Case study: Interactive spreadsheets

This paper describes how the Department of Statistics at the University of Cape Town (UCT) currently uses interactive spreadsheets to assist students in analysing and preparing summaries of data. It explores some of the potential benefits of making such resources more freely available to others as Open Educational Resources (OER), and outlines the key issues which would need to be resolved in order to do so. To this end, this paper discusses the pedagogical needs that led to the lecturers using the spreadsheet program MSExcel to encourage students to engage actively with statistical processes. It describes how the lecturers and students use these interactive spreadsheets and examines how well these interactive spreadsheets seemed to have worked, so that others who may have similar pedagogical needs can be alerted to the advantages and disadvantages of using this type of technology. In addition, this paper explores the possibility of these interactive spreadsheets being offered as OER first to other departments at UCT and then to a broader community

AMCIS 2002 Panels and Workshops II: Spreadsheet-Based DSS Curriculum Issues

When challenged to justify the value of information systems (IS) research, decision support systems (DSS) is usually cited as one the most compelling examples of where IS research made the transition successfully from theoretical academic journals into the real-world . In light of this assessment, it is somewhat surprising that offerings of DSS courses waned over the years. This paper identifies several possible reasons for the decline in DSS course offerings and suggests innovative approaches using spreadsheets for breathing new-life into this cornerstone of the IS field

Teaching Tip: Improving Student Performance by Introducing a No-Code Approach: A Course Unit of Decision Support Systems

No-code/low-code app development is transforming traditional information system development paradigms. This teaching tip uses an example of course unit of decision support systems (DSS) to demonstrate that introducing no-code system implementation assignments into a course as a replacement for computer programming language exercises can improve student learning. It presents the pedagogical design and the teaching method of no-code DSS implementation. The contents of the pedagogy include key concepts of no-code development, workshops of no-code DSS implementation, and assignments for students. This course unit demands about one-third-credit-hour workload, and can be embedded in a three-credit-hour business course. The preliminary evidence has indicated that the teaching method of no-code DSS implementation is useful for business students

EasyCoding - methodology to support programming learning

Mestrado de dupla diplomação com o Centro Federal de Educação Tecnológica de Minas Gerais – CEFET-MGThe increase in failure rate in the first programming curricular units, in engineering courses, and the school dropout growth by students shows the importance of further study on the real reasons for these episodes. When considering that this situation is amplified, in large part, by the lack of motivation and the lack of student autonomy to study programming outside the classroom context, this work proposes a methodology based on activity guides, using innovative and attractive web platforms. The proposed methodology aims to facilitate the planning of teachers’ activities and to increase students’ autonomy and motivation. For the execution of this study, we evaluated the proposed methodology with programming professors and students at the Polytechnic Institute of Bragança and the Federal Center for Technological Education of Minas Gerais. In addition, we developed a system for automatic generation of activity guides which aimed assisting teachers in the creation of exercises with innovative web platforms to motivate students to study programming beyond the classroom. The obtained results allow us to demonstrate the importance of using innovative teaching methodologies, inside and outside the classroom, to encourage students to practice more programming exercises. Thus, as contributions, the proposed methodology can help combat school dropout in higher education in engineering courses, once it can help to keep the students motivated during the first programming subjects.O aumento na taxa de insucesso nas primeiras unidades curriculares de programação, nos cursos de engenharia, e o crescimento do abandono escolar por parte dos alunos mostra a importância de um estudo mais aprofundado sobre os reais motivos desses episódios. Ao considerar que essa situação é ampliada, em grande parte, pela falta de motivação e falta de autonomia do aluno para estudar programação fora do contexto da sala de aula, este trabalho propõe uma metodologia baseada em guiões de atividades, utilizando plataformas web inovadoras e atrativas. A metodologia proposta visa facilitar o planejamento das atividades dos professores e aumentar a autonomia e a motivação dos alunos. Para a execução deste estudo, avaliamos a metodologia proposta com professores e alunos de programação do Instituto Politécnico de Bragança e do Centro Federal de Educação Tecnológica de Minas Gerais. Além disso, desenvolvemos um sistema para geração automática de guias de atividades, com o objetivo de auxiliar os professores na criação de exercícios com plataformas web inovadoras, para motivar os alunos a estudar programação além da sala de aula. Os resultados obtidos nos permitem demonstrar a importância do uso de metodologias inovadoras de ensino, dentro e fora da sala de aula, para incentivar os alunos a praticar mais exercícios de programação. Assim, como contribuição, a metodologia proposta pode ajudar a combater o abandono escolar no ensino superior nos cursos de engenharia, uma vez que pode ajudar a manter os alunos motivados durante as primeiras disciplinas de programação

Improving the Creative Thinking Skills of the Next Generation of Mathematics Teachers Using Dynamic Mathematics Software

The case study reported in the paper investigated the effect of Project-based learning on students training to be mathematics teachers, pursuing their final projects. The final projects had as an aim of designing attractive and interactive mathematics learning material. This study used a qualitative method to assess the impact on the trainee teachers in terms of their creative design thinking. The research made use of the Hawgent dynamic mathematics software package. The study participants were all students at Guangxi Normal University, China. The students were divided into three groups, each with four or five members. The results presented show that selecting material and combining it with art using dynamic mathematics software can improve the communication skills, problem-solving and creative thinking skills, and improve the prospective teachers' self-confidence. Moreover, it was found that prospective mathematics teachers need motivation and support during their projects' lifecycle and that motivation has a positive effect on improving self-confidence

Improving Student Creative Thinking Ability With Problem Based Learning Approach Using Hawgent Dynamic Mathematics Software

The main problem in this study is the lack of mathematical creative thinking abilities of elementary school students in Cimahi, Indonesia. This lack of mathematical creative thinking abilities is caused by an incorrect learning process. The teacher does not direct students to think creatively. In fact students still depend a lot on what is explained by the teacher in the class. The learning process with problem-based learning that is aided by hawgent dynamic mathematic software can direct students to think creatively. The population in this study were all elementary school students in Cimahi city. The samples were the students of elementary school Cimahi class 3A and 3B.  The instrument in this study is descriptive test of students creative thinking abilities. This instrument was used to obtain data about students' creative thinking abilities with problem-based learning approach using hawgent dynamic mathematic software and by conventional learning. The data processed in this study was from the post-test score. These scores from both of the experimental class group and the control class group. Then, the data was processed by using SPSS 19.0 and Microsoft Excel. The data was analyzed using t-test statistic. The final result of this study concluded the achievement and improvement of creative thinking abilities of students whose learning problem-based approach using hawgent dynamic mathematic software

Adapting the Access Northwind Database to Support a Database Course

A common problem encountered when teaching database courses is that few large illustrative databases exist to support teaching and learning. Most database textbooks have small ‘toy’ databases that are chapter objective specific, and thus do not support application over the complete domain of design, implementation and management concepts across a single database. The Northwind Traders sample database is available by Microsoft for download and use in Microsoft Access, and illustrates transactional processing for a fictitious company that imports (purchases) and exports (sells) specialty foods from around the world. The database contains sample tables, queries, forms, reports, Macros, VBA Class Objects, functions and modules, and other database features. Although the primary purpose for the database is to serve as an illustrative design template for students and practitioners, unfortunately the database and business processes are largely undocumented. This paper attempts to more completely document the business processes, including establishing business rules, describing relationships and participations, and discusses some problems with the existing design. Following understanding of the database and associated business processes, this paper can be used as both a teaching tool and a guide for practitioners using the Northwind Traders sample database as a design template. Additionally, it has been used successfully to introduce the concept of business processes and mapping them in an underlying database in introductory ERP courses

Machine Learning in Sports Industry: Discover promising athletes for the future of Handball

Project Work presented as the partial requirement for obtaining a Master's degree in Data Science and Advanced Analytics, specialization in Business AnalyticsNowadays, technology applied in industries has increased day by day. As a result, different ways of collecting and processing data have been investigated. Machine Learning is one of those ways where, in addition to its applicability in all sectors, it has been increasingly explored in different sports. Furthermore, the analysis of data at a visual level helps in the interpretation and understanding of them. These types of procedures always seek to support in the decision-making work done by coaches, managers and scouting. It can be inherent to any sport and handball is obviously included. This specific investigation addresses methods to create advantages for Handball, introducing predictive analytics. The discovery of promising athletes based on collected variables is one of the biggest challenges in this sport and although the data provided by the Federação de Andebol de Portugal are limited, this study demonstrates a 'direction' of how it can be done based on a single variable. In addition to working in the collection and pre-preparation of sports data, examples of visual presentations such as vertical/horizontal bar graphs and maps are exposed. Finally, Machine Learning algorithms with and without default parameters are used to predict if the player is promising. From this perspective, it can be concluded that, based on formation years, models score is slightly better for Support Vector Machines algorithms despite the proximity of the results. It is important to point out that relevant conclusions were also drawn from the graphs

Nonlinear Equation Graphical User Interface Solver Using Excel VBA Programming

Learning numerical analysis always said to be bored and learners easily get frustrated in the process of getting the solution. Many students had given up in this subject. To overcome the problem, there are a lot of ready-made mathematical software to help students in understanding this subject. However, cost to purchase the license always becomes the concern of students even though with the discounted academic price. Therefore, we developed a Bisection and NewtonRaphson spreadsheet calculator, written using Visual Basic Application (VBA), which is more user friendly graphical user input form in order to help students in mastering the numerical concepts but worried less on the calculation part. Users just need to enter minimum input such as nonlinear function, initial interval or initial guess and derivative function to get a full list of calculation and result. The spreadsheet calculator had been tested among students and feedback were analyzed. We believe this is an ideal version and can easily adapted by users especially who are not familiar with Excel