Approaches in Teaching Recursion

Rekursiooni omandamist käsitlev (eestikeelne) algoritmidealane kirjandus on hõre. Käesolev töö uurib, kuidas Tartu Ülikool läheneb rekursiooni õpetamisele ja võrdleb seda Eesti ning välisülikoolide käsitlusega. Uurimus analüüsib, millised ülesanded rekursiooni tarvilikkusest märku annavad, milliseid tehnilisi oskusi tudengitega esitatud ülesannetega treenitakse ning milliste meetoditega õpetatakse tudengeid iseseisvalt rekursiooni rakendama. Töö eesmärk on parandada Tartu Ülikooli informaatikute valmisolekut kursuseks „Algoritmid ja andmestruktuurid“. Eesmärk saavutatakse pakkudes töö viimases peatükis välja komplekt ülesandeid, mis õppuritele vajaminevaid oskusi treenib.The literature on algorithmic teaching of recursion (in Estonian) is minimal. This paper examines how University of Tartu approaches teaching recursion and compares it to the ways of Estonian and foreign universities. The study analyses which exercises indicate the necessity of using recursion, which technical abilities those exercises train and which tutoring methods are used to teach students the ability of applying recursion independently. The aim of the thesis is to improve University of Tartu’s students’ preparation for the course “Algorithms and Data Structures”. The purpose is achieved in the last chapter of the paper by providing a set of exercises which trains pertinent skills

Toward Using Games to Teach Fundamental Computer Science Concepts

Video and computer games have become an important area of study in the field of education. Games have been designed to teach mathematics, physics, raise social awareness, teach history and geography, and train soldiers in the military. Recent work has created computer games for teaching computer programming and understanding basic algorithms. We present an investigation where computer games are used to teach two fundamental computer science concepts: boolean expressions and recursion. The games are intended to teach the concepts and not how to implement them in a programming language. For this investigation, two computer games were created. One is designed to teach basic boolean expressions and operators and the other to teach fundamental concepts of recursion. We describe the design and implementation of both games. We evaluate the effectiveness of these games using before and after surveys. The surveys were designed to ascertain basic understanding, attitudes and beliefs regarding the concepts. The boolean game was evaluated with local high school students and students in a college level introductory computer science course. The recursion game was evaluated with students in a college level introductory computer science course. We present the analysis of the collected survey information for both games. This analysis shows a significant positive change in student attitude towards recursion and modest gains in student learning outcomes for both topics

Proceedings of the 33rd Annual Workshop of the Psychology of Programming Interest Group

This is the Proceedings of the 33rd Annual Workshop of the Psychology of Programming Interest Group (PPIG). This was the first PPIG to be held physically since 2019, following the two online-only PPIGs in 2020 and 2021, both during the Covid pandemic. It was also the first PPIG conference to be designed specifically for hybrid attendance. Reflecting the theme, it was hosted by Music Computing Lab at the Open University in Milton Keynes

Threshold concepts and teaching programming

This thesis argues that the urge to build and the adoption of a technocratic disposition have influenced and affected the pursuit and development of a deeper understanding of the discipline of computing and its pedagogy. It proposes the introduction to the discipline of the threshold concept construct to improve both the understanding and the pedagogy. The research examines the threshold concept construct using the theory of concepts. The examination establishes the conceptual coherence of the features attributed to threshold concepts and formalises the basis for threshold concept scholarship. It also provides a refutation for critiques of threshold concepts. The examination reveals the inextricable links between threshold concepts and pedagogic content knowledge. Both rely on the expertise of reflective pedagogues and are situated at the site of student learning difficulties and their encounters with troublesome knowledge. Both have deep understanding of discipline content knowledge at their centre. The two ideas are mutually supportive. A framework for identifying threshold concepts has been developed. The framework uses an elicitation instrument grounded in pedagogic content knowledge and an autoethnographic approach. The framework is used to identify state as a threshold concept in computing. The significant results of the research are two-fold. First, the identification of state as a threshold concept provides an insight into the disparate difficulties that have been persistently reported in the computer science education literature as stumbling blocks for novice programmers and enhances and develops the move towards discipline understanding and teaching for understanding. Second, the embryonic research area of threshold concept scholarship has been provided with a theoretical framework that can act as an organising principle to explicate existing research and provide a coherent focus for further research

Uma ferramenta para auxiliar no ensino de estruturas de dados como tipo de dado abstrato

Orientador : Beatriz Mascia DaltriniTese (doutorado) - Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Faculdade de Engenharia Eletrica e de ComputaçãoDoutorad