106 research outputs found

    Second level computer science: The Irish K-12 journey begins

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    This paper initially describes the introduction of a new computer science subject for the Irish leaving certificate course. This is comparable to US high school exit exams (AP computer science principals) or the UK A level computer science. In doing so the authors wish to raise international awareness of the new subject’s structure and content. Second, this paper presents the current work of the authors, consisting of early initiatives to try and give the new subject the highest chances of success. The initiatives consist of two facets: The first is the delivery of two-hour computing camps at second level schools (to address stereotypes and provide insight on what computer science really is), which was delivered to 2,943 students, in 95 schools between September 2017 and June 2018. Second, the authors followed this with teacher continual professional development (CPD) sessions, totalling 22, to just over 500 teachers. Early findings are presented, showing potentially concerning trends for gender diversity and CPD development. A call is then raised, to the international computer science education community for wisdom and suggestions that the community may have developed from prior experience. This is to obtain feedback and recommendations for the new subject and the authors’ current initiatives, to address early concerns and help develop the initiatives further

    What Do We Think We Think We Are Doing?: Metacognition and Self-Regulation in Programming

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    Metacognition and self-regulation are popular areas of interest in programming education, and they have been extensively researched outside of computing. While computing education researchers should draw upon this prior work, programming education is unique enough that we should explore the extent to which prior work applies to our context. The goal of this systematic review is to support research on metacognition and self-regulation in programming education by synthesizing relevant theories, measurements, and prior work on these topics. By reviewing papers that mention metacognition or self-regulation in the context of programming, we aim to provide a benchmark of our current progress towards understanding these topics and recommendations for future research. In our results, we discuss eight common theories that are widely used outside of computing education research, half of which are commonly used in computing education research. We also highlight 11 theories on related constructs (e.g., self-efficacy) that have been used successfully to understand programming education. Towards measuring metacognition and self-regulation in learners, we discuss seven instruments and protocols that have been used and highlight their strengths and weaknesses. To benchmark the current state of research, we examined papers that primarily studied metacognition and self-regulation in programming education and synthesize the reported interventions used and results from that research. While the primary intended contribution of this paper is to support research, readers will also learn about developing and supporting metacognition and self-regulation of students in programming courses

    Spatial Skills and Demographic Factors in CS1

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    Motivation Prior studies have established that training spatial skills may improve outcomes in computing courses. Very few of these studies have, however, explored the impact of spatial skills training on women or examined its relationship with other factors commonly explored in the context of academic performance, such as socioeconomic background and self-efficacy. Objectives In this study, we report on a spatial skills intervention deployed in a computer programming course (CS1) in the first year of a post-secondary program. We explore the relationship between various demographic factors, course performance, and spatial skills ability at both the beginning and end of the term. Methods Data was collected using a combination of demographic surveys, existing self-efficacy and CS1 content instruments, and the Revised PVST:R spatial skills assessment. Spatial skills were evaluated both at the beginning of the term and at the end, after spatial skills training was provided. Results While little evidence was found to link spatial skills to socioeconomic status or self-efficacy, both gender identity and previous experience in computing were found to be correlated to spatial skills ability at the start of the course. Women initially recorded lower spatial skills ability, but after training, the distribution of spatial skills scores for women approached that of men. Discussion These findings suggest that, if offered early enough, spatial skills training may be able to remedy some differences in background that impact performance in computing courses

    Computational Thinking as an Emergent Learning Trajectory of Mathematics

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    n the 21st century, the skills of computational thinking complement those of traditional math teaching. In order to gain the knowledge required to teach these skills, a cohort of math teachers participated in an in-service training scheme conducted as a massive open online course (MOOC). This paper analyses the success of this training scheme and uses the results of the study to focus on the skills of computational thinking, and to explore how math teachers expect to integrate computing into the K-12 math syllabus. The coursework and feedback from the MOOC course indicate that they readily associate computational thinking with problem solving in math. In addition, some of the teachers are inspired by the new opportunities to be creative in their teaching. However, the set of programming concepts they refer to in their essays is insubstantial and unfocused, so these concepts are consolidated here to form a hypothetical learning trajectory for computational thinking.Peer reviewe

    Retention in Introductory Programming

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    The introductory programming course is one of the very first courses that computer science students encounter. The course is challenging not only because of the content, but also due to the challenges related to finding a place in a new community. Many have little knowledge of what to expect from university studies, some struggle to adjust their study behavior to match the expected pace, and a few simply cannot attend instruction due to e.g. family or work constraints. As a consequence, a considerable number of students end up failing the course, or pass the course with substandard knowledge. This leads to students failing to proceed in their studies at a desirable pace, to students who struggle with the subsequent courses, and to students who completely drop out from their studies. This thesis explores the issue of retention in introductory programming courses through multiple viewpoints. We first analyze how the teaching approaches reported in literature affect introductory programming course pass rates. Then, changes on the retention at the University of Helsinki are studied using two separate approaches. The first approach is the use of a contemporary variant of Cognitive Apprenticeship called the Extreme Apprenticeship method, and the second approach is the use of a massive open online course (MOOC) in programming for recruiting students before they enter their university studies. Furthermore, data from an automatic assessment system implemented for the purposes of this thesis is studied to determine how novices write their first lines of code, and what factors contribute to the feeling of difficulty in learning programming. On average, the teaching approaches described in the literature improve the course pass rates by one third. However, the literature tends to neglect the effect of intervention on the subsequent courses. In both studies at the University of Helsinki, retention improved considerably, and the students on average also fare better in subsequent courses. Finally, the data that has been gathered with the automatic assessment system provides an excellent starting point for future research.Ohjelmointi on nykyajan käsityöläistaito, jolle on akuutti tarve työelämässä. Tämän taidon opettelua harkitseva tietää harvoin, kuinka riippuvainen yhteiskuntamme on ohjelmoinnin tuotoksista eli ohjelmistoista. Ilman ohjelmointia esimerkiksi yhteydenpito, kaupankäynti, matkustaminen ja terveydenhuolto olisivat heikommalla tasolla. Puhelimet eivät toimisi, internettiä ei olisi, eikä lääketeollisuus pystyisi käsittelemään yhtä suuria datamassoja uusia parannuskeinoja etsiessä. Kukaan ei olisi kirjoittanut ohjelmaa, joka auttoi avaruuteen pääsemisessä. Väitöskirjassa tarkastellaan ohjelmoinnin opetusmenetelmiä ja niiden toimivuutta korkeakouluissa sekä esitellään kognitiiviseen oppipoikamalliin (Cognitive Apprenticeship) perustuva “ajatuskäsityöläisten” opetusmenetelmä tehostettu kisällioppiminen (Extreme Apprenticeship). Tehostetussa kisällioppimisessa oppimista edesauttava yksilöllinen ohjaus on mahdollista skaalata satoja opiskelijoita sisältäville kursseille. Väitöskirjatyössä ehdotetaan lisäksi kaikille avoimen verkkokurssin (MOOC) käyttöä yliopisto-opiskelijoiden valintaan sekä tarkastellaan tällaisen valintaväylän toimivuutta tietojenkäsittelytieteen alalla. Väitöskirja käsittelee myös ohjelmointitehtävien automaattista arviointia ja esittelee tähän tarkoitetun Test My Code -järjestelmän, jota voidaan käyttää askeleittaisten ohjeiden ja palautteen antamiseen aloitteleville ohjelmoijille sekä tiedon keräämiseen ohjelmointiprosessissa esiintyvistä ongelmista. Tällaista tietoa voidaan tutkia oppimisanalytiikan menetelmin. Väitöskirjassa tarkastellaan myös aloittelevien ohjelmoijien ensimmäisten ohjelmien kirjoittamisessa esiintyviä ongelmia sekä esitellään ohjelmointitehtävien vaikeuden ennustamiseen sopivia menetelmiä

    Förderung des kreativen, problemlösenden und informatischen Denkens durch spielerisches Programmieren im Sachunterricht

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    Der vorliegende Beitrag geht der Frage nach, ob und wie Grundschullehrkräfte Kindern einen altersgerechten Einstieg ins Programmieren ermöglichen können. Anhand von ausgewählten Beispielen wird darüber hinaus untersucht, inwiefern sich die verschiedenen Materialien und Softwarelösungen eignen, bereits Grundschulkindern nicht nur einen altersgerechten und spielerischen Einstieg ins Programmieren zu ermöglichen, sondern gleichzeitig auch das kreative, problemlösende und informatische Denken der Lernenden zu fördern. (DIPF/Orig.

    Predicting programming assignment difficulty

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    Teaching programming is increasingly more widespread and starts at primary school level on some countries. Part of that teaching consist of students writing small programs that will demonstrate learned theory and how various things fit together to form a functional program. Multiple studies indicate that programming is difficult skill to learn and master. Some part of difficulty comes from plethora of concepts that students are expected to learn in relatively short time. Part of practicing to write programs involves feedback, which aids students’ learning of assignment’s topic, and motivation, which encourages students to continue the course and their studies. For feedback it would be helpful to know students’ opinion of a programming assignment difficulty. There are few studies that attempt to find out if there is correlation between metrics that are obtained from students’ writing a program and their reported difficulty of it. These studies use statistical models on data after the course is over. This leads to an idea if such a thing could be done while students are working on programming assignments. To do this some sort of machine learning model would be possible solution but as of now no such models exist. Due to this we will utilize idea from one of these studies to create a model, which could do such prediction. We then improve that model, which is coarse, with two additional models that are more tailored for the job. Our main results indicate that this kind of models show promise in their prediction of a programming assignment difficulty based on collected metrics. With further work these models could provide indication of a student struggling on some assignment. Using this kind of model as part of existing tools we could provide a student subtle help before his frustration grows too much. Further down the road such a model could be used to provide further exercises, if need by a student, or progress forward once he masters certain topic

    From Legos and Logos to Lambda: A Hypothetical Learning Trajectory for Computational Thinking

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    This thesis utilizes design-based research to examine the integration of computational thinking and computer science into the Finnish elementary mathematics syllabus. Although its focus is on elementary mathematics, its scope includes the perspectives of students, teachers and curriculum planners at all levels of the Finnish school curriculum. The studied artifacts are the 2014 Finnish National Curriculum and respective learning solutions for computer science education. The design-based research (DBR) mandates educators, developers and researchers to be involved in the cyclic development of these learning solutions. Much of the work is based on an in-service training MOOC for Finnish mathematics teachers, which was developed in close operation with the instructors and researchers. During the study period, the MOOC has been through several iterative design cycles, while the enactment and analysis stages of the 2014 Finnish National Curriculum are still proceeding.The original contributions of this thesis lie in the proposed model for teaching computational thinking (CT), and the clarification of the most crucial concepts in computer science (CS) and their integration into a school mathematics syllabus. The CT model comprises the successive phases of abstraction, automation and analysis interleaved with the threads of algorithmic and logical thinking as well as creativity. Abstraction implies modeling and dividing the problem into smaller sub-problems, and automation making the actual implementation. Preferably, the process iterates in cycles, i.e., the analysis feeds back such data that assists in optimizing and evaluating the efficiency and elegance of the solution. Thus, the process largely resembles the DBR design cycles. Test-driven development is also recommended in order to instill good coding practices.The CS fundamentals are function, variable, and type. In addition, the control flow of execution necessitates control structures, such as selection and iteration. These structures are positioned in the learning trajectories of the corresponding mathematics syllabus areas of algebra, arithmetic, or geometry. During the transition phase to the new syllabus, in-service mathematics teachers can utilize their prior mathematical knowledge to reap the benefits of ‘near transfer’. Successful transfer requires close conceptual analogies, such as those that exist between algebra and the functional programming paradigm.However, the integration with mathematics and the utilization of the functional paradigm are far from being the only approaches to teaching computing, and it might turn out that they are perhaps too exclusive. Instead of the grounded mathematics metaphor, computing may be perceived as basic literacy for the 21st century, and as such it could be taught as a separate subject in its own right

    Threshold concepts in web development: the impact of education and experience on the perceptions of practitioners

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    The Threshold Concepts (TCs) framework posits characteristics of critical concepts that enable a learner to see things in a new and unforgettable way that allows the incorporation of cognitive approaches and skills needed by professionals in the discipline. All previous research has been qualitatively oriented toward discovery of candidate TCs, without, so far, quantitative studies of the candidate TCs recognition within the professional ranks. An underrepresented group in previous research is that of Web development professionals. This proposal describes initial quantitative research utilizing the TCs framework in the Web development area to measure the perception of candidate TCs by professionals in the field. This study developed and utilized a new survey instrument to determine how a national sample of current Web development professionals perceive a candidate TC and how their work experience and level of education impact their perceptions. The particular candidate TC, Separation of Content, Presentation, and Behavior (SCPB), and its appropriate identifying characteristics were selected from results of previous qualitative research. An exploratory analysis using SPSS was done on results from an initial group surveyed and results from a later group were used for a confirmatory analysis using PLS-SEM. The exploratory analysis sought to reduce the contributing factors used to identify the TC, and these factors and their measures then were used with the latter group in the confirmatory analysis. The factors identified for use were the characteristics of Transformative, Troublesome, Irreversible, and Bounded. The PLS-SEM analysis confirmed that SCPB is perceived as a TC by working Web development professionals by virtue of it containing these characteristics, as the theory indicates. The study looked at work experience, in terms of years in computing and years specifically in Web development, and education, in terms of education level (degree(s) received, if any), degree in a computing field, and years since last in formal education. All of these indicated a significant influence on perception, either positively or negatively, except for the last item which did not exhibit statistical significance in this case
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