How to prevent dropouts in introductory programming classes: a study involving factors from student perspectives

In Brazil, more and more students come to college with deficiencies related to writing and comprehension skills regarding the Portuguese language, logical and mathematical reasoning as well as a lack of researching habits. These deficiencies have been identified as impacting and relating to dropout rates in Algorithms and Programming courses. Brazilian and international studies point out the need to create methodological strategies and extracurricular activities in order to help students overcome their lack of background. However, most studies present the issue from the teacher’s point of view regarding the factors he/she judges to be involved in the dropout process. Usually, these factors are derived from elements related to formal assessment (tests, tasks and exercises). The differential of this study is to analyze student perspectives and see how much this truly connects with reality, considering today’s incoming digital generation of university students. We sought to identify which other motivational and structural factors lead these students to drop out from the courses considered. This study was carried out in two parts. Part one was published in [14] when we presented a case-based qualitative, descriptive analysis using testimonies from undergraduate Computer Science students who dropped out or canceled the course before the end of term during three semesters (2012-2013). We sent the same online questionnaires to another group in 2013, during the second semester, and the results did not change. This research enabled us to reorganize the way we teach these students in a methodological approach. Though these results are related to the Brazilian reality, we believe these result

Prihvaćanje i korištenje Scratcha među početnicima u programiranju

Computer programming develops problem-solving and logical reasoning skills, therefore its integration into all levels of education is essential. However, learning programming is not easy and poses a challenge to both students and teachers. Because of its simplicity, Scratch is used as an introduction to programming, and the computer skills that students develop in Scratch can later be applied in other textual based programming languages. In this research, the relationship between four variables of the TAM model - perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use, attitude towards use and intentions to use Scratch - were investigated to reveal the attitude towards and intention to use Scratch among beginners in programming. According to the quantitative results, it can be clearly said that all students loved programming and wanted to improve their programming. The findings showed, that students find Scratch easy to use and useful, but still not “serious” enough to prepare them for “real programming” in text based programming languages.Računalno programiranje razvija vještine rješavanja problema i logičkog zaključivanja te je njegova integracija u sve obrazovne razine nužna. Međutim, učenje programiranja nije jednostavno i predstavlja izazov i za učenike i za nastavnike. Zbog svoje jednostavnosti Scratch se koristi kao uvod u programiranje, a računalne vještine koje učenici razviju u Scratchu mogu se kasnije primijeniti u drugim programskim jezicima. U ovom radu istraživala se povezanost četiriju varijabli modela TAM, percipirane korisnosti, percipirane lakoće korištenja, stava prema korištenju i namjere korištenja programskog jezika Scratch kako bi se otkrio stav i namjera stvarnog korištenja Scratcha među početnicima u programiranju. Prema kvantitativnim rezultatima može se jasno reći da su svi učenici voljeli programiranje i željeli su ga poboljšati. Rezultati su, između ostalog, pokazali i kako učenici smatraju Scratch korisnim i jednostavnim za korištenje, ali ipak nedovoljno ozbiljnim za učenje drugih tekstualnih programskih jezika

Understanding novice programmers: their perceptions and motivations

This paper presents the initial findings of an ongoing research program eliciting a basic understanding of students undertaking a first year programming course at the University of Ballarat, with a particular focus on their motivations and aspirations. This paper also provides a brief history of the course within its institutional setting including the different strategies that have been implemented over the last decade, an overview of the overarching study that is currently being undertaken, a discussion of some of the initial results, as well as a short discussion further research that is currently being undertaken. Results from the initial study indicate that students are positive coming into our courses but can become disillusioned as the course progresses. The research path forward will also be presented along with the discussion of these initial findings

Gaze Evidence for Different Activities in Program Understanding

We present an empirical study that illustrates the potential of dual eye-tracking to detect successful understanding and social processes during pair programming. The gaze of forty pairs of programmers was recorded during a program understanding task. An analysis of the gaze transitions between structural elements of the code, declarations of identifiers and expressions shows that pairs with better understanding do less systematic execution of the code and more “tracing” of the data flow by alternating between identifiers and expressions. Interaction consists of moments where partners’ attention converges on the same same part of the code and moments where it diverges. Moments of convergence are accompanied by more systematic execution of the code and less transitions among identifiers and expressions

Construction kit for computationally enabled textiles

Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, School of Architecture and Planning, Program in Media Arts and Sciences, 2006.Includes bibliographical references (p. 87-89).As technology moves forward, electronics have enmeshed with every aspect of daily life. Some pioneers have also embraced electronics as a means of expression and exploration, creating the fields of wearable computing and electronic textiles. While wearable computing and electronic textiles seem superficially connected as fields of investigation, in fact they are currently widely separated. However, as the field of electronic textiles grows and matures, it has become apparent that better tools and techniques are necessary in order for artists and designers interested in using electronic textiles as a means of expression and function to be able to use the full capabilities of the available technology. It remains generally outside the reach of the average designer or artist to create e-textile experiences, thus preventing them from appropriating the technology, and in turn allowing the general public to accept and exploit the technology. There is clearly a need to facilitate this cross-pollination between the technical and design domains both in order to foster greater creativity and depth in the field of electronic textiles, and in order to bring greater social acceptability to wearable computing.(cont.) This thesis introduces behavioral textiles, the intersection of wearable computing and electronic textiles that brings the interactive capability of wearable electronics to electronic textiles. As a means of harnessing this capability, the thesis also presents subTextile, a powerful and novel visual programming language and development. Design guidelines for hardware that can be used with the development environment to create complete behavioral textile systems are also presented. Using a rich, goal-oriented interface, subTextile makes it possible for novices to explore electronic textiles without concern for technical details. This thesis presents the design considerations and motivations that drove the creation of subTextile. Also presented are the result of a preliminary evaluation of the language, done with a sample chosen to represent users with varying capabilities in both the technical and design domains.by Sajid H. Sadi.S.M

The impact of different teaching approaches and languages on student learning of introductory programming concepts

Many students experience difficulties learning to program. They find learning to program in the object-oriented paradigm particularly challenging. As a result, computing educators have tried a variety of instructional methods to assist beginning programmers. These include developing approaches geared specifically toward novices and experimenting with different introductory programming languages. However, having tried these different methods, computing educators are faced with yet another dilemma: how to tell if any of these interventions actually worked?The research presented here was motivated by an interest in improving practices in computer science education in general and improving my own practices as a computer science educator in particular. Its purpose was to develop an instrument to assess student learning of fundamental and object-oriented programming concepts, and to use that instrument to investigate the impact of different teaching approaches and languages on students’ ability to learn those concepts.Students enrolled in programming courses at two different universities in the Mid-Atlantic region during the 2009-2010 academic year participated in the study. Extensive data analysis showed that the assessment instrument performed well overall. Reliability estimates ranged from 0.65 to 0.79. The instrument is intrinsically valid since the questions are based on the core concepts of the Programming Fundamentals knowledge area defined by the 2008 ACM/IEEE curricular guidelines. Support for content validity includes: 71% of correct responses varied directly with the students’ scores; all possible responses were selected at least once; and 21 out of 24 questions discriminated well between high and low scoring students. CS faculty reviewers indicated that 19 out of 24 questions reflected basic concepts and should be used again “as is” or with “minor changes.” Factor analysis extracted three comprehensible components, “methods and functions,” “mathematical and logical expressions,” and “control structures,” suggesting the instrument is on its way to effectively representing the construct “understanding of fundamental programming concepts.”Statistical analysis revealed significant differences in student performance based on language of instruction. Analyses revealed differences with respect to overall score and questions involving assignment, mathematical and logical expressions, and codecompletion. Language of instruction did not appear to affect student performance on questions addressing object-oriented concepts.Ph.D., Information Science and Technology -- Drexel University, 201