Syntactic generation of practice novice programs in Python

Abstract: In the present day, computer programs are written in high level languages and parsed syntactically as part of a compilation process. These parsers are defined with context-free grammars (CFGs), a language recogniser for the respective programming language. Formal grammars in general are used for language recognition or generation. In this paper, we present the automatic generation of procedural programs in Python using a CFG. We have defined CFG rules to model program templates and implemented these rules to produce infinitely many distinct practice programs in Python. Each generated program is designed to test a novice programmer’s knowledge of functions, expressions, loops, and/or conditional statements. The CFG rules are highly generic and can be extended to generate programs in other procedural languages. The resulting programs can be used as practice, test or examination problems in introductory programming courses. 500,000 iterations of generated programs can be found at: https://tinyurl.com/ pythonprogramgenerator. A survey of 103 students’ perception showed that 93.1% strongly agreed that these programs can help them in practice and improve their programming skills

Exploring student perceptions about the use of visual programming environments, their relation to student learning styles and their impact on student motivation in undergraduate introductory programming modules

My research aims to explore how students perceive the usability and enjoyment of visual/block-based programming environments (VPEs), to what extent their learning styles relate to these perceptions and finally to what extent these tools facilitate student understanding of basic programming constructs and impact their motivation to learn programming

iProgVR: Design of a Virtual Reality Environment to Improve Introductory Programming Learning

Currently, there are a plethora of solutions developed to help students learn the basics of programming. However, there is a relative paucity of solutions that cater to problems students face when learning programming that is mainly caused by the abstract nature of programming, misconceptions of programming concepts, and lack of motivation. Hence, in this study, a framework to address the abstract nature of programming and common programming misconceptions is developed. The framework consists of three modules that correspond to each issue, powered by a simulation engine. The first module is developed to address the abstract nature of programming by representing programming concepts with concrete objects in the virtual environment. The second module employs simulation techniques such as interactions and player perspectives to address common programming misconceptions. Lastly, the third module employs elements in the virtual environment to engage students when learning through the system. To evaluate the system, 60 participants were randomly divided into the control group (N = 30) and the experimental group (N = 30). Participants in the control group were taught using a video lecture while participants in the experimental group were taught using the developed VR intervention. Evaluation results gathered quantitatively indicated that the VR intervention was able to significantly increase programming concepts comprehension and address programming misconceptions. Participants also rated the developed VR intervention to be significantly more engaging than the video lecture

CLIL training guide: creating a CLIL learning community in higher education

The ReCLes.pt CLIL Training Guide presents the theoretical and practical basis for the creation of a CLIL Learning Community of foreign language teachers and subject teachers with the topics organized across four chapters. In Chapter 1, the objectives and structuring of the ten hours of sessions and the learning outcomes are presented with an introduction to CLIL design in higher education (HE), forms of interdisciplinary cooperation/collaboration, and a number of models for classroom management. Chapter 2 provides enriching material to help teachers bett er understand the principles of a CLIL Learning Community and CLIL itself, including interactive and student-centered methodologies, a focus on oral interaction and critical dialogue, suggested activities, and the key points for organizing a successful CLIL module. In Chapter 3, on CLIL materials and resources, sections cover the defi nition and examples of scaff olding and activating prior knowledge as well as the selection and adaptation of scaff olding materials, including the use of electronic media and a terminology-based approach. The proposed terminology-based approach focuses on the collection, description, processing, and systematic representation of concepts and their designations. As such, the use of terminology can become a key construct in CLIL teaching, involving the search, production, use, and dissemination of information. International organizations, networks, and multinational professional communities are involved in these steps within the global communication process, providing real motivation for students participating in the CLIL learning process. The final chapter …Livro Financiado por FCT no âmbito do programa ‘Partilha e Divulgação de Experiências em Inovação Didática no Ensino Superior Português’info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Using Computer Simulations as a Pre-Training Activity in a Hands-On Lab to Help Community College Students Improve Their Understanding of Physics

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effectiveness of using computer simulations as a pre-training activity to a hands-on lab to improve students’ understanding of induction topics in physics. The computer simulation activity was compared to an overview presentation. Conceptual understanding and spatial ability were measured. A two-group descriptive repeated measures design was implemented with a convenience sample of 35 community college physics students in the Bay Area. Participants were randomly assigned to a simulation group (n = 17) or a presentation group (n = 18). A 30-item spatial ability assessment was given to all participants one week before the day of the experiment. On the day of the experiment, the simulation group completed a 30-minute induction simulation activity while the presentation group received a 30-minute overview presentation. Both groups then completed a 90-minute hands-on lab. Before completing the simulation activity or receiving the overview presentation, an 18-item conceptual understanding test was given to all participants. The same test was given as a posttest after participants completed the simulation activity or received the overview presentation, and again as a second posttest after participants completed the hands-on lab. Overall results suggest that the overview presentation was more effective in improving students understanding of induction topics in comparison to completing the simulation activity. However, both groups showed noticeable conceptual understanding gains. The simulations had a medium effect (d = 0.68) and the overview presentation had a large effect (d = 1.07) on conceptual understanding. Results also suggest that high spatial ability participants benefited more from the simulations while the low spatial ability participants benefited more from the overview presentation. Both male and females benefited similarly from the overview presentation. However, male participants seemed to have benefited more from the simulations. Although the overview presentation was more effective in improving students understanding of induction topics, the 30-minute computer simulation activity still made a difference in student learning. This result can be seen as a positive finding suggesting that 30-minutes of working with simulations could help students improve their understanding of physics concepts even if they had not used the simulations before

Abstracts: HASTAC 2017: The Possible Worlds of Digital Humanities

The document contains abstracts for HASTAC 2017

Supporting the Initial Work of Evidence-Based Improvement Cycles Through a Data-Intensive Partnership

Purpose: Currently in the education data use literature there is a lack of research and examples that consider the early steps of filtering, organizing, and visualizing data to inform decision making. The purpose of this study is to describe how school leaders and researchers visualized and jointly made sense of data from a common learning management system (LMS) used by students across multiple schools and grades in a charter management organization operating in the United States. To make sense of LMS data, researchers and practitioners formed a partnership to organize complex data sets, create data visualizations, and engage in joint sensemaking around data visualizations to begin to launch continuous improvement cycles. Design: We analyzed LMS data for n=476 students in Algebra I using hierarchical cluster analysis heatmaps. We also engaged in a qualitative case study that examined the ways in which school leaders made sense of the data visualization to inform improvement efforts. Findings: The outcome of this study is a framework for informing evidence-based improvement cycles using large, complex datasets. Central to moving through the various steps in the proposed framework are collaborations between researchers and practitioners who each bring expertise that is necessary for organizing, filtering, and visualizing data from digital learning environments and administrative data systems. Originality: We propose an integrated cycle of data use in schools that builds on collaborations between researchers and school leaders to inform evidence-based improvement cycles