Analysis of Student Misconceptions Using Python as an Introductory Programming Language

Python has become a popular language for the delivery of introductory programming courses. Two reasons for this are Python's convenience and syntactic simplicity, giving a low entry barrier for beginners and the ability to solve complex problems with short snippets of code. However, students exhibit widespread misconceptions about the meaning of basic language constructs, inhibiting their ability to solve problems and damaging their understanding of fundamental concepts. In this paper, we document our observations of level 1 university students over several years, as well as surveys probing the nature of their misconceptions. We analyze the misconceptions in relation to a notional machine model for Python, and show that many students form inadequate and brittle mental models of the language. Our results indicate that one of the major sources of misunderstanding is the heavy use of overloading in Python. Overloading hides the complexity of algorithms and data structures, often leading students to write code that involves mutability, sharing, copying, side effects, coroutines, concurrency, and lazy evaluation -- and none of those topics are accessible to students who haven't yet mastered basic assignments, conditionals, and looping. We suggest that Python, when taught alone, is insufficient as an introductory language: students can gain a firmer grasp of programming fundamentals when Python is presented alongside a complementary low level language that makes a notional machine clear and explicit

What’s Motivation Got to Do with It? A Survey of Recursion in the Computing Education Literature

One of the most challenging topics for both computing educators and students is recursion. Pedagogical approaches for teaching recursion have appeared in the computing education literature for over 30 years, and the topic has generated a significant body of work. Given its persistence, relatively little attention has been paid to student motivation. This article summarizes results on teaching and learning recursion explored by the computing education community, noting the relative lack of interest in motivation. It concludes by briefly discussing an approach to teaching recursion is appealing for students interested in web development

Case study: Simulations for visualisation of complex processes and principles in chemical engineering and in physics

This paper describes two case studies where open source software (OSS) has been used to create simulations to assist students in visualising complex processes in university courses. The first case reviews the use of Python to help students visualise the motion of particles or molecules in physical processes used in chemical engineering. The second case reviews the use of VPython to allow students to create their own simulations of abstract concepts in physics

Finding Synergies in the Mathematical Sciences

Cite: Academy of Science of South Africa (ASSAf), (2016). Finding Synergies in the Mathematical Sciences. [Online] Available from: DOI http://dx.doi.org/10.17159/assaf.2016/0008The Academy of Science of South Africa (ASSAf) convened a workshop on Finding Synergies in the Mathematical Sciences in Cape Town on 15 – 16 September 2016. The meeting sought to promote and seek a discursive space to explore synergies and an inclusive approach to mathematics across all the scientific disciplines and the adoption of a broader, more integrated vision of the role of mathematics in education and society. The meeting also aimed to explore the feasibility and desirability of a broad consensus study which would inter alia conduct an audit of initiatives and best practices that address issues of synergising the mathematical sciences in South Africa. South Africa’s National Development Plan projects that the number of school-leavers, who should qualify for entrance to a Bachelor’s degree for which mathematics is a prerequisite, will more than double by 2024 and will treble by 2030. At the same time, the relationship, or lack of one, between mathematics and mathematics education represents a matter of concern, potentially exacerbating the limited performance of South African pupils and students. The workshop sought to address these significant capacity challenges and the increasing permeation of mathematics across academic disciplines by exploring potential synergies and collaborations among the mathematical sciences, with the interconnected goals of improving educational and research outputs and supporting the country’s development and transformation.Department of Science and Technolog

Experiential Learning of Information Systems in Functional Contexts: The Digital Brand Strategy Project

Successful technology-based ventures and the notion that every company constitutes a “digital” company have driven increased interest in information technology even for students majoring in areas other than information systems. With the growing need for experiential learning, educators in business schools face challenges in identifying effective delivery mechanisms to impart theoretical foundations and practical applications in functional contexts that students find relevant. In this paper, we describe how we designed and implemented a project that fulfilled the above needs and integrated information systems and marketing. We describe the motivation for this project, its learning objectives, and its innovative design and implementation, and we provide an example of the project to illustrate its execution. While this project could be a standalone piece in an information systems course, we show it to be an effective way to communicate how one can apply information systems in a different functional context

Open-Source Face Recognition Frameworks: A Review of the Landscape

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How to design for persistence and retention in MOOCs?

Design of educational interventions is typically carried out following a design cycle involving phases of investigation, conceptualization, prototyping, implementation, execution and evaluation. This cycle can be applied at different levels of granularity e.g. learning activity, module, course or programme. In this paper we consider an aspect of learner behavior that can be critical to the success of many MOOCs i.e. their persistence to study, and the related theme of learner retention. We reflect on the impact that consideration of these can have on design decisions at different stages in the design cycle with the aim of en-hancing MOOC design in relation to learner persistence and retention, with particular attention to the European context

The 1925 Kem Lek Mek: The Annual of the Students, College of Engineering, Newark Technical School

This is a digitized, downloadable version of the Newark College of Engineering Kem Lec Mek.https://digitalcommons.njit.edu/yearbooks/1002/thumbnail.jp