137 research outputs found
Investigation and development of a tangible technology framework for highly complex and abstract concepts
The ubiquitous integration of computer-supported learning tools within the educational domain has led educators to continuously seek effective technological platforms for teaching and learning. Overcoming the inherent limitations of traditional educational approaches, interactive and tangible computing platforms have consequently garnered increased interest in the pursuit of embedding active learning pedagogies within curricula. However, whilst Tangible User Interface (TUI) systems have been successfully developed to edutain children in various research contexts, TUI architectures have seen limited deployment towards more advanced educational pursuits.
Thus, in contrast to current domain research, this study investigates the effectiveness and suitability of adopting TUI systems for enhancing the learning experience of abstract and complex computational science and technology-based concepts within higher educational institutions (HEI)s. Based on the proposal of a contextually apt TUI architecture, the research describes the design and development of eight distinct TUI frameworks embodying innovate interactive paradigms through tabletop peripherals, graphical design factors, and active tangible manipulatives. These computationally coupled design elements are evaluated through summative and formative experimental methodologies for their ability to aid in the effective teaching and learning of diverse threshold concepts experienced in computational science.
In addition, through the design and adoption of a technology acceptance model for educational technology (TAM4Edu), the suitability of TUI frameworks in HEI education is empirically evaluated across a myriad of determinants for modelling studentsâ behavioural intention. In light of the statistically significant results obtained in both academic knowledge gain (ÎŒ = 25.8%) and student satisfaction (ÎŒ = 12.7%), the study outlines the affordances provided through TUI design for various constituents of active learning theories and modalities. Thus, based on an empirical and pedagogical analyses, a set of design guidelines is defined within this research to direct the effective development of TUI design elements for teaching and learning abstract threshold concepts in HEI adaptations
Jeeves : a blocks-based approach to end-user development of experience sampling apps
Professional programmers are signiïŹcantly outnumbered by end-users of software,
and cannot possibly predict the diverse and dynamic needs of user groups in advance.
This thesis is concerned with the provision of an end-user development (EUD)
approach, allowing end-users to independently create and modify their own software.
EUD activities are particularly applicable to the work practices of psychology researchers
and clinicians, who are increasingly dependent on software for assessment
of participants and patients, but must also depend on developers to realise their
requirements. This thesis targets these professionals, with an EUD solution to
creating assessment software.
The Experience Sampling Method (ESM) is one such means of assessment that
takes place in participantsâ everyday lives. Through regular completion of subjective
self-reports, participants provide rich detail of their ongoing physical and emotional
well-being. However, lack of engagement with such studies remains a prevalent
issue. This thesis investigates features for maximising engagement with experience
sampling smartphone apps.
Such apps are becoming accepted as standard practice for remote assessment, but
researchers are stiïŹed by the complexity and cost of implementation. Moreover,
existing EUD tools are insufïŹcient for development of ESM apps that include
engaging features. This thesis presents the development of Jeeves, an EUD tool with
a blocks-based programming paradigm that empowers non-programmers to rapidly
develop tailored, context-sensitive ESM apps.
The adoption of Jeeves is contingent on a number of factors, including its ease-of-use,
real-world utility, and organisational conditions. Failure to incorporate the necessary
functionality pertaining to these factors into Jeeves will lead to abandonment. This
thesis is concerned with establishing the usability, utility, and external factors
necessary for adoption of Jeeves. Further, Jeeves is evaluated with respect to these
factors through a series of rigorous studies from a range of application domains."This work was supported by a University of St Andrews 600th Anniversary PhD
Scholarship (School of Computer Science)." -- Fundin
Introducing Computational Thinking in K-12 Education: Historical, Epistemological, Pedagogical, Cognitive, and Affective Aspects
Introduction of scientific and cultural aspects of Computer Science (CS) (called "Computational Thinking" - CT) in K-12 education is fundamental. We focus on three crucial areas.
1. Historical, philosophical, and pedagogical aspects. What are the big ideas of CS we must teach? What are the historical and pedagogical contexts in which CT emerged, and why are relevant? What is the relationship between learning theories (e.g., constructivism) and teaching approaches (e.g., plugged and unplugged)?
2. Cognitive aspects. What is the sentiment of generalist teachers not trained to teach CS? What misconceptions do they hold about concepts like CT and "coding"?
3. Affective and motivational aspects. What is the impact of personal beliefs about intelligence (mindset) and about CS ability? What the role of teaching approaches?
This research has been conducted both through historical and philosophical argumentation, and through quantitative and qualitative studies (both on nationwide samples and small significant ones), in particular through the lens of (often exaggerated) claims about transfer from CS to other skills.
Four important claims are substantiated.
1. CS should be introduced in K-12 as a tool to understand and act in our digital world, and to use the power of computation for meaningful learning. CT is the conceptual sediment of that learning. We designed a curriculum proposal in this direction.
2. The expressions CT (useful to distantiate from digital literacy) and "coding" can cause misconceptions among teachers, who focus mainly on transfer to general thinking skills. Both disciplinary and pedagogical teacher training is hence needed.
3. Some plugged and unplugged teaching tools have intrinsic constructivist characteristics that can facilitate CS learning, as shown with proposed activities.
4. Growth mindset is not automatically fostered by CS, while not studying CS can foster fixed beliefs. Growth mindset can be fostered by creative computing, leveraging on its constructivist aspects
Workshop, Long and Short Paper, and Poster Proceedings from the Fourth Immersive Learning Research Network Conference (iLRN 2018 Montana), 2018.
ILRN 2018 - ConferĂȘncia internacional realizada em Montana de 24-29 de june de 2018.Workshop, short paper, and long paper proceedingsinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio
A study of novice programmer performance and programming pedagogy.
Identifying and mitigating the difficulties experienced by novice programmers is an active
area of research that has embraced a number of research areas. The aim of this research
was to perform a holistic study into the causes of poor performance in novice
programmers and to develop teaching approaches to mitigate them. A grounded action
methodology was adopted to enable the primary concepts of programming cognitive
psychology and their relationships to be established, in a systematic and formal manner.
To further investigate novice programmer behaviour, two sub-studies were conducted
into programming performance and ability.
The first sub-study was a novel application of the FP-Tree algorithm to determine if
novice programmers demonstrated predictable patterns of behaviour. This was the first
study to data mine programming behavioural characteristics rather than the learnerâs
background information such as age and gender. Using the algorithm, patterns of
behaviour were generated and associated with the studentsâ ability. No patterns of
behaviour were identified and it was not possible to predict student results using this
method. This suggests that novice programmers demonstrate no set patterns of
programming behaviour that can be used determine their ability, although problem
solving was found to be an important characteristic. Therefore, there was no evidence
that performance could be improved by adopting pedagogies to promote simple changes
in programming behaviour beyond the provision of specific problem solving instruction.
A second sub-study was conducted using Ravenâs Matrices which determined that
cognitive psychology, specifically working memory, played an important role in novice
programmer ability. The implication was that programming pedagogies must take into
consideration the cognitive psychology of programming and the cognitive load imposed
on learners.
Abstracted Construct Instruction was developed based on these findings and forms a new
pedagogy for teaching programming that promotes the recall of abstract patterns while
reducing the cognitive demands associated with developing code. Cognitive load is
determined by the studentâs ability to ignore irrelevant surface features of the written
problem and to cross-reference between the problem domain and their mental program
model. The former is dealt with by producing tersely written exercises to eliminate
distractors, while for the latter the teaching of problem solving should be delayed until
the studentâs program model is formed. While this does delay the development of
problem solving skills, the problem solving abilities of students taught using this pedagogy
were found to be comparable with students taught using a more traditional approach.
Furthermore, monitoring studentsâ understanding of these patterns enabled micromanagement of the learning process, and hence explanations were provided for novice
behaviour such as difficulties using arrays, inert knowledge and âcode thrashingâ.
For teaching more complex problem solving, scaffolding of practice was investigated
through a program framework that could be developed in stages by the students.
However, personalising the level of scaffolding required was complicated and found to be
difficult to achieve in practice.
In both cases, these new teaching approaches evolved as part of a grounded theory study
and a clear progression of teaching practice was demonstrated with appropriate
evaluation at each stage in accordance with action researc
Source Code Interaction on Touchscreens
Direct interaction with touchscreens has become a primary way of using a device. This work seeks to devise interaction methods for editing textual source code on touch-enabled devices. With the advent of the âPost-PC Eraâ, touch-centric interaction has received considerable attention in both research and development. However, various limitations have impeded widespread adoption of programming environments on modern platforms. Previous attempts have mainly been successful by simplifying or constraining conventional programming but have only insufficiently supported source code written in mainstream programming languages. This work includes the design, development, and evaluation of techniques for editing, selecting, and creating source code on touchscreens. The results contribute to text editing and entry methods by taking the syntax and structure of programming languages into account while exploiting the advantages of gesture-driven control. Furthermore, this work presents the design and software architecture of a mobile development environment incorporating touch-enabled modules for typical software development tasks
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