A CS1 Spatial Skills Intervention and the Impact on Introductory Programming Abilities

This paper discusses the results of replicating and extending a study performed by Cooper et al. examining the relationship between students’ spatial skills and their success in learning to program. Whereas Cooper et al. worked with high school students participat- ing in a summer program, we worked with college students taking an introductory computing course. Like Cooper et al.’s study, we saw a correlation between a student’s spatial skills and their success in learning computing. More significantly, we saw that after apply- ing an intervention to teach spatial skills, students demonstrated improved performance both on a standard spatial skills assessment as well as on a CS content instrument. We also saw a correlation between students’ enjoyment in computing and improved perfor- mance both on a standard spatial skills assessment and on a CS content instrument, a result not observed by Cooper et al

Reading skills can predict the programming performance of novices: an eye-tracking study

Due to the character of programming languages, reading ability may have more impact on learning to program than on learning in other subjects. This paper describes an exploratory study of the relationship between reading skills, as perceived through eye tracking, and the ability to program. An empirical investigation into this relationship determined that students with inadequate reading skills are at risk of failing at introductory programming. As an explanation for the effect of reading ability on learning to program, we argue that a programming language is a special high-level written language and that using it requires high levels of comprehension, inferencing, selective attention, organising and reflecting. As a result, a student’s reading ability will have a considerable effect on learning to program. Lack of reading skills may therefore be a factor that affect students’ ability to learn to program. Eye tracking can expose reading skills and, therefore, be used to identify at-risk introductory programming students. The practical contribution of this research is the demonstration of how eye tracking can reveal reading problems among programming students. We relate these reading problems to their programming performance, providing a theoretical account of the connection. The results suggest that efforts to improve reading skills could have a positive impact on learning to program

Spatial Encoding Strategy Theory: The Relationship between Spatial Skill and STEM Achievement

Learners’ spatial skill is a reliable and significant predictor of achievement in STEM, including computing, education. Spatial skill is also malleable, meaning it can be improved through training. Most cognitive skill training improves performance on only a narrow set of similar tasks, but researchers have found ample evidence that spatial training can broadly improve STEM achievement. We do not yet know the cognitive mechanisms that make spatial skill training broadly transferable when other cognitive training is not, but understanding these mechanisms is important for developing training and instruction that consistently benefits learners, especially those starting with low spatial skill. This paper proposes the spatial encoding strategy (SpES) theory to explain the cognitive mechanisms connecting spatial skill and STEM achievement. To motivate SpES theory, the paper reviews research from STEM education, learning sciences, and psychology. SpES theory provides compelling post hoc explanations for the findings from this literature and aligns with neuroscience models about the functions of brain structures. The paper concludes with a plan for testing the theory’s validity and using it to inform future research and instruction. The paper focuses on implications for computing education, but the transferability of spatial skill to STEM performance makes the proposed theory relevant to many education communities

Reading skills can predict the programming performance of novices: an eye-tracking study

Due to the character of programming languages, reading ability may have more impact on learning to program than on learning in other subjects. This paper describes an exploratory study of the relationship between reading skills, as perceived through eye tracking, and the ability to program. An empirical investigation into this relationship determined that students with inadequate reading skills are at risk of failing at introductory programming. As an explanation for the effect of reading ability on learning to program, we argue that a programming language is a special high-level written language and that using it requires high levels of comprehension, inferencing, selective attention, organising and reflecting. As a result, a student’s reading ability will have a considerable effect on learning to program. Lack of reading skills may therefore be a factor that affect students’ ability to learn to program. Eye tracking can expose reading skills and, therefore, be used to identify at-risk introductory programming students. The practical contribution of this research is the demonstration of how eye tracking can reveal reading problems among programming students. We relate these reading problems to their programming performance, providing a theoretical account of the connection. The results suggest that efforts to improve reading skills could have a positive impact on learning to program

Učinak kodiranja na vještine vizualno-prostornoga mišljenja učenika

This work aimed to examine the effects of coding utilization in the technology and design course on students’ visual-spatial reasoning skills. The study is based on a sequential mixed-method design. The quantitative dimension of the research was conducted in a random experimental pattern, with the implemented pre-test and posttest in the control group; the qualitative dimension utilized the interview technique. The reserarch sample included students of Şehit Hüseyin Ruso Secondary School in Nicosia, Northern Cyprus, in school year 2016 -2017. Visual–Spatial Reasoning Test developed by the researcher was used for obtaining quantitative data, and a semistructured interview form for qualitative data. The quantitative data were analyzed with the use of the independent sampling t-test, Cohen’s d effect size coefficiency, and two-way variance analyses; content analysis was implemented for qualitative data. It was established that spatial reasoning skills of the students who used coding are significantly different to those of students who did not use coding; experimental group had a positive attitude toward the course and used their cognitive, sensory and psychomotor skills on a high level. It can be said that coding is an important factor for developing visual-spatial reasoning skills of students in this context.Cilj je ovoga rada istražiti učinke upotrebe kodiranja u nastavi tehnologije i dizajna na vještine vizualno-prostornoga mišljenja učenika. U studiji je korišten sekvencijalni eksperimentalni dizajn i miješane istraživačke metode. Kvantitativna dimenzija istraživanja provedena je na nasumičnom eksperimentalnom uzorku s provedbom pred- i posttesta u kontrolnoj skupini, a u kvalitativnoj dimenziji istraživanja korištena je tehnika intervjua. Uzorak ispitanika uključivao je učenike srednje škole Şehit Hüseyin Ruso iz Nicosiae u Sjevernom Cipru, u školskoj godini 2016./2017. Test vizualno-prostornoga mišljenja koji je razvio istraživač korišten je za prikupljanje kvantitativnih podataka, a polustrukturirani intervju za dobivanje kvalitativnih podataka. T-test za nezavisne uzorke, Cohenov d koeficijent veličine učinka i dvosmjerna analiza varijance korišteni su za analizu kvantitativnih podataka. Analiza sadržaja primijenjena je u obradi kvalitativnih podataka. Utvrđeno je da su vještine prostornoga mišljenja učenika koji su koristili kodiranje značajno različite od onih učenika koji nisu koristili kodiranje - eksperimentalna skupina ima pozitivan stav prema nastavi i korištenju vlastitih kognitivnih, senzornih i psihomotoričkih vještina na visokoj razini. Može se zaključiti da je kodiranje važan čimbenik za razvijanje vještina vizualno-prostornoga mišljenja učenika u ovom kontekstu

The evaluation of a pedagogical-program development environment for Novice programmers : a comparative study

It is an acknowledged fact that many novice programmers experience difficulty in the process of learning to program. One of the contributing factors to this difficulty is the Program Development Environment (PDE). Professional-PDEs are those developed specifically for professional programmers, but are often used by educational institutions in the instruction of programming. It has long been accepted that such environments are inappropriate in the instruction of programming due to unnecessary complexity and lack of support for novice programmers in the learning process. Numerous pedagogical-PDEs supporting the mechanics of programming have been developed in response to this. A review of literature, however, indicates that very limited empirical studies comparing pedagogical-PDEs and professional-PDEs have been conducted. The current study investigates whether there are measurable benefits to using a pedagogical-PDE supporting the mechanics of programming in the instruction of programming instead of a professional-PDE. A comparative study of this nature requires a representative pedagogical-PDE and representative professional-PDE be compared with one another. The first part of the current study determines a set of requirements that a pedagogical- PDE should adhere to based on literature. A set of representative features for a pedagogical-PDE is derived by examining the features of existing PDEs in conjunction with the set of requirements. Based on these features, a pedagogical-PDE, known as SimplifIDE, is developed that implements the representative set of features and that meets are the requirements for a pedagogical-PDE. The second part of the current study is the specification and administration of an empirical experiment in which SimplifIDE and Borland© DelphiTM are compared with one another. A holistic approach in determining the differences between the PDEs is taken and three main areas are examined, namely academic performance, perceptions and programming behavior

The effects of web-mediated instructional strategies and cognitive preferences in the acquisition of introductory programming concepts: a Rasch model approach

This is a quasi-experimental study that aims to examine the interactive effects of web-mediated instructional strategies and learners’ cognitive preferences in their acquisition of introductory programming concepts. The thesis knowledge domain is an introduction to computer programming knowledge, designed for non-computer science students. It is the intention of this study to extend the McKay (2000a) research to examine the interactive effects of web-mediated instructional strategies and cognitive preferences in the acquisition of introductory programming concepts in Malaysian universities. Whereas the instructional strategies investigated by McKay (2000a) were paper-based, they involved graphical metaphors. Instead, this thesis interrogates whether or not information communications technology (ICT) elements such as signals (or cues), interactive animation, navigational tools, words and graphics influence students’ cognitive performance, and whether there are interactive effects of their cognitive preferences that contribute to the results. This study recognises the complex nature of the web-mediated learning environment and the difficulties experienced by students due to their lack of prior programming knowledge, which were first analysed by Bagley (1990) and revised by McKay (2000a). This empirical study examined the performance of novice-learners (or -programmers) with different cognitive preferences using two web-mediated instructional strategies: 1) text-plus-textual format and 2) text-plus-graphical format. The participants were primarily second year undergraduate students, in Malaysia, who are required to enrol in an Introductory Programming course as part of their program requirement for the first time. They were classified for the purpose of this research as novice-learners. The subsequent data collected included scores from three instruments: 1) pre-test; 2) post-test and 3) cognitive styles analysis. The validity and reliability of the cognitive performance measurements (pre- and post-test) were confirmed according to Rasch model using the Quest interactive test analysis system software (Adam & Khoo, 1996). These cognitive performance measurements were found to have strong validity with the item fit statistics produced by the Quest estimate and ranged from 0.81 to 1.22, strongly upholding that the test-items sampled the one construct. Further analyses were conducted, based on effect size (Cohen’s d) to compare the magnitude of difference between groups (Cohen, 1977). The results suggest that there is no clear evidence that a cognitive preference plays an important role in cognitive performance when learning from web-mediated instructional modules. However, it has been observed that the analytic-verbalisers performed better when the instructional format they received suit their cognitive preferences with a medium effect size. As the participants were novice-learners, the influence of prior domain knowledge cannot be ignored. The findings of this doctoral study contribute new knowledge to the existing literature in the related disciplines of human–computer interaction, web-mediated instruction, human cognitive processing and research methodology. Firstly, the use of high-quality measurement tools to assess the effectiveness of web-mediated instructional strategies is important. Secondly, the findings can provide guidelines on how to design web-mediated instruction for high-element interactivity knowledge domains such as the acquisition of programming concepts. Finally, the learner’s cognitive learning preference profile should be considered when designing web-mediated instruction and in particular their level of prior domain knowledge