Prof. Irene Polycarpou
RECTOR OF UCLAN CYPRUS
PROFESSOR OF TECHNOLOGY AND INNOVATION IN EDUCATION
[email protected]
+357 24694010
Qualifications
PhD in Computer Science (Florida International University, USA, 2008)
MSc Computer Science (Florida International University, USA, 2004)
BSc Computer Science (Florida International University, USA, 2002)
Associate of Computer Science (Higher Technical Institute, Cyprus, 2000)
Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (2014)
PECB CDPO (Certified Data Protection Officer) Certification (2018)
SAS Visual Analytics: Getting Started (2017)
Applied Analytics Using SAS Enterprise Miner (2017)
Specialization
Educational Technologies
Employment Track
Professor of Technology and Innovation in Education and Head of School of Sciences, UCLan Cyprus (2017 – Present)
Associate Professor of Computing and Head of School of Sciences, UCLan Cyprus (2015 – 2017)
Assistant Professor of Computing, UCLan Cyprus (2012 – 2015)
Assistant Professor of Computing, Colorado School of Mines, USA (2008 – 2012)
Memberships (Academic/Professional)
- Association of Computing Machinery (ACM)
- ACM Special Interest Group on Computer Science Education (SIGCSE)
- ACM’s Women in Computing (ACM-W)
- Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineering (IEEE)
- IEEE Education Society
- IEEE Computer Society
- IEEE Women in Engineering
- American Educational Research Association (AERA)
- AERA Special Interest Group on Advanced Technologies for Learning
- AERA Special Interest Group on Instructional Technologies
- AERA Special Interest Group on Computer Applications in Education
- Golden Key International Honour Society
- Higher Education Academy
Research Interests
Educational technologies, interactive multimedia for education, instructional software, participatory software design, e-learning, Computer Science curriculum, students’ cognition and learning styles, K-12 mathematics education, and STEM education
Roles and Responsibilities (including past roles and responsibilities)
Teaching and Course Leadership
- Course Leader of MSc Computing (2013 – 2015)
- Course Leader of BSc (Hons) Computing (2012 – 2014)
- Module Leadership/Delivery (past and current): Discrete Mathematics for Computing, Interactive Applications, Computing Skills, Introduction to Mathematics and Statistics, Logic for Computer Science, Theory of Computation, Educational Technologies, and Educational Games
Administrative Roles
- Member, Council (elected, 2015 – 2018)
- Member, Senate (2015 – Present)
- Member, Senior Academic Management Team
- Chair, Research and Innovation Committee (2016 – 2019)
- Chair, School of Sciences Academic Standards and Quality Assurance Committee (2019 – Present)
- Member, University Academic Standards and Quality Assurance Committee – ASQAC (2019 – Present)
- Chair, Student Experience Committee (2015)
Selective Publications
- Stavrou, E. & Polycarpou, I. (2020) “Cybersecurity-related Curriculum for Diverse Postgraduate Cohorts: A Case Study”. In: The 18th International Conference on Education and Information Systems, Technologies and Applications: EISTA 2020, 13-16 September 2020, Virtual Conference.
- Karpasitis C., Polycarpou I., Kaniadakis A., Kvasova O. (2019, June). “I see, I hear, I speak: How audiovisuals affect brand video virality”. International Conference on Research in Advertising (ICORIA 2019), Austria, June 2019.
- Pamboris, A., Samaras, G., Andreou, P. & Polycarpou, I. (2019). “FogFS: A Nomadic Fog File System For Hyper-Responsive Mobile Applications.” To appear in the Proceedings of the CCNC 2019, January 2019.
- Nearchos Paspallis, Irene Polycarpou, Panayiotis Andreou, Josephina Antoniou, Paris Kaimakis, Marios Raspopoulos, and Maria Terzi. 2018. An experience report on the effectiveness of five themed workshops at inspiring high school students to learn coding. In Proceedings of the 23rd Annual ACM Conference on Innovation and Technology in Computer Science Education (ITiCSE 2018). Association for Computing Machinery, New York, NY, USA, 105–110. DOI:https://doi.org/10.1145/3197091.3197093.
- Karpasitis, C., Polycapou, I., & Kaniadakis, A. (2018). The Role of Music in Viral Video Advertisements.
- Andreou, P., Nicou, G., Polycarpou, I., Germanakos, P., & Paspallis, N. (2017). CodeAdventure: An Adventure Game for Computer Science Education. HCI.
- Polycarpou, I., Andreou, P., Laxer, C. & Kurkovsjy, S. (2017). “Academic-Industry Collaboration: Effective Measures for Successful Engagement.” In the proceedings of the 2017 ITiCSE, July 2017, pp. 250-251.
- Andreou, P., Nicou, G., Polycarpou, I., Germanakos, P. & Paspallis, N. (2017). “CodeAdventure: An Adventure Game for Computer Science Education”. In the Proceedings of the 2017 HCI International, 9-14 July 2017.
- Yiatrou, P., Polycarpou, I., Read C. J., & Zenios M. (2016). “The Synthesis of a Unified Pedagogy for the Design and Evaluation of E-learning Software for High-school Computing.” In the Proceeding of the 2016 Federated Conference on Computer Science and Information Systems, pp. 927-93, ACSIS, Vol. 8. ISSN 2300-59631, DOI: 10.15439/2016F159.
- Yiatrou, P., Polycarpou, I. & Read C. J. (2014). “The Synthesis of a Unified Pedagogy for the Development of E-learning Software for the Computing GCSE.” In the Proceedings of the 2014 EAPRIL Conference, pp.1-14.
- Polycarpou, I. (2014). “Decimal to Binary Number Conversion can be Fun.” In the Proceedings of the 2014 International Conference on Frontiers in Education: Computer Science and Computer Engineering (FECS 2014), pp.381-386. Acceptance Rate: 26%.
- Krause, J., Polycarpou, I., & Rader, C. (2012). “Formal Learning Groups in an Introductory CS Courses: A Qualitative Exploration.” In the Proceedings of the 17th Annual Conference on Innovation and Technology in Computer Science Education (ITiCSE 2012), pp.315-320.
- Mehta, D., Kouri, T., & Polycarpou, I. (2012). “Forming Project Groups while Learning about Matching and Network Flows in Algorithms.” In the Proceedings of the 17th Annual Conference on Innovation and Technology in Computer Science Education (ITiCSE 2012), pp.40-45.
- Krause, J. & Polycarpou, I. (2012). “An Exploratory Study on Recruitment and Retention of Women in Undergraduate CS: Collaborative Learning with Formal Learning Groups.” ACM-W Newsletter (Summer Issue), 4 (1), pp.6-12.
- Krause, J., Polycarpou, I., & Hellman, K., (2012). “Exploring Formal Learning Groups and Their Impact on Recruitment of Women in Undergraduate CS.” In the Proceedings of the SIGCSE 2012 Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education, pp.179-184.
- Polycarpou, I., (2012). “Practicing K-12 Mathematics Through a Collaborative Electronic Game.” In the Proceedings of the 23rd Annual International SITE (Society for Information Technology & Teacher Education) conference, pp. 2596-2603.
Selective Research Funding/Grant Capture
- Horizon 2020. H2020-EU.1.4.1.1. SLICES-DS, Member, €2.9M, 2020 – 2022.
- Cyprus Research and Innovation Foundation -INNOVATE, RegTek, Member, €1M (2020 – 2022).
- Cyprus Research and Innovation Foundation – RESTART Excellence Framework, Intelligent Data Exploration and Adaptive MeaningfuL Visualisations (IDEALVis), Member, €250,000 (2019 – 2021).
- Cyprus Research Promotion Foundation. RPF Restart 2016 – 2020 Excellence Hubs 2018: ARE-PRED (Developing a Web Based Learning Environment for Supporting Students’ Argumentation Skills and Reducing Prejudice), Member.
- EU/Cyprus 2018: 2BeConnected – Industry Placement Platform, Member.
- H2020-WIDESPREAD-04-2017: Teaming Phase 1, CSRC: Centre for STEAM Education Research, Science Communication and Innovation, Local co-PI, €400,000 (2017).
- Structural Funds 2014 – 2020: Business Innovation Call, i-Sci: Multi-Centre for Science and Technology, Cognition and Personal Development, PI, €299,708 (2016).
- John U. and Sharon L. Trefny Curriculum and Development Mini-Grant Program, SiteSim 2.0 – Enhancing Learning Through Simulated Site Investigations, WP Leader, $4,983 (2011).
- NCWIT-National Center for Women & Information Technology, Recruiting Women into Computer Science through Student Collaboration in CS101, Faculty-PI, $10,000 (2011).
- State of Colorado, Department of Higher Education grant, Uncovering and Addressing Student Misconceptions: Improving Elementary Teachers Formative Assessment Capacity and Mathematics Pedagogical Content Knowledge, Local PI, $206,320 (2010 – 2011).
- Hewlett-Packard Catalyst Initiative 2010, The Measuring Learning Consortium, Measuring Learning in STEM+ Classrooms Using Tablet PCs for Real-time Formative Assessment at an Engineering University. Diverse Exploration to A) Establish Best Practices for Enhancing Learning and B) Nurture and Assess Creativity and Innovation, co-PI, $150,000+ (2010 – 2012).
Supervision of Projects/PhDs
- P. Y. (PhD): Based on leading Learning Theories; the definition of a unified pedagogical strategy for the development of E-Learning software for the Computing GCSE. (2013 – 2017).
- C. K. (PhD): How Audiovisuals Affect Brand Video Virality: A Netnographic Approach. (2013 – 2016).
- J. C. (MSc): Effects of Formal Learning Groups and other instructional methods on recruitment and retention of women in undergraduate computer science at CSM (2011).
Other Scholarly and Outreach Activities
- Co-Founder and Director of InSPIRE (Center of Interdisciplinary Science Promotion and Innovative Research Exploration), 2016 – Present.
- Elected Board Member of European Office Cyprus (2016 – Present).
- Elected Board Member of ACM-W Cyprus Chapter (2018 – Present).
- Member, Council of Digital Technologies (Advisory Committee for Digital Technologies in Education), Cyprus Ministry of Education, Culture, Sport and Youth (2020 – Present).
- Member, Organizing Committee and Jury Committee for the Cyprus Digital Championship (2013 – Present).
- Member, European Youth Awards (EYA) Grant Jury Expert Team (2016 – Present).
- Jury Member, Shack (Social Hackathon) Budapest – Health and Wearables (February 2020).
- Jury Member, 30tth EU Contest for Young Scientists (EUSYS), 2018.
- Expert reviewer for EU Programmes (e.g. CREATIVE EUROPE, MEDIA subprogram: Support for the Development of Video Games).
- Expert reviewer for King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology (KACST) research funding programme.
- Reviewer for several journals, including IJWP (International Journal of Web Portals), JSTEM (Journal of STEM Education), Computer Science Education Journal, Journal of Computer and Education.
- Reviewer for several conferences, including AERA Special Interest Group on Instructional Technologies Conference, SIGCSE conference, ITiCSE (Innovation and Technology in Computer Science Education).
- Conference co-Chair: 23rd ACM Conference on Innovation and Technology in Computer Science Education (ITiCSE), 2018.
- Program co-Chair: 22nd ACM Conference on Innovation and Technology in Computer Science Education (ITiCSE), 2017.
- Member, Program and Organizing Committee (program track chair): 26th International Conference on Information Systems Development, ISD (2017).
- Member, Program and Organizing Committee (program track chair): Mediterranean Conference on Information Systems, MCIS (2016).
- Member, Program Committee (paper reviewer, poster reviewer, poster judge, session chair): Colorado Celebration of Women in Computing (CCWIC) Conference (2010).
- Member, Program Committee (paper reviewer, session chair): SIGCSE Conference (2011).
