The use of learning tools for active knowledge construction to develop coding skills

Abstract: Research indicates that providing students with learning tools to scaffold them during a CS1 course can positively affect the manner in which they develop programming skills. Some examples of learning tools are Scratch, Lego Mindstorms and programming strategies. These learning tools provide an opportunity for students to actively learn, as the tools’ fundamental design focuses on multi-dimensional, tangible objects. This paper presents the qualitative and quantitative results which formed part of a study that focused on many learning principles for CS1 courses. Active learning, discussed in this paper, was one of the learning principles. The results to date are promising

Behavioral Psychology

Excerpt: Behavioral psychology is concerned with the conditions involved in development, maintenance, and control of the behavior of individuals and other organisms. Behavioral approaches have been developed in many areas of applied psychology. These raise a number of issues important from a Christian perspective

Advancing engineering students’ conceptual understanding through puzzle-based learning: a case study with exact differential equations

Current views on the teaching of differential equations (DEs) are shifting towards the use of graphical and numerical methods. Motivated by recent research suggesting that puzzle-based learning (PzBL) can improve the teaching and learning of STEM subjects and by the lack of relevant studies for DEs, we designed two tasks—sophism and paradox—to explore undergraduate engineering students’ conceptual understanding of a classical topic—exact DEs—and to analyse the process of meaning-making during collaborative learning in small groups. One hundred and thirty-five undergraduate engineering students from a public university in Iran participated. In response to recent research signalling the tendency of the students to procedural learning of DEs, we analyse how the students in our study engaged in small group work on puzzle tasks, gaining a more conceptual understanding of exact DEs and acknowledging the efficiency of PzBL in their responses to a questionnaire and in interviews.publishedVersionPaid Open Acces

Interactive tabletops in education

Interactive tabletops are gaining increased attention from CSCL researchers. This paper analyses the relation between this technology and teaching and learning processes. At a global level, one could argue that tabletops convey a socio-constructivist flavor: they support small teams that solve problems by exploring multiple solutions. The development of tabletop applications also witnesses the growing importance of face-to-face collaboration in CSCL and acknowledges the physicality of learning. However, this global analysis is insufficient. To analyze the educational potential of tabletops in education, we present 33 points that should be taken into consideration. These points are structured on four levels: individual user-system interaction, teamwork, classroom orchestration, and socio-cultural contexts. God lies in the detail

Prospective Elementary Teachers' Mathematics Learning Experiences and Beliefs About the Nature of Mathematics

In the current era of mathematics education reform, researchers have sought to show how beliefs about mathematics change due to experiences learning mathematics (Hannula, 2006) and how these beliefs can influence mathematics teaching and learning (Leinwand, Brahier, & Huniker, 2014). A convergent parallel mixed methods study was conducted to determine the past mathematics learning experiences and the nature of mathematics beliefs of a group of 38 elementary preservice teachers (ePSTs). Additionally, a goal of the study was to determine if there was a relationship between mathematics learning experiences and nature of mathematics (NOM) beliefs. Analysis of the data revealed that mathematics learning experiences of the ePSTs were more aligned with traditional mathematics instruction, and not the reformed based instruction advocated by the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM, 2000). Mathematics learning experiences were characterized by attitudes toward learning mathematics, perceptions of instruction, perceptions of mathematics understanding, perceptions of success and a focus on speed and memorization. The analysis revealed that the NOM beliefs of the ePSTs were characterized by views that mathematics is a subject we learn, rules and procedures, the study of the world around us, a type of puzzle, and problem solving through critical thinking. A Pearson correlation analysis was conducted and showed a statistically significant correlation between positive or negative experiences and NOM beliefs. Findings also indicated that in general ePSTs regarded their mathematics learning experiences in a positive way which leads to concerns for their future instructional practice in light of the research that suggests their NOM beliefs evolve from these experiences and beliefs have been shown to influence instructional practice. Based on these results, implications for future research and practice are shared

STRATEGIES TO ASSIST IN DECREASING ESCAPE MAINTAINED BEHAVIORS IN CHILDREN WITH AUTISM SPECTRUM DISORDER

Many children with ASD partake in escape maintain behaviors for numerous reasons. Children with autism might have difficulty attending to long tasks, can get overwhelmed with novel activities, and the challenging behaviors may heighten when too many demands are placed on them. As a result, teachers, parents and interventionists may start to witness children’s challenging behaviors increase. Many of the challenging behaviors are thought to have an escape function from the long or difficult task at hand. This paper will find and address various strategies that may be applied to decrease escape maintained behaviors in children with ASD. The aim for this review study is to describe and evaluate research findings of antecedent-based strategies and evidence-based practices used to assist in decreasing escape maintained behaviors in children with ASD. This study is to suggest educational implications for interventionists and parents. Keywords: autism, escape, escape maintained behaviors, decrease challenging behaviors, alternative behaviors, antecedent based intervention, evidence based practice