1,880 research outputs found

    CENGO: a web-based serious game to increase the programming knowledge levels of computer engineering students

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    In recent years, games are used to increase the level of knowledge and experience of individuals working in different domains. Especially in the education field, there are several different serious games to teach the subjects of the lectures or other educational materials to students in an enjoyable way. Hence, this study proposes a quantitative research approach to increase the programming knowledge levels of the first-year undergraduate students at computer engineering departments. For this aim, a responsive web platform was developed to teach the syntax and logic of C programming language by using some game elements. Therefore, the students have a chance to repeat the topics related to C programming language continuously since the platform is always accessible. To figure out the efficiency of the designed environment, 10 first-year computer engineering students were selected. According to the results obtained from the user tests, this game can be used as an educational tool, which supports the traditional training methods, to increase the knowledge levels of students about the syntax and logic of C programming language

    Toward Using Games to Teach Fundamental Computer Science Concepts

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    Video and computer games have become an important area of study in the field of education. Games have been designed to teach mathematics, physics, raise social awareness, teach history and geography, and train soldiers in the military. Recent work has created computer games for teaching computer programming and understanding basic algorithms. We present an investigation where computer games are used to teach two fundamental computer science concepts: boolean expressions and recursion. The games are intended to teach the concepts and not how to implement them in a programming language. For this investigation, two computer games were created. One is designed to teach basic boolean expressions and operators and the other to teach fundamental concepts of recursion. We describe the design and implementation of both games. We evaluate the effectiveness of these games using before and after surveys. The surveys were designed to ascertain basic understanding, attitudes and beliefs regarding the concepts. The boolean game was evaluated with local high school students and students in a college level introductory computer science course. The recursion game was evaluated with students in a college level introductory computer science course. We present the analysis of the collected survey information for both games. This analysis shows a significant positive change in student attitude towards recursion and modest gains in student learning outcomes for both topics

    Challenging the Computational Metaphor: Implications for How We Think

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    This paper explores the role of the traditional computational metaphor in our thinking as computer scientists, its influence on epistemological styles, and its implications for our understanding of cognition. It proposes to replace the conventional metaphor--a sequence of steps--with the notion of a community of interacting entities, and examines the ramifications of such a shift on these various ways in which we think

    Gender-based Engagement Model for Serious Games

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    Information and Communications Technology (ICT) has an important impact on the economy globally and in many regions. However, there is a lack of female involvement in ICT fields in many countries, thus motivating female students to take up ICT studies should be made a priority. ICT also improves learning quality and increases outcomes while allowing for easier control of learning systems. Serious Games can be used effectively for learning, and to encourage females to study Computer Science. However, engagement and motivation to play certain types of digital games are affected by gender preference factors, but few studies have looked into digital game design for females. Furthermore, most serious games with Computer Science content do not interest young adult females and the effect of social and cultural content in relation to female players’ gaming experience has not been fully explained. Hence this study identified effective serious game elements - motivational elements that influence a player to engage with digital games, effective educational game elements, female preference elements and elements that influence players to engage with the game. The result is a conceptual model for female engagement with serious games. The proposed model will be implemented in a game prototype design to increase the engagement of undergraduate females studying Computer Science

    Anchored instruction ITS: a novel approach to make learning programming interesting and effective

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    Learning programming is known to be troublesome to the students in the computer science department. The problem is originated in the students’ inability to understand the logic in developing the program. Many teachers advise the students to practice writing the program to improve the students’ skill. However, many students do not enthusiastically follow this advice due to the unattractive activity in writing the program as well as the lack of help when they have problems in writing the program. In this research, we proposed a system that increases the attractiveness of the program development activity and is able to provide help when the students have problems in it. These goals were performed by integrating an anchored instruction in an Intelligent Tutoring System (ITS). The attractiveness of the anchored instruction and the effectiveness of the Intelligent Tutoring System were analysed using a pre- and post-test, and a survey. From the tests and the survey, we found that the anchored instruction can increase the students’ interest in practicing programming; the Intelligent Tutoring System could help the students in writing the program and improve their knowledge in programming (24.67% improvement). The research showed that anchored instruction Intelligent Tutoring System can be used as an alternative approach to make learning programming interesting and effective

    On the Use of Semantic-Based AIG to Automatically Generate Programming Exercises

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    In introductory programming courses, proficiency is typically achieved through substantial practice in the form of relatively small assignments and quizzes. Unfortunately, creating programming assignments and quizzes is both, time-consuming and error-prone. We use Automatic Item Generation (AIG) in order to address the problem of creating numerous programming exercises that can be used for assignments or quizzes in introductory programming courses. AIG is based on the use of test-item templates with embedded variables and formulas which are resolved by a computer program with actual values to generate test-items. Thus, hundreds or even thousands of test-items can be generated with a single test-item template. We present a semantic-based AIG that uses linked open data (LOD) and automatically generates contextual programming exercises. The approach was incorporated into an existing self-assessment and practice tool for students learning computer programming. The tool has been used in different introductory programming courses to generate a set of practice exercises different for each student, but with the same difficulty and quality

    The design of a first course in programming

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    A course was designed to teach Top-Down programming to second level students who had no previous computer experience. The purposes of the course were a) to enable them to become computer literate and b) to develop their problem-solving ability. The course was designed to teach programming in a manner which was independent of any particular programming language or machine. This approach was prompted by dissatisfaction with traditional courses which generally concentrate on the syntax and semantics of a particular programming language, at the expense of developing important underlying concepts. Initially, a review of the history of programming languages was carried out to identify the essential elements of programming. This review found that there was general agreement about the fundamental importance of structure and that it was not necessary to use all of the control constructs contained in the available languages (BASIC, COMAL and PASCAL). Both a mini-language; containing just two control structures, and a diagrammatic representation (structure diagrams) of the mini-language were then designed. The chosen control structures were IF/THEN/ELIF/ELSE for selection and a WHILE loop for iteration. The students were trained to solve problems using the mini-language and structure diagrams and were supplied with translation rules to convert their solutions into COMAL. Translation rules were also drawn up for PASCAL and BASIC. The course was tested with girls aged 15 and 16 years in a Dublin secondary school. These trials showed that the method may be used successfully with students of this age

    An evolving approach to learning in problem solving and program development : the distributed learning model

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    Technological advances are paving the way for improvements in many sectors of society. The US education system needs to undergo a transformation of existing pedagogical methods to maximize utilization of new technologies. Traditional education has primarily been teacher driven, lectured-based in one location. Advances in technology are challenging existing paradigms by developing tools and educational environments that reach diverse learning styles and surpass the boundaries of current teaching methods. Distributed learning is an emerging paradigm today that has promise to contribute significantly to learning and improve overall academic success. This research first explores various systems that provide different modes of learning. The problem domain of this research is the difficulty novice programmers\u27 face when learning to program. This paper proposes how distributed learning can be used in a teaching environment to enrich learning and the impacts for the given problem domain
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