DBSnap 2: New Features to Construct Database Queries by Snapping Blocks

Block-based environments for creating computer programs have become very useful learning tools in computer science as they enable focusing on the logic of a program rather than on its syntactical details. While most block-based environments support conventional (imperative) instructions, a few tools have been proposed to create database queries. One of these tools is DBSnap, a highly dynamic and open-source tool to create database query trees by dragging and connecting visual blocks representing datasets and database operators. In this paper, we introduce DBSnap 2, an extension of DBSnap that provides a set of improvements to facilitate the creation of simple and complex queries. The improvements include the support of database views (a key database concept), saving and importing queries, inserting, updating, and deleting data, the creation of charts, and various visual improvements. The demonstration of DBSnap 2 will show how the new features simplify the creation of queries and enable the graphical visualization of query results

DBSnap-Eval: Identifying Database Query Construction Patterns

Learning to construct database queries can be a challenging task because students need to learn the specific query language syntax as well as properly understand the effect of each query operator and how multiple operators interact in a query. While some previous studies have looked into the types of database query errors students make and how the availability of expected query results can help to increase the success rate, there is very little that is known regarding the patterns that emerge while students are constructing a query. To be able to look into the process of constructing a query, in this paper we introduce DBSnap-Eval, a tool that supports tree-based queries (similar to SQL query plans) and a block-based querying interface to help separate the syntax and semantics of a query. DBSnap-Eval closely monitors the actions students take to construct a query such as adding a dataset or connecting a dataset with an operator. This paper presents an initial set of results about database query construction patterns using DBSnap-Eval. Particularly, it reports identified patterns in the process students follow to answer common database queries

Reflecting on Computational Thinking Studies for High School Education

Berpikir komputasional telah diakui sebagai suatu kebutuhan dalam menyelesaikan masalah yang kompleks. Beberapa penelitian telah dilakukan untuk memperkenalkan keterampilan ini ke semua tingkat pendidikan. Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk meninjau penelitian tentang berpikir komputasi pada tingkat sekolah menengah. Khususnya, penelitian ini mengkaji domain penelitian, mengidentifikasi metode-metode untuk memperkenalkan berpikir komputasional, serta konsep-konsep berpikir komputasional yang diajarkan kepada pelajar. Tinjauan literatur sistematik dilakukan untuk mencapai tujuan tersebut. Hasil penelitian menunjukkan: penelitian berpikir komputasional mencakup kajian teori, pengembangan kurikulum, pengukuran, dan pengembangan alat. Kajian teori ditujukan untuk memformulasikan konsep. Selain keterampilan teknis, soft-skills telah dinyatakan sebagai elemen berpikir komputasional. Namun, perhatian untuk melibatkan soft-skills dalam penelitian masih kurang. Sebagian besar penelitian difokuskan pada integrasi berpikir komptasional ke dalam kurikulum. Coding menjadi metode yang paling banyak digunakan untuk mengajarkan berpikir komputasional. Sehingga, algorithmic thinking dan abstraction muncul sebagai keterampilan yang paling sering diajarkan atau diukur. Akhirnya, penelitian ini menggarisbawahi adanya kesenjangan untuk dikaji lebih lanjut yaitu berkaitan dengan pengukuran keterampilan berpikir komputasional dan untuk menyertakan soft-skills pada penelitian berpikir komputasional.   Kata Kunci—Berpikir komputasional, Sekolah menengah, Penyelesaian masala