Retention in Introductory Programming

The introductory programming course is one of the very first courses that computer science students encounter. The course is challenging not only because of the content, but also due to the challenges related to finding a place in a new community. Many have little knowledge of what to expect from university studies, some struggle to adjust their study behavior to match the expected pace, and a few simply cannot attend instruction due to e.g. family or work constraints. As a consequence, a considerable number of students end up failing the course, or pass the course with substandard knowledge. This leads to students failing to proceed in their studies at a desirable pace, to students who struggle with the subsequent courses, and to students who completely drop out from their studies. This thesis explores the issue of retention in introductory programming courses through multiple viewpoints. We first analyze how the teaching approaches reported in literature affect introductory programming course pass rates. Then, changes on the retention at the University of Helsinki are studied using two separate approaches. The first approach is the use of a contemporary variant of Cognitive Apprenticeship called the Extreme Apprenticeship method, and the second approach is the use of a massive open online course (MOOC) in programming for recruiting students before they enter their university studies. Furthermore, data from an automatic assessment system implemented for the purposes of this thesis is studied to determine how novices write their first lines of code, and what factors contribute to the feeling of difficulty in learning programming. On average, the teaching approaches described in the literature improve the course pass rates by one third. However, the literature tends to neglect the effect of intervention on the subsequent courses. In both studies at the University of Helsinki, retention improved considerably, and the students on average also fare better in subsequent courses. Finally, the data that has been gathered with the automatic assessment system provides an excellent starting point for future research.Ohjelmointi on nykyajan käsityöläistaito, jolle on akuutti tarve työelämässä. Tämän taidon opettelua harkitseva tietää harvoin, kuinka riippuvainen yhteiskuntamme on ohjelmoinnin tuotoksista eli ohjelmistoista. Ilman ohjelmointia esimerkiksi yhteydenpito, kaupankäynti, matkustaminen ja terveydenhuolto olisivat heikommalla tasolla. Puhelimet eivät toimisi, internettiä ei olisi, eikä lääketeollisuus pystyisi käsittelemään yhtä suuria datamassoja uusia parannuskeinoja etsiessä. Kukaan ei olisi kirjoittanut ohjelmaa, joka auttoi avaruuteen pääsemisessä. Väitöskirjassa tarkastellaan ohjelmoinnin opetusmenetelmiä ja niiden toimivuutta korkeakouluissa sekä esitellään kognitiiviseen oppipoikamalliin (Cognitive Apprenticeship) perustuva “ajatuskäsityöläisten” opetusmenetelmä tehostettu kisällioppiminen (Extreme Apprenticeship). Tehostetussa kisällioppimisessa oppimista edesauttava yksilöllinen ohjaus on mahdollista skaalata satoja opiskelijoita sisältäville kursseille. Väitöskirjatyössä ehdotetaan lisäksi kaikille avoimen verkkokurssin (MOOC) käyttöä yliopisto-opiskelijoiden valintaan sekä tarkastellaan tällaisen valintaväylän toimivuutta tietojenkäsittelytieteen alalla. Väitöskirja käsittelee myös ohjelmointitehtävien automaattista arviointia ja esittelee tähän tarkoitetun Test My Code -järjestelmän, jota voidaan käyttää askeleittaisten ohjeiden ja palautteen antamiseen aloitteleville ohjelmoijille sekä tiedon keräämiseen ohjelmointiprosessissa esiintyvistä ongelmista. Tällaista tietoa voidaan tutkia oppimisanalytiikan menetelmin. Väitöskirjassa tarkastellaan myös aloittelevien ohjelmoijien ensimmäisten ohjelmien kirjoittamisessa esiintyviä ongelmia sekä esitellään ohjelmointitehtävien vaikeuden ennustamiseen sopivia menetelmiä

Kestävää energiaa käsittelevän MOOC-kurssin relevanttius nuorille

This article belongs to the Special Issue Teaching Methods in Science Subjects Promoting Sustainability. Academic Editor: Eila Jeronen.Sustainable energy is one of the biggest global challenges today. This paper discusses how we can promote adolescents’ learning of sustainable energy with the help of an international massive open online course (MOOC). The aim of this case study is to understand: (i) What do the adolescents find relevant in the MOOC course about sustainable energy? and (ii) What are the opportunities and challenges of the MOOC for the adolescents to learn sustainable energy? In our study, 80 voluntary adolescents around the world, who were at least 15 year old, took part in two surveys. The themes of our MOOC course were, e.g., sustainable growth, solar power, wind power, biofuel production and smart power generation. This 38 work-hour, free of charge, online course includes an introduction video, interviews of specialists, lecture videos, reading materials of the newest research and multiple choice questions on the topics. Research data was classified by using content analysis. The study indicates that adolescents feel that both the MOOC course and sustainable energy as a subject are relevant to them. Their decision to take part in an online course was mostly influenced by individual relevance and partly influenced by both societal and vocational relevance, according to the relevancy theory used. The MOOC was experienced to be relevant for the three following reasons: (i) good content (e.g., energy production) and implementation of the course; (ii) the course makes it possible to study in a new way; and (iii) the course is personally useful. The characteristics of the MOOC, such as being available anywhere and anytime, free access, and online learning, bringing out a flexible, new way of learning and thus promoting Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) in the context of sustainable energy at school level around the world. This MOOC provided the school students with choice-based learning and expanded their learning opportunities in understanding sustainable energy. In the designing of MOOCs for studying sustainable energy, it is important to take the following things into consideration: (i) the balance between theory and practical examples; (ii) the support for interaction; and (iii) other support (e.g., technical and learning strategies) for students. Communication with other learners and getting feedback from teachers and tutors remain the vital challenges for the developers of MOOCs in the future.Peer reviewe

Tavoiteorientaatioprofiilit ja suoriutuminen ohjelmoinnin MOOC-kurssilla

Tavoitteet. Valtaosa tietojenkäsittelytieteen kontekstissa tehdystä tavoiteorientaatiotutkimuksesta on ollut muuttujalähtöistä. Tämän tutkielman tavoitteena oli syventää ymmärrystä tietojenkäsittelytieteen opiskelijoista ja saavutusmotivaatiosta henkilösuuntautunutta lähestymistapaa käyttäen. Eri tavoiteorientaatioiden välistä vuorovaikutusta tarkasteltiin tunnistamalla yleisimmät tavoiteorientaatioprofiilit ja tutkimalla niiden välisiä eroja suoriutumisessa. Toisin kuin aiemmissa henkilösuuntautunutta lähestymistapaa hyödyntävissä tutkimuksissa, ryhmittely-muuttujina käytettiin oppimisorientaation lisäksi suoritusorientaatiota jaoteltuna tarkemmin tavoitteisiin päihittää toiset (normative goal) ja vaikuttaa pätevältä (appearance goal). Menetelmät. Tutkimukseen osallistui 2059 avoimen internet-pohjaisen ohjelmoinnin alkeiskurssin opiskelijaa. Aineisto kerättiin kyselylomakkeella, automaattisesti arvioiduista ohjelmointitehtävistä ja loppukokeesta. Tavoiteorientaatiomittarin rakennetta tarkasteltiin eksploratiivisella faktorianalyysillä (EFA). Opiskelijat luokiteltiin ryhmiin tavoiteorientaatioiden perusteella TwoStep-klusterianalyysia käyttäen. Profiilien ominaispiirteitä ja eroja suoriutumisessa tutkittiin ristiintaulukointien ja varianssianalyysien (ANOVA) avulla. Tulokset ja johtopäätökset. Tavoiteorientaatioprofiileja tunnistettiin viisi: Saavutusorientoituneet (31,2%), Suoritusorientoituneet (18,9%), Oppimis- ja suoritusorientoituneet (18,0%), Vähäisesti motivoituneet (17,6%) ja Oppimisorientoituneet (14,3%). Oppimis- ja suoritusorientoituneiden opiskelijoiden suoriutuminen oli kahden mittarin osalta tilastollisesti merkitsevästi parempaa kuin Vähäisesti motivoituneiden opiskelijoiden. Aiempien tutkimusten tapaan tuloksissa korostuu useampaan tavoitteeseen pyrkimisen ja suoriutumisen välinen positiivinen yhteys. Lisää tutkimusta tarvitaan tavoiteorientaatioprofiilien ja muiden koulutukseen liittyvien tulosten yhteyksien selvittämiseen ohjelmoinnin opetuksen kontekstissa. Tämänkaltaista tietoa voidaan hyödyntää uusia oppimisinterventioita ja kursseja suunniteltaessa. Tähän tutkielmaan perustuva artikkeli ‘Achievement Goal Orientation Profiles and Performance in a Programming MOOC’ tullaan esittelemään ITiCSE 2020 -konferenssissa ja julkaisemaan konferenssijulkaisussa.Aims. In the context of computing education, the vast majority of prior research examining achievement goal orientations has been conducted using variable-centred methods. In order to deepen understanding of the student population and achievement motivation, this Master’s Thesis employed person-oriented perspectives. The interplay of different goal orientations was explored by identifying prevalent motivational profiles and investigating profile differences in performance. Normative and appearance performance goals were handled as separate clustering variables in addition to mastery goals for the first time. Methods. The participants were 2059 introductory programming MOOC students. Data were collected by a questionnaire and from automatically assessed programming assignments and final exam. An exploratory factor analysis (EFA) was conducted for the achievement goal orientation items to examine the factor structure. Using TwoStep cluster analysis, the students were classified into clusters according to their achievement goal orientations. Cross tabulations and analyses of variance (ANOVA) were conducted to investigate profile characteristics and differences in performance. Results and Conclusions. Five distinct achievement goal orientation profiles were identified: Approach-Oriented (31.2%), Performance-Oriented (18.9%), Combined Mastery and Performance Goals (18.0%), Low Goals (17.6.%) and Mastery-Oriented (14.3.%). Students with Combined Mastery and Performance Goals performed significantly better than students with Low Goals regarding two metrics. Consistent with previous findings, the results highlight the positive link between multiple goal pursuit and performance. Further studies are needed to investigate motivational profiles in relation to other educational outcomes in the context of computing education. This kind of knowledge is valuable for designing interventions and new courses. The article ‘Achievement Goal Orientation Profiles and Performance in a Programming MOOC’, which is based on the present thesis, will be presented at ITiCSE 2020 (Conference on Innovation and Technology in Computer Science Education) conference and published in conference proceedings

On the Quality of Crowdsourced Programming Assignments

Crowdsourcing has been used in computer science education to alleviate the teachers’ workload in creating course content, and as a learning and revision method for students through its use in educational systems. Tools that utilize crowdsourcing can act as a great way for students to further familiarize themselves with the course concepts, all while creating new content for their peers and future course iterations. In this study, student-created programming assignments from the second week of an introductory Java programming course are examined alongside the peer reviews these assignments received. The quality of the assignments and the peer reviews is inspected, for example, through comparing the peer reviews with expert reviews using inter-rater reliability. The purpose of this study is to inspect what kinds of programming assignments novice students create, and whether the same novice students can act as reliable reviewers. While it is not possible to draw definite conclusions from the results of this study due to limitations concerning the usability of the tool, the results seem to indicate that novice students are able to recognise differences in programming assignment quality, especially with sufficient guidance and well thought-out instructions

Smart Universities

Institutions of learning at all levels are challenged by a fast and accelerating pace of change in the development of communications technology. Conferences around the world address the issue. Research journals in a wide range of scholarly fields are placing the challenge of understanding "Education's Digital Future" on their agenda. The World Learning Summit and LINQ Conference 2017 proceedings take this as a point of origin. Noting how the future also has a past: Emergent uses of communications technologies in learning are of course neither new nor unfamiliar. What may be less familiar is the notion of "disruption", found in many of the conferences and journal entries currently. Is the disruption of education and learning as transformative as in the case of the film industry, the music industry, journalism, and health? If so, clearly the challenge of understanding future learning and education goes to the core of institutions and organizations as much as pedagogy and practice in the classroom. One approach to the pursuit of a critical debate is the concept of Smart Universities – educational institutions that adopt to the realities of digital online media in an encompassing manner: How can we as smarter universities and societies build sustainable learning eco systems for coming generations, where technologies serve learning and not the other way around? Perhaps that is the key question of our time, reflecting concerns and challenges in a variety of scholarly fields and disciplines? These proceedings present the results from an engaging event that took place from 7th to 9th of June 2017 in Kristiansand, Norway

Teaching Methods in Science Subjects: Promoting Sustainability

This book offers ideas of pedagogical content knowledge and subject content knowledge, especially for mathematics and science teachers and teacher educators. Curriculums and subject content knowledge change from time to time. The methodological and other pedagogical ideas presented in this book offer valuable support for teaching, studying and learning processes concerning sustainability and sustainable development in higher education and in schools

Ensino/aprendizagem num novo contexto tecnológico: um estudo no âmbito do ensino superior

Today’s students of higher education are considered digital natives. They have a wide array of technologies at their disposal that are used in their day-to-day lives in very different contexts; including recreation, work and academic. This scenario promotes a change of culture by the main actors associated with the Teaching/Learning process. This prompted the development of the present thesis which aims to evaluate the degree of use and acceptance of technologies supporting the Teaching/Learning process in Higher Education Institutions (HEI). The methodology used when conducting this study was based initially on a review of the specialized literature, identifying the three main technological generations supporting the Teaching/Learning process: Learning Management Systems (LMS), Web 2.0 technologies and Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs). Subsequently, the technologies recognized as the most relevant within each of these generations have been the subject of (i) a systematic literature review, (ii) a content analysis elaborated on the platforms/technologies used in international Higher Education Institutions, and (iii) an empirical work conducted at a Portuguese Higher Education Institution. Concerning the latter, an understanding of the behavior of the two main players involved in the Teaching/Learning process (students and teachers) was particularly sought after. Therefore, studies were conducted on (i) the students’ use of the main technologies, (ii) the students’ acceptance of some of these technologies in the context of Teaching/Learning and (iii) the use and acceptance of the technologies by teachers. The results indicated that the Moodle platform is the LMS most used in Higher Education Institutions. In this context, the platform is mostly used as a content repository and a communication channel. As for Web 2.0, Video Sharing, Social Networks and Wikis were proven to be the technologies most used by students and teachers. The results also revealed that the technologies in question are well accepted by both parties, thus showing that their adoption could benefit the Teaching/Learning process in the new technological paradigm. Regarding the MOOCs, few teachers showed knowledge of the concept and no teachers who had created these type of courses were identified. This study resulted in the development of seven scientific works with peer review, being five scientific papers published or submitted to international scientific journals and two chapters published in international books. These scientific works constitute an integral part of this doctoral thesis.Atualmente, os estudantes do ensino superior são considerados nativos digitais, tendo à sua disposição um conjunto abrangente de tecnologias que utilizam no seu dia a dia nos mais diversos contextos, incluindo o de lazer, de trabalho e académico. Este cenário promove uma mudança de cultura por parte dos principais atores associados ao processo de Ensino/Aprendizagem, o que motivou o desenvolvimento da presente tese que tem por objetivo avaliar o grau de utilização e de aceitação das tecnologias de suporte ao processo Ensino/Aprendizagem nas Instituições de Ensino Superior (IES). A metodologia utilizada na condução deste estudo, baseou-se inicialmente numa revisão da literatura especializada, tendo-se identificado as três principais gerações tecnológicas de suporte ao processo Ensino/Aprendizagem, mais especificamente os Learning Management Systems (LSM), as tecnologias Web 2.0 e os Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs). Seguidamente, as tecnologias reconhecidas como as mais relevantes no âmbito de cada uma destas gerações foram alvo de revisão sistemática da literatura, de análise de conteúdo elaborada sobre as plataformas/tecnologias utilizadas em Instituições de Ensino Superior de referência a nível internacional, e de trabalhos empíricos conduzidos numa Instituição de Ensino Superior Portuguesa. Em particular, no que se refere a estes últimos, procurou-se perceber o comportamento relativo à adoção das tecnologias por parte dos dois principais intervenientes no processo Ensino/Aprendizagem, i.e., estudantes e professores. Desta forma, foram conduzidos estudos acerca (i) da utilização, por parte dos estudantes, das principais tecnologias, (ii) da aceitação, por parte dos estudantes, de algumas dessas tecnologias em contexto Ensino/Aprendizagem e (iii) da utilização e aceitação das tecnologias por parte dos professores. Os resultados apontaram para o facto de a plataforma Moodle representar o LMS mais utilizado no Ensino Superior sendo, no contexto do caso analisado, utilizado maioritariamente como repositório de conteúdos e canal de comunicação. No que se refere à Web 2.0, o Video Sharing, as Redes Sociais e as Wikis revelaram-se como as tecnologias mais utilizadas pelos estudantes e pelos professores. Os resultados revelaram, ainda, que as tecnologias em causa são bem aceites, tanto por parte dos estudantes como dos professores, evidenciando, assim, que a sua adoção poderá beneficiar o processo Ensino/Aprendizagem no paradigma tecnológico. Já no que diz respeito às MOOCs, poucos professores evidenciaram conhecer o conceito, não se tendo identificado professores que tivessem criado este tipo de cursos. Este estudo traduziu-se na elaboração de sete trabalhos científicos com revisão por pares, dos quais cinco artigos publicados/submetidos a revistas científicas internacionais e dois capítulos publicados de livros internacionais, que aqui se apresentam e constituem parte integrante desta tese de doutoramento.Programa Doutoral em Engenharia e Gestão Industria