"I feel like I'm going to take off!": Young people's experiences of the superordinary in dance

Work by children in every art form has been both romanticized and criticized by adults. Child art has been emulated as "natural" by artists seeking to free themselves from social and historical conventions (Lowenfeld and Brittain 1987; Read 1957, 1973) and to reconnect with qualities of purity and simplicity (Coleman 1998). Such values have been challenged by those seeking a rationale for instructional programs in the arts (Clark, Day, and Greer 1987). It often seems that educators view children as incomplete adults, in need of education and training to make them mature as well as civilized (Torgovnick 1990). This may be why the ideas and opinions of children are rarely found in research literature, even in education

Visualisation Techniques for Learning and Teaching Programming

This paper describes the programming knowledge and skills that learners need to develop, and concludes that this is an area of computer science education where those involved in the teaching of programming need to further consider the nature, structure and function of domain specific knowledge. Visualisation techniques may offer important insights into the learning and teaching of programming. It has been argued that conceptual models could serve to enhance learners\u27 conceptual understanding of programming, and we describe how these may effectively be used in the teaching of programming. The methods to enhance the development of accurate mental models include: designing the interface so that users can interact actively with it; using metaphors and analogies to explain concepts; and using spatial relationships so that users can develop capabilities for mental simulations

Exploring a technology-facilitated part-complete solution method for learning computer programming

Learning to program is now a requirement in many courses of study in such areas as computer science, information technology, information systems, multimedia. engineering, and science. However, research indicates that many students have great difficulties in learning to program and this results in high failure rates and high levels of withdrawal from academic courses. It is accepted that programming is an intrinsically difficult subject however the teaching and learning methods used in many programming courses have changed little over the years. The literature indicates the importance of reducing the cognitive load that students experience when learning programming and that one method that has potential to do this uses part-complete program solutions. This study sought to explore a technology supported part-complete solution method (TSPCSM) for the learning of computer programming. A teaching and learning framework for programming was developed and a technology supported “COde Restucturing Tool” CORT, was then designed around the learning framework and developed to support the part-complete solution method and provide a suitable learning environment. A quasi-experimental research design framework was utilised in the study which used both qualitative and quantitative research methods. A series of programming problems was developed for CORT and an experiment was undertaken with students who were studying introductory programming. Experimental and control groups were utilised in the experiment which took place over a 14 week semester at an Australian university The data were analysed and they provided rich information concerning three research questions relating to the part-complete solution method (PCSM) through CORT: how students engaged with CORT; how CORT supported the learning process; and how CORT impacted upon their learning outcomes. Results from the study indicated that the PCSM within CORT imposed a low cognitive load on students; provided high levels of cognitive support; strong scaffolding for learning; and students engaged well with the system and generally used a thoughtful and considered strategy to solving programming problems. No differences in learning achievement were found between the experimental and control groups, however other findings indicated that the students who used the PCSM within CORT required significantly less time and less help than the control group and the students who benefited most from the use of CORT appeared to have well developed mental models of program execution, More research is clearly needed to further explore the best ways to implement CORT so that learning advantages can be gained e solution method and provide a suitable learning environment. A quasi-experimental research design framework was utilised in the study which used both qualitative and quantitative research methods. A series of programming problems was developed for CORT and an experiment was undertaken with students who were studying introductory programming. Experimental and control groups were utilised in the experiment which took place over a 14 week semester at an Australian university The data were analysed and they provided rich information concerning three research questions relating to the part-complete solution method (PCSM) through CORT: how students engaged with CORT; how CORT supported the learning process; and how CORT impacted upon their learning outcomes. Results from the study indicated that the PCSM within CORT imposed a low cognitive load on students; provided high levels of cognitive support; strong scaffolding for learning; and students engaged well with the system and generally used a thoughtful and considered strategy to solving programming problems. No differences in learning achievement were found between the experimental and control groups, however other findings indicated that the students who used the PCSM within CORT required significantly less time and less help than the control group and the students who benefited most from the use of CORT appeared to have well developed mental models of program execution, More research is clearly needed to further explore the best ways to implement CORT so that learning advantages can be gained to solving programming problems. No differences in learning achievement were found between the experimental and control groups, however other findings indicated that the students who used the PCSM within CORT required significantly less time and less help than the control grou

Undergraduate essay production as cultural practice: technological, social and institutional mediation

Coursework essay production plays central roles in the learning and assessment of many undergraduates. This investigation is concerned with how students accomplish essay production through engagements with documents and other resources. Unlike more traditional psychological approaches, 'cultural psychology' (Cole, 1996) sees such resources as intrinsic to cognition and action. Cultural psychology is adopted as the theoretical framework for this investigation. Three empirical studies are conducted. They comprise a set of complementary lenses, focusing upon different 'levels' of activity and different aspects of context. [Continues.

An investigation into novel software tools for enhancing students' higher cognitive skills in computer programming

Active learning is considered by many academics as an important and effective learning strategy. Students can improve the quality of their work by developing their higher cognitive skills through reflection on their own ideas, and through practice of analytic and evaluative skills. Assessment is a tool for learning, but traditional assessment methods often encourage surface learning, rather than deep learning which is an approach to developing higher cognitive skills. Peer assessment is one of the successful approaches, which can be used to enhance deep learning. It is a method of motivating students, involving students discussing, marking and providing feedback on other students' work. Although it is often used in the context of essays, it has seldom been applied to computer programming courses. The skill of writing good software includes understanding different approaches to the task, and stylistic and related considerations - these can be developed by evaluation of other programmers' solutions. As part of a study investigating the extent that peer assessment can promote deep learning to develop the higher cognitive skills in a programming course, a novel web-based peer assessment tool has been developed. - The process used is novel, since students are engaged not only in marking each other's work, but also in evaluating the quality of marking of their peers. - This system is designed to provide anonymity for the whole process, in order to ensure that the process is fair, and to encourage students to discuss without embarrassment by using an anonymous communication device (ACD) in a variety of roles (script authors, marker, and feedback marker). In this thesis, we describe and compare the learning theory and tools, which are relevant in learning computer programming. Deep learning, which can be described using the six categories of learning in Bloom's taxonomy, is discussed. Other peer assessment software tools are compared and discussed. The design and implementation of a novel web-based peer assessment system (with anonymous communication device) are described, and set in the context of the learning theories. The results of evaluating the tools through several experiments involving large programming classes and an essay writing module are reported. In this thesis, we also propose a new variation of Bloom's taxonomy, which is appropriate to describe the skills required for tasks such as programming. The results indicate that this approach to web-based peer assessment has successfully helped students to develop their higher cognitive skills in learning computer programming, and peer assessment is an accurate assessment method in a programming course.EThOS - Electronic Theses Online ServiceGBUnited Kingdo