ACTIVE LEARNING FOR PROBLEM SOLVING IN PROGRAMMING IN A COMPUTER STUDIES METHOD COURSE

ABSTRAC

αξιολόγηση χρηστικότητας και εμπλουτισμός του προσαρμοστικού εκπαιδευτικού περιβάλλοντος ALMA-ανάπτυξη διαδικτυακής εφαρμογής οπτικοποίησης του αλγορίθμου της φυσαλίδας

Στο πλαίσιο της παρούσας πτυχιακής πραγματοποιούνται τα εξής: - αξιολόγηση του Προσαρμοστικού Εκπαιδευτικού Περιβάλλοντος ALMA (Adaptive Learning Models from texts and Activities) (http://hermes.di.uoa.gr:8088/alma3/index.php) ως προς τη χρηστικότητα με την τεχνική ευρετικής αξιολόγησης με βάση τους κανόνες του Jakob Nielsen. Η αξιολόγηση αυτή στοχεύει στη επανασχεδίαση των οθονών του συστήματος και στη ροή διαλόγων, μηνυμάτων και ενεργειών που απαιτούνται για να γίνει μια συγκεκριμένη εργασία. -εμπλουτισμός του Προσαρμοστικού Εκπαιδευτικού Περιβάλλοντος με εκπαιδευτικό υλικό πάνω στο γνωσιακό αντικείμενο «Δομές Δεδομένων-Πίνακες», διόρθωση προγραμματιστικών λαθών του και οπτική βελτιστοποίηση του συγγραφικού του εργαλείου (authoring tool). -ανάπτυξη μιας διαδικτυακής εφαρμογής η οποία οπτικοποιεί τον αλγόριθμο της φυσαλίδας. Έτσι επιτυγχάνεται καλύτερη κατανόηση του αλγορίθμου της φυσαλίδας και της λειτουργίας του. Η οπτικοποίηση αυτή πραγματοποιήθηκε σε γλώσσες προγραμματισμού HTML, CSS και JavaScript, καθώς και με διαδικτυακά γραφικά μέσω της γλώσσας WebGL και μίας βιβλιοθήκης για αυτή, την Three.js.In this paper the following are being made: -evaluation for the usability of the Adaptive Learning Models from Texts and Activities (ALMA) environment (http://hermes.di.uoa.gr:8088/alma3/index.php), using the heuristic evaluation technique and the rules written by Jakob Nielsen. This evaluation aims at the general design of the system screens and the flow of the dialogues, messages and activities that are required to do a specific operation. -enrichment of the Adaptive Learning Models from Texts and Activities environment with educational material on the subject “Data Structures-Arrays”, debugging of its programming mistakes, and visual improvement of its authoring tool. -development of a web application that visualizes the bubble sort algorithm, so that a student could easily understand this algorithm and its implementation. This visualization was implemented with the programming languages HTML, CSS, JavaScript and using web graphics through the WebGL programming language and with a library for this, called Three.js

Education on the Gis Frontier: Cybergis and Its Components

Geographic information systems (GIS) are a fundamental information technology. Coupled with advancing developments in spatial analysis through geographic information science (GISci), the capabilities and applications of GIS and GISci continue to rapidly expand. This expansion requires practitioners to have new skills and competencies, especially in computer science and programming. One developing framework for GIS’ future is that of Cyber Geographic Information Systems (CyberGIS), which fuses the technical capabilities of advanced cyber-infrastructure, like cloud and server computing, with the spatial analysis capabilities of GIS. This structure of GIS requires further computer science and programming abilities, but how GIS practitioners use and value the variant components within CyberGIS is unknown. This gap makes teaching and preparing students on the CyberGIS frontier difficult. The GIS skillset is in an ever-present state of re-imagination, but with the growing prominence of CyberGIS, which seeks to capitalize on advanced computing to benefit analysis in GIS, the need for an understanding of educational implications continues to grow. This dissertation uses a mixed-methods approach to explore how CyberGIS functions academically. First, I explore how university geography departments in the U.S. integrate computer science and programming skills in their undergraduate geography and GIS degree programs by reviewing degree requirements in highly-ranked departments. Few departments require computer science or programming courses for undergraduate degrees. Then, I explore the nature of knowledge and skills in CyberGIS using machine reading and q- methodology to explore viewpoints of how key CyberGIS skills function. The three viewpoints I identify reveal highly conflicting mindsets of how GIS functions. Finally, I use syllabi from different GIS programming and computer science courses to identify common topics, course structures, and instructional materials across a broad sample of courses. Three major topic foci emerged, including GIS scripting with Python, web-enabling GIS with JavaScript and HTML, and geodatabase manipulation with SQL. Some common instructional materials exist, but syllabi show little consistency in their curriculum focus and instructional design within or across topics relating GIS programming and computer science. There is little consistency or emphasis in current educational efforts concerning computer science and programming and how they function in building competencies required in CyberGIS. While CyberGIS promises advanced computing capabilities using complex systems, the fractured and uneven nature of basic computer science and programming instruction in GIS indicates that to achieve a Cyber-enabled GIS future, a much larger chasm between GIS and computer science must be bridged