Using the Internet of Things to Teach Good Software Engineering Practice to High School Students

This paper describes a course to introduce high school students to software engineering in practice using the Internet Of Things (IoT). IoT devices allow students to get quick, visible results without watering down technical aspects of programming and networking. The course has three broad goals: (1) to make software engineering fun and applicable, with the aim of recruiting traditionally underrepresented groups into computing; (2) to make young students begin to approach problems with a design mindset; and (3) to show students that computer science, generally, and software engineering, specifically, is about much more than programming. The course unfolds in three segments. The first is a whirlwind introduction to a subset of IoT technologies. Students complete a specific task (or set of tasks) using each technology. This segment culminates in a “do-it-yourself” project, in which the students implement a simple IoT application using their basic knowledge of the technologies. The course’s second segment introduces software engineering practices, again primarily via hands-on practical tutorials. In the third segment of the course, the students conceive of, design, and implement a project that uses the technologies introduced in the first segment, all while being attentive to the good software engineering practices acquired in the second segment. In addition to presenting the course curriculum, the paper also discusses a first offering of the course in a threeweek summer intensive program in 2017, including assessments done to evaluate the curriculum.Cockrell School of Engineerin

Developing the next generation of diverse computer scientists: the need for enhanced, intersectional computing identity theory

This theoretical paper explores the need for enhanced, intersectional computing identity theory for the purpose of developing a diverse group of computer scientists for the future. Greater theoretical understanding of the identity formation process specifically for computing is needed in order to understand how students come to understand themselves as computer scientists. To ensure that the next generation of computer scientists is diverse, this paper presents a case for examining identity development intersectionally, understanding the ways in which women and underrepresented students may have difficulty identifying as computer scientists and be systematically oppressed in their pursuit of computer science careers. Through a review of the available scholarship, this paper suggests that creating greater theoretical understanding of the computing identity development process will inform the way in which educational stakeholders consider computer science practices and policies

Digitale Technologien und informatische Bildung im Sachunterricht der Grundschule

Digitale Technologien und digitale Artefakte nehmen maßgeblichen Einfluss auf das tägliche Leben und erweisen sich als relevant, zumal sich bereits im Grundschulalter Einstellungen zu Computern und Informatik formen. Der Autor diskutiert unter Berücksichtigung verschiedener informatikdidaktischer Positionen die These, dass v.a. die Interaktion des Menschen mit (digitalen) Artefakten eine sinnstiftende Perspektive für den informatikbezogenen Sachunterricht darstellen konnte. Er plädiert dafür, formale Ideen der Fachwissenschaft Informatik nicht losgelöst von Aspekten zur Relevanz, Bewertung und Nutzung digitaler Artefakte im Unterricht zu behandeln, sondern gerade die wechselseitige Beeinflussung in den Blick zu nehmen. (DIPF/Orig.)In this chapter the role of digital artifacts as learning topic in primary education and as part of computing education will be discussed. Its main thesis is that the things, the digital artifacts and especially the interaction between human and (digital) artifact provide a useful and important perspective for computing education in primary schools. It can be understood as an approach to balance the role of ideas and artifacts, instead of focussing only either of them. (DIPF/Orig.

Preparing the Global Software Engineer

With a goal of preparing software engineering students for practice in today’s global settings, Uppsala University has for some years run courses involving global collaboration. The “IT in Society” course is one such course which applies an ‘Open Ended Group Project’ model, in partnership with a local health sector client and global educational partners. Within each iteration of the course, students across the partnering institutions are given a brief around an open-ended problem. They work in collaboration with their client and stakeholders to investigate options and produce a report with their findings and recommendations, informed by global perspectives. The report may or may not be supported by working software prototypes. We analyze student evaluations & reflections on the course to unpack their perceptions of software engineering, the perceived relevance of a global learning experience and its role in reshaping their identities as global software engineers

Computing education theories : what are they and how are they used?

In order to mature as a research field, computing education research (CER) seeks to build a better theoretical understanding of how students learn computing concepts and processes. Progress in this area depends on the development of computing-specific theories of learning to complement the general theoretical understanding of learning processes. In this paper we analyze the CER literature in three central publication venues -- ICER, ACM Transactions of Computing Education, and Computer Science Education -- over the period 2005--2015. Our findings identify new theoretical constructs of learning computing that have been published, and the research approaches that have been used in formulating these constructs. We identify 65 novel theoretical constructs in areas such as learning/understanding, learning behaviour/strategies, study choice/orientation, and performance/progression/retention. The most common research methods used to devise new constructs include grounded theory, phenomenography, and various statistical models. We further analyze how a number of these constructs, which arose in computing education, have been used in subsequent research, and present several examples to illustrate how theoretical constructs can guide and enrich further research. We discuss the implications for the whole field

Using social cognitive career theory to understand why students choose to study computer science

The aim of this research is to use Social Cognitive Career Theory (SCCT) to identify and understand reasons why students choose to study Computer Science (CS) at university. SCCT focuses on students’ prior experience, social support, self-efficacy and outcome expectation. The research is part motivated by the desire to increase female participation rates in CS, particularly in the UK. Policymakers can use the factors that both females and males identify as influencing their choice of studying CS to enhance the experiences of all students prior to coming to university, but female students in particular. The study uses a semi-structured interview with 17 mixed gender subjects currently studying CS at three Scottish universities. The findings are that social support from family, teachers, friends and mentors is a particularly important factor in choosing to study CS, especially for female subjects. The career paths offered by a CS degree is another major factor, not just the potential jobs, but also the general value of a CS education and the potential to make useful contributions to society. School education appeared to have limited influence, though exposure to problem solving, programming, online self-learning and internships are positive influences. The stereotypical view of CS students as ‘geeks’ is outdated and unhelpful – it is more appropriate to see them as ‘analytical’ or ‘over-achievers’. Subjects make many suggestions for improving the CS education provided at school, especially to make it more attractive to females, including: make it compulsory, teach it earlier, include more programming and problem solving, and increase the visibility of female exemplars and role models

“I told you this last time, right?”: Re-visiting narratives of STEM education

The stories we tell ourselves and others - both as individuals and as a community - reflect how we make sense of our lives. Our work using narrative methods has explored how university graduates make sense of their learning experiences and how these fit within their wider learning trajectories. In this paper, we discuss work we conducted with a group of a dozen students who, when first interviewed, were in the second half of their undergraduate education at Olin College of Engineering. All twelve participants were re-interviewed four years later, after they had graduated, using the same narrative protocol that asked them to describe their learning 'life' as if it was a book, and to identify and describe individual chapters of their experience. The pairs of interviews were analysed with respect to their form and their content. In regard to form, a classification of these repeated stories is derived. Thematic analysis of the content examines a) how students come to study and practice computing and b) the continuing, and changing influence of a university education over time, as students construct an individual sense of coherence

openHTML: Assessing Barriers and Designing Tools for Learning Web Development

In this dissertation, I argue that society increasingly recognizes the value of widespread computational literacy and that one of the most common ways that people are exposed to creative computing today is through web development. Prior research has investigated how beginners learn a wide range of programming languages in a variety of domains, from computer science majors taking introductory programming courses to end-user developers maintaining spreadsheets. Yet, surprisingly little is known about the experiences people have learning web development. What barriers do beginners face when authoring their first web pages? What mistakes do they commonly make when writing HTML and CSS? What are the computational skills and concepts with which they engage? How can tools and practices be designed to support these activities? Through a series of studies, interleaved with the iterative design of an experimental web editor for novices called openHTML, this dissertation aims to fill this gap in the literature and address these questions. In drawing connections between my findings and the existing computing education literature, my goal is to attain a deeper understanding of the skills and concepts at play when beginners learn web development, and to broaden notions about how people can develop computational literacy. This dissertation makes the following contributions: * An account of the barriers students face in an introductory web development course, contextualizing difficulties with learning to read and write code within the broad activity of web development. * The implementation of a web editor called openHTML, which has been designed to support learners by mitigating non-coding aspects of web development so that they can attend to learning HTML and CSS. * A detailed taxonomy of errors people make when writing HTML and CSS to construct simple web pages, derived from an intention-based analysis. * A fine-grained analysis of HTML and CSS syntax errors students make in the initial weeks of a web development course, how they resolve them, and the role validation plays in these outcomes. * Evidence for basic web development as a rich activity involving numerous skills and concepts that can support foundational computational literacy.Ph.D., Information Studies -- Drexel University, 201

Social Addictive Gameful Engineering (SAGE): A Game-based Learning and Assessment System for Computational Thinking

At an unrivaled and enduring pace, computing has transformed the world, resulting in demand for a universal fourth foundation beyond reading, writing, and arithmetic: computational thinking (CT). Despite increasingly widespread acceptance of CT as a crucial competency for all, transforming education systems accordingly has proven complex. The principal hypothesis of this thesis is that we can improve the efficiency and efficacy of teaching and learning CT by building gameful learning and assessment systems on top of block-based programming environments. Additionally, we believe this can be accomplished at scale and cost conducive to accelerating CT dissemination for all. After introducing the requirements, approach, and architecture, we present a solution named Gameful Direct Instruction. This involves embedding Parsons Programming Puzzles (PPPs) in Scratch, which is a block-based programming environment currently used prevalently in grades 6-8. PPPs encourage students to practice CT by assembling into correct order sets of mixed-up blocks that comprise samples of well-written code which focus on individual concepts. The structure provided by PPPs enable instructors to design games that steer learner attention toward targeted learning goals through puzzle-solving play. Learners receive continuous automated feedback as they attempt to arrange programming constructs in correct order, leading to more efficient comprehension of core CT concepts than they might otherwise attain through less structured Scratch assignments. We measure this efficiency first via a pilot study conducted after the initial integration of PPPs with Scratch, and second after the addition of scaffolding enhancements in a study involving a larger adult general population. We complement Gameful Direct Instruction with a solution named Gameful Constructionism. This involves integrating with Scratch implicit assessment functionality that facilitates constructionist video game (CVG) design and play. CVGs enable learner to explore CT using construction tools sufficiently expressive for personally meaningful gameplay. Instructors are enabled to guide learning by defining game objectives useful for implicit assessment, while affording learners the opportunity to take ownership of the experience and progress through the sequence of interest and motivation toward sustained engagement. When strategically arranged within a learning progression after PPP gameplay produces evidence of efficient comprehension, CVGs amplify the impact of direct instruction by providing the sculpted context in which learners can apply CT concepts more freely, thereby broadening and deepening understanding, and improving learning efficacy. We measure this efficacy in a study of the general adult population. Since these approaches leverage low fidelity yet motivating gameful techniques, they facilitate the development of learning content at scale and cost supportive of widespread CT uptake. We conclude this thesis with a glance at future work that anticipates further progress in scalability via a solution named Gameful Intelligent Tutoring. This involves augmenting Scratch with Intelligent Tutoring System (ITS) functionality that offers across-activity next-game recommendations, and within-activity just-in-time and on-demand hints. Since these data-driven methods operate without requiring knowledge engineering for each game designed, the instructor can evolve her role from one focused on knowledge transfer to one centered on supporting learning through the design of educational experiences, and we can accelerate the dissemination of CT at scale and reasonable cost while also advancing toward continuously differentiated instruction for each learner