Impact Of A Visual Programming Experience On The Attitude Toward Programming Of Introductory Undergraduate Students

Traditionally, textual tools have been utilized to teach basic programming languages and paradigms. Research has shown that students tend to be visual learners. Using flowcharts, students can quickly understand the logic of their programs and visualize the flow of commands in the algorithm. Moreover, applying programming to physical systems through the use of a microcontroller to facilitate this type of learning can spark an interest in students to advance their programming knowledge to create novel applications. This study examined if freshmen college students\u27 attitudes towards programming changed after completing a graphical programming lesson. Various attributes about students\u27 attitudes were examined including confidence, interest, stereotypes, and their belief in the usefulness of acquiring programming skills. The study found that there were no statistically significant differences in attitudes either immediately following the session or after a period of four weeks

Design Early Considered Harmful: Graduated Exposure to Complexity and Structure Based on Levels of Cognitive Development

We have recognized that the natural tendency to teach according to the structure of one’s own understanding runs contrary to established models of cognitive development. Bloom’s Taxonomy has provided a basis for establishing a more efficacious pedagogy. Emphasizing a hierarchical progression of skill sets and gradual learning through example, our approach advocates teaching software development from the inside/out rather than beginning with either console apps or monolithic designs

THE EFFECT OF USING FLOWCHARTS ON THE STUDENTS’ WRITING ABILITY OF NARRATIVE TEXT AT THE SECOND YEAR OF SMPN 16 SIAK REGENCY

This research was conducted because some problems were faced by students in learning English especially in Writing narrative text. The problem were; Some of the students get difficulties to express they ideas in writing narrative text, Some of the students aredifficult to develop ideas the topic given, and some of the students have difficultiesin arranging the sentence in narrative text. The research aimed at finding out the significant effect of student’s writing narrative text for students were taught by using flowcharts and those who taught without using flowcharts. The design used in this research was Quasi-Experimental. In collecting data, the writer used test, it was used in order to collect the data of students writing ability in narrative text at the second year of SMPN 16 Siak. The tests consisted of two tests: Pretest was used to determine the students’ writing ability of narrative text before getting the treatment and Posttest was used to determine the students’ writing ability of narrative text after getting the treatment. In analyzing the data, the writer used written test. The scores from the test were analyzed by using annova formula manually. Based on the data analysis, the writer has concluded that there is significant effect of using flowcharts on the students writing ability of narrative text at the second year students of SMPN 16 Siak Regency by considering Fcalculated = 48.631 is higher than F0.05 = 1.42. It means that Ha is accepted and Ho is rejected

Effect of flowcharting on program composition skill.

by Au Sai Kit.Thesis (M.A.Ed.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 1992.Includes bibliographical references (leaves 79-83).ACKNOWLEDGEMENT --- p.iiABSTRACT --- p.iiiLIST OF TABLES --- p.viiLIST OF FIGURES --- p.ixChapter CHAPTER 1 --- INTRODUCTION --- p.1Chapter 1.1 --- Purpose of the research --- p.2Chapter 1.2 --- Significance of the research --- p.4Chapter CHAPTER 2 --- LITERATURE REVIEW --- p.5Chapter 2.1 --- Literature related to cognitive skills in programming --- p.5Chapter 2.2 --- Literature related to programming in BASIC --- p.9Chapter 2.3 --- Literature related to organization aids --- p.13Chapter 2.4 --- Literature related to methodology --- p.23Chapter CHAPTER 3 --- METHODOLOGY --- p.28Chapter 3.1 --- Theoretical framework --- p.28Chapter 3.2 --- Hypotheses --- p.33Chapter 3.3 --- Method --- p.34Chapter 3.3.1 --- Procedure --- p.34Chapter 3.3.2 --- Subjects --- p.35Chapter 3.3.3 --- Instruments --- p.35Chapter 3.3.4 --- Design --- p.39Chapter 3.3.5 --- Analysis --- p.44Chapter CHAPTER 4 --- RESULTS AND DISCUSSION --- p.46Chapter 4.1 --- Reliability of the instruments --- p.46Chapter 4.2 --- Results and discussion --- p.49Chapter CHAPTER 5 --- CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS --- p.71Chapter 5.1 --- Summary of findings --- p.71Chapter 5.2 --- Conclusions --- p.73Chapter 5.3 --- Limitations --- p.75Chapter 5.4 --- Recommendations --- p.77Bibliography --- p.7

Expert Yet Vulnerable: Understanding the Needs of Transit Dependent Riders to Inform Policy and Design

Transportation is a crucial resource that links people to jobs, social networks, community and services. The transit dependent -- those who do not own private vehicles -- occupy a unique position. They are expert in their knowledge of public transportation while vulnerable to the failures and limitations of transit. This paper presents the results of a study that is aimed at understanding the lived experience of transit dependent riders. Using a framework of structuration theory as an analytic lens, we provide a thematic analysis of qualitative data including interviews with socially connected groups of people and video diaries. The results demonstrate the expertise that transit dependent riders have about transit and its policies and how they deploy that expertise in productive and cunning ways to make the system work for them. The analysis of this data resulted in three categories of agency to consider when designing for vulnerable populations: resourcefulness, reciprocity and powerlessness. The paper concludes by advocating for a human-centered approach to designing systems in community informatics and offers a set of guiding questions for designers of information and communication technologies (ICTs) to consider, especially with regards to vulnerable populations

Community-Based User Experience: Evaluating the Usability of Health Insurance Information With Immigrant Patients

User experience (UX), a common practice in corporate settings, is new for many nonprofit organizations. This case study details a community-based research project between nonprofit staff at a community health center and UX professionals to improve the design and usability of a document designed to help immigrant patients sign up for health insurance. UX professionals may need to adapt and be flexible with their efforts, but can offer valuable skills to community partners. Research questions: (1) What are the information needs and barriers faced by immigrant populations signing up for health insurance? (2) How does a usability study, adapted to meet the needs of immigrant populations, inform the design of a supplemental guidebook about health insurance? (3) What are the challenges and opportunities when engaging in community-based UX research projects? Situating the case: Other community-based research projects in technical communication and UX point to the need for a clear conceptualization of participation, a strong partnership with nonprofits, and the need to develop meaningful and actionable insights. Furthermore, when conducting studies with immigrant populations, the role of the translator on the research team is crucial. Methodology: As a community-based research project focused on the collaborative generation of practical knowledge, we conducted a usability study with 12 participants in two language groups, Chinese and Vietnamese, to evaluate the design and usability of a guidebook designed to provide guidance about enrolling in a health insurance plan. Data were analyzed to identify usability concerns and used to inform a second iteration of the guidebook. About the case: Immigrant populations struggle to sign up for health insurance for a variety of reasons, including limited English and health insurance literacy. As a result, a nonprofit community health center developed a guidebook to support immigrant populations. Version 1 of this guidebook was evaluat- d in a usability study, with results showing that users struggled to correctly choose a plan, determine their eligibility, and interpret abstract examples. As a result, Version 2 was designed to support the in-person experience, reduce visual complexity, and support patients\u27 key questions. Conclusions: Community-based UX collaborations can amplify the expertise of UX and nonprofit professionals. However, UX methods may need to be adapted in community-based projects to better incorporate local knowledge and needs

Contracts as Interfaces

The world of contracts is undergoing fundamental changes. This is partly due to technology: there can be tremendous benefits from self-enforcing, machine-readable contracts. But these technologies are not used everywhere. Many contracts continue to be performed by people. In the context of commercial deals and relationships,1 a vast number of contracts still need to be planned, understood, approved, implemented, and monitored by people.2 Initiatives across the world seek to innovate contracting processes and documents and develop more effective, engaging ways for people to work with them. This chapter focuses on these initiatives and the need to make contracts truly human-readable.© Cambridge University Press 2021. This material has been published in Legal Informatics edited by Katz, D. M., Dolin, R. & Bommarito, M. J. (Editors), https://doi.org/10.1017/9781316529683. This version is free to view and download for private research and study only. Not for re-distribution or re-use.fi=vertaisarvioitu|en=peerReviewed

Beyond the wall of contract text - Visualizing contracts to foster understanding and collaboration within and across organizations

In an increasingly networked world, contracts are the glue of business. Contracts are not only legal safeguarding instruments to limit parties' opportunism, as argued by transaction cost economics (TCE). They can be managerial tools to create shared understanding and cooperation among the cross-professional stakeholders who plan, negotiate, and implement contracts – within and across organizations. However, contract documents often do not work well for this purpose: they are long, complex, and hard to understand. As a result, costly misunderstandings arise, since contracts are not optimized for their everyday users: business and technical audiences. The proactive law approach stresses the importance of clear cross-professional communication through contracts to prevent legal problems and seek win-win opportunities. A practical manifestation of this principle is contract visualization – the use of diagrams, images, and visually structured layouts to make contracts more searchable, readable, and understandable. The aim of this study is to provide empirical understanding of the emerging concept and practice of contract visualization – by rigorously testing the propositions about its benefits, by exploring it as a practice unfolding in real life, and by identifying viable approaches for managers and legal counsel to engage with visualization. I chose a mixed methods approach to explore this emerging topic. The quantitative component of the research comprises three experiments, which show that visualized contracts support superior comprehension performance (speed, accuracy) and user preference, compared to informationally equivalent textual contracts. The qualitative component of the research – a single case study – explores how and why an operation and maintenance service sales team decided to employ visualization in their contracts: visualization was sought as a solution to cross-professional, inter-organizational and temporal knowledge gaps, as it allows information to be clarified and positively frames the emerging business relationship. Two conceptual studies exploring visualization approaches (design pattern libraries and automation) complement the empirical studies. The research contributes to the scarce and insufficiently rigorous empirical literature on contract visualization, and to the literature on the psychological effects of contracts and microdynamics of contracting. Theoretically, it suggests a theoretical shift from a TCE-view of contracts to a knowledge-based view of contracts, where the knowledge created and shared through contract documents is a source of competitive advantage. Moreover, it extends the application of cognitive load theory beyond the educational psychology field. The research also has practical implications for global business: visualization was found to especially improve contract comprehension among non-native speakers of English

Multimodal Writing of University Students: The Case of Academic Posters

After having been marginalized for a long time as a second-class genre or “the poor country cousin of papers” (Swales & Feak, 2000), academic posters have recently received remarkable attention as a special multimodal genre that is indispensable for the membership of the academic community. In line with the currently growing interest in multimodal writing, the present study seeks to contribute to the limited body of knowledge on academic posters in two ways: first by investigating the textual and visual communicative strategies employed by novice multimodal writers to facilitate the comprehension of their multimodal texts and guide readers through their discourse and second by exploring the perceptions of those young multimodal writers towards that special genre. To accomplish the first objective, a corpus of 100 academic posters gathered from freshmen university students enrolled in a second language research writing course was compiled and analyzed textually and visually drawing mainly on the framework of D’Angelo (2016a) that distinguishes between interactive and interactional resources. To fulfill the second objective, a questionnaire was filled out by 66 students, and four interviews were carried out. Both quantitative and qualitative methods were used in the analysis. Descriptive statistics was employed in the multimodal analysis of the posters as well as the analysis of the questionnaire responses, and a qualitative thematic analysis was conducted to interpret the responses of the interviewees. The quantitative textual and visual analysis revealed a clear dominance of the interactive resources and, to some extent, a lack of making the best use of all the available visual resources. The analysis of the self-reported data unveiled that young multimodal writers hold quite positive perceptions towards the academic poster as a multimodal genre. Further, they tended to decode the interrelation between textual and visual resources as an illustrative or code mixing relationship where both text and visuals complement each other to communicate the intended meaning. The study has pedagogical implications relevant to introducing novice multimodal writers to the available semiotic resources