Rate My Professor Anthony Robins

Emeritus Professor Anthony Robins is a distinguished figure in the School of Computing at the University of Otago, where he retired in April 2025 after a career exceeding 35 years. He joined the Department of Computer Science in August 1989 as one of the three Otago “New Blood” lecturers in artificial intelligence. Robins received the 2012 University of Otago Tertiary Teaching Excellence Award and a national award for Sustained Excellence in Tertiary Teaching. He served as Associate Editor for the journal Computer Science Education, Program Co-chair for the International Computing Education Research conference in 2019 and 2020, and collaborated with the Ministry of Education on new programming assessment standards and instructional materials for secondary schools. Additionally, he acts as Secretary and Chief Judge for Robotics Education NZ, organizing annual RoboCup Junior competitions.

Robins specializes in cognitive science and neural network models of cognition, focusing on catastrophic forgetting, pseudorehearsal, and learning consolidation. His work in computer science education centers on teaching and learning introductory programming. Key publications include the highly cited "Learning and teaching programming: A review and discussion" (Computer Science Education, 2003; 2578 citations), "Catastrophic forgetting, rehearsal and pseudorehearsal" (Connection Science, 1995; 1368 citations), "Memory retention–the synaptic stability versus plasticity dilemma" (Trends in Neurosciences, 2005; 529 citations), "Learning edge momentum: A new account of outcomes in CS1" (Computer Science Education, 2010; 362 citations), and "Novice programmers and introductory programming" (2019; 227 citations). He co-edited The Cambridge Handbook of Computing Education Research (2019). Recent contributions feature "Prototype analysis in Hopfield networks with Hebbian learning" (Neural Computation, 2024) and "A framework identifying challenges and solutions for high school computing" (Education & Information Technologies, 2024). With over 8,000 Google Scholar citations, his research has significantly influenced neural computation and computing education.