29 research outputs found
Using theory to inform capacity-building: Bootstrapping communities of practice in computer science education research
In this paper, we describe our efforts in the deliberate creation of a
community of practice of researchers in computer science education
(CSEd). We understand community of practice in the sense in
which Wenger describes it, whereby the community is characterized
by mutual engagement in a joint enterprise that gives rise to a
shared repertoire of knowledge, artefacts, and practices.
We first identify CSEd as a research field in which no shared
paradigm exists, and then we describe the Bootstrapping project,
its metaphor, structure, rationale, and delivery, as designed to create
a community of practice of CSEd researchers. Features of
other projects are also outlined that have similar aims of capacity
building in disciplinary-specific pedagogic enquiry. A theoretically
derived framework for evaluating the success of endeavours of
this type is then presented, and we report the results from an
empirical study. We conclude with four open questions for our
project and others like it: Where is the locus of a community of
practice? Who are the core members? Do capacity-building models
transfer to other disciplines? Can our theoretically motivated
measures of success apply to other projects of the same nature
The Benefits of Intersecting Foreign and Programming Language Acquisition Pedagogical Methods
This study describes an interview survey of college instructors of foreign and programming languages as well as a content analysis of textbooks from these fields. Seven interviews were conducted with instructors in Romance Languages and Computer Science at five colleges in central North Carolina. The purpose of the interviews was to determine how instructors of foreign and programming languages view their teaching methodology and how this relates to the textbooks they choose. Based on the information gathered at the interviews and a subsequent content analysis of six textbooks, this study explored the possibilities that exchanging teaching ideas between foreign and programming language texts might afford if these were applied creatively across these two curricula
Database Concepts in a Virtual World
This project explored the use of a 3-D virtual world in an introductory database course to reduce the amount of time required to learn database concepts. A Second Life 3-D model was built to clarify database concepts and students used the model to create a Microsoft Access inventory database. Thereafter, the students provided feedback by answering a voluntary survey. Eighty two percent of the students surveyed agreed that the 3-D model clarified terms such as records, tables, primary keys and relationships. Seventy five percent of the students believed that the model reduced the amount of time required to learn these concepts
Teaching and learning introductory programming : a model-based approach
The dissertation identifies and discusses impact of a model-based approach to teaching and learning introductory object-oriented programming both for practitioners and for computer science education research.Learning to program is notoriously difficult. This dissertation investigates ways to teach introductory object-oriented programming at the university level. It focuses on a model-based approach, describes and argues for this approach and investigates several of its aspects. It gives an overview of the research in teaching introductory programming in an objects-first way. The dissertation also investigates ways for university teachers to share and document best practices in teaching introductory object-oriented programming through pedagogical patterns. The dissertation addresses both traditional young full-time students and experienced programmers (although not in object-orientation) participating in part-time education. It examines whether the same success factors for learning programming apply to a model-based approach as to introductory programming courses in general for full-time students and gives a general overview of research in success factors for introductory programming. Some factors are the same, because students‘ math competence is positively correlated with their success. The dissertation examines how experienced programmers link a model-based programming course to their professional practices. The general answer is that the part-time students do not need to have a direct link to their specific work-practice, they expect to create the link themselves; but the teacher must be aware of the conditions facing the part-time students in industry. Furthermore, the dissertation addresses interaction patterns for part-time students learning model-based introductory programming in a net-based environment. A previously prepared solution to an exercise is found to mediate the interaction in three different ways. Design patterns have had a major impact on the quality of object-oriented software. Inspired by this, researchers have suggested pedagogical patterns for sharing best practices in teaching introductory object-oriented programming. It was expected that university teachers‘ knowledge of pedagogical patterns was limited, but this research proved that to be wrong; about half of the teachers know pedagogical patterns. One of the problems this dissertation identifies is the lack of a structuring principle for pedagogical patterns; potential users have problems identifying the correct patterns to apply. An alternative structuring principle based on a constructivist learning theory is suggested and analysed
Introductory Programming and the Didactic Triangle
In this paper, we use Kansanen's didactic triangle to structure and analyse research on the teaching and learning of programming. Students, teachers and course content are the three entities that form the corners of the didactic triangle. The edges of the triangle represent the relationships between these three entities. We argue that many computing educators and computing education researchers operate from within narrow views of the didactic triangle. For example, computing educators often teach programming based on how they relate to the computer, and not how the students relate to the computer. We conclude that, while research that focuses on the corners of the didactic triangle is sometimes appropriate, there needs to be more research that focuses on the edges of the triangle, and more research that studies the entire didactic triangle. © 2010, Australian Computer Society, Inc
Code Critters: A Block-Based Testing Game
Learning to program has become common in schools, higher education and
individual learning. Although testing is an important aspect of programming, it
is often neglected in education due to a perceived lack of time and knowledge,
or simply because testing is considered less important or fun. To make testing
more engaging, we therefore introduce Code Critters, a Tower Defense game based
on testing concepts: The aim of the game is to place magic mines along the
route taken by small "critters" from their home to a tower, such that the mines
distinguish between critters executing correct code from those executing buggy
code. Code is shown and edited using a block-based language to make the game
accessible for younger learners. The mines encode test inputs as well as test
oracles, thus making testing an integral and fun component of the game
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The Automatic Assessment of Multiple Artefacts: An Investigation into Design Diagrams and Their Implementations
As the Higher Education sector has moved towards student-centred learning so too has the growth in electronic support for learning. E-assessment has been a part of this growth as increasingly assessment and its feedback is seen as an integral part of the students’ learning process. Mature e-assessment systems exist, particularly where answers to questions are restricted to a prescribed list of alternatives. However, for free response artefacts, where there is a limited restriction placed on answers to questions, automated assessment systems are embryonic.
This dissertation presents an investigation into the automated assessment of free response artefacts. Design diagrams and their accompanying source code implementations are examples of free response artefacts. A case study is developed that investigates how to automatically generate formative feedback for a design diagram by utilizing its accompanying implementation. The dissertation presents a two-staged solution, initially analysing the design diagram in isolation before comparing it with the implementation. A framework for this approach has been developed and tested using a tool applied to coursework submitted by undergraduate computer science students.
The tool was evaluated by comparing the formative feedback comments generated by the tool with those produced by a team of computer science educators. Evaluation was undertaken via two Likert questionnaires, one completed by students and one completed by a team of computer scientists. The results presented are favourable, with the majority of comments produced by the tool being seen to be as least as good as those generated by the computer science educators