Learning and Cognitive Psychology and techniques from the fields of Educational Data Mining and Learning Analytics, such as Bayesian Knowledge Tracing to develop a working model of students' misconceptions at the start of their course which may hamper their learning. It is my intention to integrate this work into an Intelligent Tutoring System which will be used within the introductory programming modules.
Use the links below to view their profiles:
Telephone:01772 893295
Email: Email:Oliver Kerr
Use the links below to view their profiles: