Teaching Programming Using the Robot-Based Learning Approach

This paper discusses learning theories, STEM, educational robotics as well as the current generation of students found in classrooms by reviewing previous and current academic literature on these topics, to assist in ascertaining the current advancements and theories related to the Robot-based learning approach as well as how these advancements have helped improve this approach and enabled educators to better make use of it. Furthermore, this paper reviews previous academic literature on computer programming to discuss the current learning approaches in use and the kind of learning tools being utilized. Once this topics are reviewed the reader can have a clear picture of the learning approach, what learning theory does it belong too, the type of students found in the classroom as well as what motivates them and the subject that is being taught as well as the different learning tools for this subject. The reader will also learn why improving the effectiveness of how programming is learned helps create more students good in STEM and how it assists in realising the Malaysian Educational Development Plan. This paper reviewed literature from the year 2014 and above as the information is more relevant and current, except for literature that is from a leading or renowned individual in any field that is being discussed in this dissertation

Joining together theory and practice in the classroom for electrical engineering undergraduates: The large-scale portable laboratory

[EN] Teaching electrical engineering requires a combination of theoretical and practical lessons to acquire knowledge and develop skills. However, in general, laboratory sessions are conducted separately from theoretical lessons for practical reasons. We shall describe a proposal to bridge the gap between theoretical explanation or exercises and practical application in a laboratory: the large-scale portable laboratory. This temporary laboratory can be set up and then collected again in a conventional classroom in just a few minutes. By using safe voltages and currents it allows us to illustrate and mmediately apply theoretical concepts or to discover some phenomena, which can then be explained theoretically. It is a tool to connect experimental observations and theoretical explanations during student learning. This laboratory has some physical limitations and does not replace practical sessions in an electrical engineering laboratory. A full session with this laboratory will be described and the results obtained will subsequently be presented. As a result, student involvement dramatically increases. It provided good results in learning and helped the electric laboratory sessions. Some difficulties such as preparation time and time spent during the session are also discussed.Llovera Segovia, P.; Fuster Roig, VL.; Quijano-Lopez, A.; Vilaplana Cerda, RI. (2019). Joining together theory and practice in the classroom for electrical engineering undergraduates: The large-scale portable laboratory. International Journal of Electrical Engineering Education. 1-11. https://doi.org/10.1177/0020720919833030S11

Effective Pedagogical Strategies for STEM Education from Instructors’ Perspective: OER for Educators

The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) OpenCourseWare (OCW) was launched in 2001. It is one of the earliest Open Educational Resources (OER). MIT OCW has published more than 2,400 courses which are available at no cost, the majority of which are STEM related. The purpose of this exploratory study was to examine the pedagogical strategies through reviewing instructor insights of 15 MIT OCW STEM courses using thematic analysis. The most effective pedagogical strategies used found by instructors were active learning, personalizing instruction, engaging learners, providing feedback, building learning community, and clarifying learning objective. Instructors used in-class formative assessment, such as quizzes and oral exams, for just-in-time teaching and online automatic assessment environments for students’ self-assessment. The primary summative assessments were final exams and projects. Instructors encountered challenges such as assessing students’ learning and changing pedagogical beliefs. Implications for practice were discussed as well

System upgrade: realising the vision for UK education

A report summarising the findings of the TEL programme in the wider context of technology-enhanced learning and offering recommendations for future strategy in the area was launched on 13th June at the House of Lords to a group of policymakers, technologists and practitioners chaired by Lord Knight. The report – a major outcome of the programme – is written by TEL director Professor Richard Noss and a team of experts in various fields of technology-enhanced learning. The report features the programme’s 12 recommendations for using technology-enhanced learning to upgrade UK education

Understanding conceptual transfer in students learning a new programming language

There is a large literature from at least as early as 1985 on the difficulties encountered in learning programming languages, and in particular additional programming languages. This thesis concentrates on how students transfer their knowledge from their first programming language to their second. The central idea is to adapt and use theories from linguistics of how people learn second natural languages to illuminate the problems of learning second programming languages. The major claim of this thesis is that: Semantic transfer based on syntax similarities plays a role in relative novices’ conceptual transfer between programming languages; the implementation of deliberate semantic transfer interventions during relative novices’ second language learning can lead to improved conceptual transfer and understanding in learning a second programming language. This thesis uses mixed methods to investigate how students transition from procedural Python to object-oriented (OO) Java. It includes a sequence of nine research studies building on each other. First, an exploratory qualitative study is carried out on how semantic transfer in natural language applies to programming language transfer; secondly, a Model of Programming Language Transfer (MPLT) is developed based on the first study’s findings; thirdly, four quantitative studies are carried out to validate the model; fourthly, a study that collects school teachers’ views and experiences on second language learning is carried out; fifthly, a study is conducted to explore transfer interventions with students; and the last study builds and investigates a pedagogy for transfer deriving from the MPLT. The findings support the thesis claim that semantic transfer based on syntax similarities plays a role in relative novices’ conceptual transfer between programming languages. The transfer can be positive when the first programming language (PL1) and the second programming language (PL2) share similar syntax and semantics, negative when PL1 and PL2 share similar syntax but have different semantics, and there is little or no transfer when PL1 and PL2 have different syntax but share similar semantics. The results also reveal that transfer teaching interventions based on the MPLT could improve conceptual transfer and understanding in students learning a second PL. The contribution of this thesis is two-fold: First, a validated model of programming language transfer that has three categories that reflect the types of potential transfer students encounter when learning a second programming language. The model provides a unified way to measure transfer in second language learning. Second, a validated unified pedagogical guideline for promoting transfer in programming languages derived from the MPLT. Researchers, educators and curriculum designers can use these instruments to advance research, teach, and design teaching materials. First, the researchers can use the instruments to further programming language transfer research by adopting them in other programming language contexts. Second, educators can use the instruments as a guideline for improving second and subsequent programming language teaching. Lastly, Computer Science (CS) curricular designers can draw on these instruments as guidance to design teaching material that promotes transfer as students transition to new programming languages. They can also use them for teacher professional development

Immersive Learning Environments for Computer Science Education

This master\u27s thesis explores the effectiveness of an educational intervention using an interactive notebook to support and supplement instruction in a foundational-level programming course. A quantitative, quasi-experimental group comparison method was employed, where students were placed into either a control or a treatment group. Data was collected from assignment and final grades, as well as self-reported time spent using the notebook. Independent t-tests and correlation were used for data analysis. Results were inconclusive but did indicate that the intervention had a possible effect. Further studies may explore better efficacy, implementation, and satisfaction of interactive notebooks across a larger population and multiple class topics

Language Processing and the Artificial Mind: Teaching Code Literacy in the Humanities

Humanities majors often find themselves in jobs where they either manage programmers or work with them in close collaboration. These interactions often pose difficulties because specialists in literature, history, philosophy, and so on are not usually code literate. They do not understand what tasks computers are best suited to, or how programmers solve problems. Learning code literacy would be a great benefit to humanities majors, but the traditional computer science curriculum is heavily math oriented, and students outside of science and technology majors are often math averse. Yet they are often interested in language, linguistics, and science fiction. This thesis is a case study to explore whether computational linguistics and artificial intelligence provide a suitable setting for teaching basic code literacy. I researched, designed, and taught a course called “Language Processing and the Artificial Mind.” Instead of math, it focuses on language processing, artificial intelligence, and the formidable challenges that programmers face when trying to create machines that understand natural language. This thesis is a detailed description of the material, how the material was chosen, and the outcome for student learning. Student performance on exams indicates that students learned code literacy basics and important linguistics issues in natural language processing. An exit survey indicates that students found the course to be valuable, though a minority reacted negatively to the material on programming. Future studies should explore teaching code literacy with less programming and new ways to make coding more interesting to the target audience

Comparing importance of knowledge and professional skill areas for engineering programming utilizing a two group Delphi survey

All engineering careers require some level of programming proficiency. However, beginning programming classes are challenging for many students. Difficulties have been well-documented and contribute to high drop-out rates which prevent students from pursuing engineering. While many approaches have been tried to improve the performance of students and reduce the dropout rate, continued work is needed. This research seeks to re-examine what items are critical for programming education and how those might inform what is taught in introductory programming classes (CS1). Following trends coming from accreditation and academic boards on the importance of professional skills, we desire to rank knowledge and professional skill areas in one list. While programming curricula focus almost exclusively on knowledge areas, integrating critical professional skill areas could provide students with a better high-level understanding of what engineering encompasses. Enhancing the current knowledge centric syllabi with critical professional skills should allow students to have better visibility into what an engineering job might be like at the earliest classes in the engineering degree. To define our list of important professional skills, we use a two-group, three-round Delphi survey to build consensus ranked lists of knowledge and professional skill areas from industry and academic experts. Performing a gap analysis between the expert groups shows that industry experts focus more on professional skills then their academic counterparts. We use this resulting list to recommend ways to further integrate professional skills into engineering programming curriculum