Video tutorial screencast and sketchup make (VTS-SUM) for low achievers in learning 3d geometry

Students’ weaknesses in learning 3-Dimensional (3D) geometry are mostly associated with their low level of geometric thinking. Although a 3D software has been proposed as a manipulative learning tool, they had difficulties using it. Therefore, a suitable learning strategy should be designed to overcome the problems. The purpose of the study was to assess a learning strategy, known as Video Tutorial Screencast SketchUp Make (VTS-SUM), which integrates screencast techniques with a 3D software. VTS-SUM is a know-how video that assists students to visualize steps in drawing the orthogonal projections for 3D objects. A total of 180 students from a secondary school were involved in the study, conducted using a quantitative approach, where, a van Hiele Geometric Thinking (vHGT) test was employed to find out the level of students’ geometric thinking. The findings obtained showed that the majority of the students were at the Lowest Level (Level L1). As for usability test, a total of thirty students were selected from among those below this level. They were given some time to watch the video and perform hands-on activities using the software. A seven-point Likert scale questionnaire, comprising four constructs, namely, usefulness, ease of use, ease of learning and satisfaction, was used to measure the students’ perceptions of the usability test. The results obtained indicated that the students had positive perceptions towards the usage of VTS-SUM in their learning, thus accentuating its good potentials to enhance learning in mathematics

Applying Second Language Acquisition to Facilitate a Blended Learning of Programming Languages

This paper describes a recent NSF funded project under the Research Initiation Grant in Engineering Education (RIGEE) program. It correlates the programming language study to second language acquisition theory. The work begun in Fall 2014, and project materials are under development. This paper outlines the proposed work and the materials developed to support the implementation of the project in Fall 2015

Through the Eyes of a Programmer:A Research Project on how to Foster Programming Education with Eye-Tracking Technology

Nowadays, there is a high demand for programming expertise on the labor market. New technologies such as eye tracking could help to improve programming education and thereby help to fulfill this demand. For instance, Eye Movement Modeling Examples (EMMEs) are learning videos that visualize a person’s (the model’s) eye movements while s/he demonstrates how to perform a (programming) task. The eye movements can, for in-stance, get visualized as moving dots onto a screen recording. By observing where an expert programmer looks, programming beginners might better understand what s/he is doing and referring to. Recent studies showed promising first results about the beneficial effects of using EMMEs in programming education. In this manuscript, we present a research project that aims to provide evidence-based guidelines for educational practitioners on how to use eye-tracking technology for programming training. We first introduce the basic concept of EMMEs and exemplary gaps in literature. We then present our first empirical study on how different instructions affect expert programmer’s eye movements when modeling a debugging task (and hence EMME displays). With this manuscript, we hope to inspire more programmers to use eye-tracking technology for programming education

Enhancing Learning in Engineering Mathematics Education: Utilising Educational Technology and Promoting Active Learning

This study contributes to the discussion of development of engineering mathematics education from two different perspectives: to explore the possibilities to enhance engineering mathematics teaching and learning with the help of educational technology, and to promote active learning of students. From these two perspectives, it has been explored, for example, how engineering students experience the usage of selected educational technology and does utilisation of educational technology affect students’ activity or learning. The investigations have concentrated on developing a feasible framework for mathematics teaching and learning in Bachelor’s level engineering education. From the theoretical perspective, this dissertation discusses instruments to promote students’ active learning as a part of the framework.The research has been conducted between 2011-2017 with four empirical studies at Tampere University of Applied Sciences. The adopted research approach is design-based research that has included several iterative cycles for developing the framework for mathematics teaching and learning. This process has included twentyfive university of applied sciences level engineering mathematics course implementations. Short educational video lectures and computer-aided assessment were the main educational technologies that were implemented during the research process.As an outcome of the research, the guidelines for utilising selected educational technology and activating students in similar educational setting are given. These guidelines provide knowledge for developing instructional design and learning resources especially at UAS-level engineering mathematics context. The findings indicated that engineering students experience short educational video lectures and computer-aided assessment as meaningful and feasible for mathematics learning.Students used short educational videos for different learning purposes and pointed out such benefits as repeatability and having more time in peace to learn and understand the current task at hand. When non-compulsory automatically assessed online exercises were provided, high completion rate were detected among study groups.Utilising short educational videos and computer-aided assessment provides instant feedback to students about their learning process. The findings indicated that such resources have a potential to motivate, activate and promote self-regulated learning. However, the most of the students were studying nearby the deadlines. Hence, proper and distinct assignment deadlines guide students’ learning activity and are more likely to activate them.Overall, the focus of this dissertation has been on the utilisation of potential of digitalisation and the promotion of active learning. At the center of the prevailing digitalisation hype, these both goals play a central role in higher education. Thus, the dissertation discusses topics covered in many higher education institutions nationally and internationally.Tämän tutkimuksen tarkoituksena on tuoda näkökulmia insinöörikoulutuksen matematiikan opetuksen kehittämiseen. Tutkimusprosessin aikana on tarkasteltu erityisesti kahta toisiinsa liittyvää näkökulmaa: mahdollisuuksia kehittää insinöörimatematiikan opettamista ja oppimista opetusteknologian avulla ja edistää opiskelijoiden aktiivista oppimista. Näihin näkökulmiin liittyen tutkimus tarkastelee esimerkiksi, miten insinööriopiskelijat kokevat opetusteknologian käytön, ja vaikuttaako se opiskelijoiden aktiivisuuteen tai oppimiseen. Tutkimuksen käytännön opetustyöhön liittyvänä tuloksena syntyy toteutuskelpoinen toimintamalli AMKtasoisen insinöörimatematiikan opetuksen järjestämiseksi. Työn teoreettinen kontribuutio koskee aktiivista oppimista tukevien elementtien sisällyttämistä toimintamalliin.Tutkimus on toteutettu vuosina 2011-2017 Tampereen ammattikorkeakoulussa neljänä empiirisenä tutkimuksena. Lähestymistapana on käytetty design-tutkimusta, joka on pitänyt sisällään useita iteratiivisia syklejä toimivan toimintamallin löytämiseksi. Tutkimusprosessiin on sisältynyt 25 AMK-tasoista insinöörimatematiikan opintojaksototeutusta. Opetusteknologiat, joita tutkimuksessa pääosin hyödynnettiin, olivat lyhyet pedagogisesti käyttökelpoisiksi suunnitellut opetusvideot ja tietokoneavusteinen arviointi.Neljän osatutkimuksen tulosten perusteella tutkimus on tuottanut ohjeita opetusteknologian hyödyntämisestä, opetuksen järjestämisestä ja opiskelijoiden aktivoimisesta samankaltaisessa matematiikan oppimisen kontekstissa. Tutkimuksen tulokset indikoivat, että opiskelijat kokivat lyhyet opetusvideot ja tietokoneavusteisen arvioinnin käyttökelpoisina ja mielekkäinä menetelminä. Opiskelijat käyttivät lyhyitä opetusvideoita erilaisissa oppimistilanteissa. Hyödyiksi koettiin mm. videoiden toistettavuus ja se, että omaan tahtiin videoita katsomalla oli enemmän aikaa ymmärtää ja oppia opetettuja asioita. Opiskelijat suorittivat myös ei-pakollisia automaattisesti arvioituja matematiikan verkkotehtäviä huomattavasti aktiivisemmin kuin mitä odotettiin.Lyhyet opetusvideot ja automaattisesti arvioitavat matematiikan tehtävät tarjoavat opiskelijalle välitöntä palautetta oppimisprosessista. Tulokset indikoivatkin, että työssä hyödynnetyn opetusteknologian käyttäminen voi motivoida, aktivoida ja edistää oppimisen itsesäätelyä. Tutkimustulosten valossa kuitenkin oppimistehtävien palautusten määräajat ohjaavat opiskelijan aktiivisuutta, sillä opiskelijat opiskelevat lähellä tehtävien palautusten määräaikoja.Kaiken kaikkiaan tämän väitöskirjan fokus on ollut hyödyntää digitalisaation tarjoamaa potentiaalia mutta myös edistää aktiivista oppimista. Keskellä vallallaan olevaa digitalisaation hypeä, molemmilla näistä on keskeinen rooli korkeakoulutuksessa. Tämän vuoksi tämä väitöskirja pureutuu aihepiireihin, jotka ovat esillä monissa korkeakouluissa niin kansallisesti kuin kansainvälisestikin

Innovations designed to improve the student experience for mathematics students in higher education

In this context statement I research my public works in mathematics education and the impact they had on my practice, my students and my field at both national and international level. The works I am analysing are: The Maths Arcade, Tomorrow’s Mathematicians Today Undergraduate Conference, various employability initiatives, and a selection of videos and screencasts designed to improve students’ thinking. It includes some of the pedagogical theory that surrounds my works, details the social and political landscape associated with UK higher education, and discusses my motivations. In summary, it investigates the reasons I initiated these activities and answers the question why it is only I that could have done this work. In analysing my public works I use autoethnography alongside critical reflection, drawing on my own experience of studying for a mathematics degree as a mature student with non-standard entry qualifications. I discuss the problems incurred by adults who have had a speech impediment when younger and the difficulties experienced by first-generation entrants to higher education. This research has shown that the underlying theme behind these initiatives is transition; transition into HE, transition between years and finally transition out of HE. From my research I conclude that it is not so much the works themselves that are important but the underlying strategies and motivations. For students transitioning from school to university this includes the need to form strong friendships with their peers and to take part in activities that promote good staff/student interactions and communities. For students transitioning between years it includes developing independent learning and problem-solving skills, and for those transitioning into work or further study it includes the need to actively engage in career management. I hope that this research will enable other institutions and academics to initiate similar activities designed to improve the student experience for their cohorts of students

Implementation and Evaluation of a Second Language Acquisition-Based Programming Course

This paper describes initial findings of an NSF funded project under the Research Initiation Grant in Engineering Education (RIGEE) program. The RIGEE program is a multidisciplinary program focused on developing innovative, implementing and assessing innovative programs that enhance engineering education. The project applied theory and methods of second language acquisition (SLA) to teach an introductory programming course in engineering. The project is a two year long project implemented in multiple sections of an introductory programming class at a technological university, and assessed throughout implementation. It included a component whereby student assistants participated in project development and implementation, and were mentored by project leads. The current presentation presents the results of the fall 2015 assessment of learning effectiveness in the course, and compares SLA course sections to non- SLA sections. Objective and subjective measures of effectiveness were collected and analyzed

An illustration oriented approach in statistics education

This paper explores an illustration oriented approach to assist students in learning Statistics. The importance of providing graphical insight into statistical ideas is emphasized as it helps students in many ways in their learning process. How this approach is practised at the University of Greenwich is described and students’ views, which give very positive indications, are summarised

A Web-Integrated Environment for Component-Based Software Reasoning

This thesis presents the Web IDE, a web-integrated environment for component-based software reasoning. The Web IDE is specifically tailored to emphasize the relationships among various components in component-based software engineering (CBSE) and to facilitate reasoning. It allows students to use RESOLVE, a component-based, integrated specification and programming language, to build components and systems, providing real-time feedback that can be used to reason about the correctness of their component implementations. Real-time interaction and relationship focused component presentation reinforces CBSE and reasoning principles in a way not possible with traditional programming exercises and file management systems. The Web IDE has gone through several stages of development, getting feedback from users and adding new functionality at each step. It has kept pace with web browser development by incorporating bowser features, such as the file API and local storage, to provide enhanced functionality to users. Several undergraduate software engineering courses at Clemson and elsewhere have successfully used the Web IDE for both reasoning and team-based component development exercises, demonstrating the robust and useful nature of the Web IDE

The Effects Of Screencasting On Students’ Achievement And Attitude Towards C++ Computer Programming

The purpose of this study was to design, develop and evaluate the effectiveness of screencast in the learning of C++ Computer Programming among undergraduates. The study also investigated the effects of modality and redundancy principles on the achievement and attitude of the different levels of logic among the undergraduates. The study was conducted based on true experimental pretest and posttest 2 x 2 between subject factorial design. The independent variable consists of the two learning modes namely, screencast and narration mode (SN), and screencast, text and narration mode (STN), while the dependent variables are the achievement test (C++ Computer Programming test) and computer attitude scale (CAS) score

Use of Open Software for Information Literacy in Academic Libraries: Issues and Challenges

One of the ways to sustain the relevancy of libraries in this electronics era is to prove its stakeholders that a library is still very much useful for acquiring knowledge and virtues. Librarians in Malaysia, specifically in academic libraries, have been initiating proactive approaches in marketing library services & resources for users to access it in a more efficient and effective way. One of the approaches done is by conducting information literacy workshop to educate them on how to use the library online resources, i.e. online databases and e-books, as well as on how to locate physical materials in the library premise. This study is conducted to address current issues and challenges faced by the librarians while using ‘zero cost’ open software as a tool for interactive teaching, evaluating performance and registration process for information literacy workshop. It is also done to explore on which open software that are currently use for their information literacy workshop. From this point, a list of open software that is/are commonly used by these academic libraries is revealed. A survey is distributed to a group of librarians from selected public and private universities to gather the information. Based on the analysis, the most feasible and reliable open software for information literacy is recommended