Can robotics be taught online?: Changes in robotics teaching during the pandemic

COVID-19 salgını ile birlikte ortaokullarda yüz yüze yürütülen derslerin çevrimiçi öğrenme ortamlarında yürütülmeye başlanması, derslerin hazırlık ve sunulma sürecinde değişiklikler meydana getirmiştir. Bilişim Teknolojileri ve Yazılımı (BTY) dersi kapsamında öğretilen Robotik kodlama, kavramsal bilgilerin yanında farklı becerileri öğretmeyi de amaçlayan çoğunlukla uygulamalı yürütülen bir ders olduğu için çevrimiçi eğitim sürecinde öğretmenler için fazla çaba gerektiren bir ders halini almıştır. Bu çalışmada, çevrimiçi ders sürecinde robotik kodlama öğretiminde meydana gelen değişimleri tarama ve mülakat yöntemleri birlikte kullanılarak ortaya konulmuştur. Çalışmada veri toplama aracı olarak anket kullanılmıştır. Türkiye’nin farklı bölgelerinde özel ve devlet okullarında görev yapmakta olan 307 robotik dersi veren öğretmenler anketi cevaplamıştır. Ayrıca, ankete katılan öğretmenler arasından belirlenen 15 öğretmen ile mülakat yapılmıştır. Sonuç olarak; çevrimiçi robotik öğretim sürecinde yüz yüze robotik öğretimine göre en belirgin değişimler öğretim ortamı ve kullanılan araçlarda meydana geldiği belirlenmiştir. Bununla birlikte robotik öğretim sürecini robotik ders içerikleri, teknolojik altyapı, ders içi ve ders dışı etmenlerin etkilediği ortaya çıkmıştır. Son olarak çevrimiçi ders sürecinde robotik öğreticilerinin birden fazla öğretim yöntemini bir arada kullandıkları ve yüz yüze ortama göre öğrenme çıktılarında farklılıklar olduğu bulunmuştur. Bu doğrultuda çevrimiçi derslerde uygun araç/ortamların kullanılması, çevrimiçi derste uygulanabilir ders planlarının oluşturulması, çevrimiçi ders sürecini aktif kılacak öğretim yöntem ve tekniklerinden faydalanılması ile robotik eğitimi çevrimiçi olarak da gerçekleştirilebilir. Bu çalışmanın, çevrimiçi robotik öğretim süreçlerinin yürütülmesinde teorik ve pratik çalışmalara katkı sağlayabileceği değerlendirilmektedir.Along with the COVID-19 epidemic, there have been changes in the process of conducting face-toface lessons in secondary schools in online learning environments, and in the preparation and presentation of the lessons. In this study, the changes in the online course process of robotics teaching conducted within the scope of Information Technologies course were investigated by using survey and interview methods together. Participants were 307 Robotics teachers working in private and public schools in Turkey. Interviews were conducted with 15 Robotic coding teachers, who were selected from the participants who were surveyed. Results showed that, during online robotics teaching, the most significant changes occurred in the teaching environment and the tools used compared to face-to-face robotics teaching. Results also showed that robotics course contents, technological infrastructure, in-course and extra-curricular factors affect the robotics teaching process. Finally, robotics instructors used more than one teaching method together during online teaching and there were differences in learning outcomes according to the face-to-face environment. In this context, robotics education can also be conducted online by using appropriate tools/environments in online lessons, creating applicable lesson plans in online lessons, and making use of teaching methods and techniques that will make the online lesson interactive. It is hoped that this study will contribute to online learning studies in defining online robotics teaching

Analyzing the Effect of Learning Styles and Study Habits of Distance Learners on Learning Performances: A Case of an Introductory Programming Course

This study examined the relationships among learning styles, study habits, and learning performances in an online programming language course. Sixty-two sophomore students who enrolled in an online introductory programming course participated in the study. Kolb’s Learning Style Inventory (LSI) was used to measure the students’ learning styles. Another inventory developed by the researcher was used to determine learners’ study habits. An achievement test was used to put forward their learning performances. As a result, significant relationships between learning styles, study habits, and learning performances were revealed. The results present some ideas about distance learners’ learning styles and study habits for instructors who wish to incorporate synchronous courses and support learners

Influences of online course design through the elaboration theory framework on academic performances and retention

Öztürk, Mücahit (Aksaray, Yazar)Bu çalışmanın amacı Uzaktan eğitimde Ayrıntılama Kuramı(AK) ile tasarlanan bir dersin öğrencilerin akademik başarısına ve öğrenmenin kalıcılığına etkisini incelemektir. Araştırma, Bilgisayar ve Öğretim Teknolojileri Bölümü, Uzaktan Eğitim programında yürütülmüştür. Bölümün 2. Sınıfında okutulmakta olan Programlama Dilleri 1 dersinin üç farklı konusunu içeren bir program, 5 hafta boyunca 46 öğrenciye uygulanmıştır. Nicel araştırma yaklaşımının yarı-deneysel modeli kullanılan araştırmada Öntest sontest kontrol gruplu desenden yararlanılmıştır. Deney grubunda dersler, AK çerçevesindeki tasarıma ve stratejilere göre işlenirken, kontrol grubunda geleneksel şekilde sıralanmış olan içerik, düz anlatım yöntemi ile sunulmuştur. Elde edilen sonuçlar, Uzaktan eğitimde AK çerçevesinde tasarlanan programlama dilleri dersinin öğrencilerin akademik başarısına ve öğrenmenin kalıcılığına olumlu yönde katkı yaptığını ortaya çıkarmıştırThe purpose of this study is to analyze the effect of a course in Distance education which was planned through Elaboration Theory (ET) on the academic performance and the persistency of learning among the students. The research was carried out in the Distant Education Program of Computer and Teaching Technologies Department. The program which consists of three different topics of the course Programming Languages given at the second grade of the program was applied on 46 students for 5 weeks. In the research which quasiexperimental research methods of the quantitative research approach were used, the design of pretest to posttest control group was used. In the experimental group, the courses were taught according to the designs and strategies within the frame of ET while the content which was traditionally organized in the control group was given through direct teaching. It was found, at the end of the research, that the course of programming languages designed within the frame of ET in Distance education provided positive contributions to the academic achievement and the persistency of students among the students

Flipped learning design in EFL classrooms: implementing self-regulated learning strategies to develop language skills

*Öztürk, Mücahit ( Aksaray, Yazar )This study examined the development of students’ language skills in a flipped English foreign language course designed with self-regulated learning strategies. The study was conducted with a quasi-experimental design. While the experimental group received the course through flipped classroom model designed with self-regulated learning strategies, control group did not use self-regulated learning strategies in the flipped classroom model. The results indicated that self-regulated learning strategies positively affected the development of foreign language skills in the flipped classroom model. A significant difference in favor of the group working with the platform including selfregulated learning strategies outperformed in speaking, reading, writing, and grammar test scores. However, no significant difference in the listening test results was foun

Flipped classroom with problem based activities: Exploring self-regulated learning in a programming language course

This study intended to explore the development of self-regulation in a flipped classroom setting. Problem based learning activities were carried out in flipped classrooms to promote self-regulation. A total of 30 undergraduate students from Mechatronic department participated in the study. Self-regulation skills were discussed through students' and the instructor's experiences including their opinions and behaviours. Qualitative data was collected with an observation form, discussion messages and interviews with selected participants. As a result, in terms of self-regulated learning, the goal setting and planning, task strategies and help seeking skills of the students were high in the face to face learning designed with problem based activities through flipped classroom model, their goal setting and planning, task strategies and help seeking skills were appeared moderately. In the home sessions, environment structuring, goal setting and planning skills were developed in high level while task strategies, help seeking, time management, monitoring, selfefficacy and self-evaluation skills were moderate and monitoring skills was lower. Consequently, it is hoped that the study may provide some suggestions for using problem based activities in flipped learning

Evaluating an online programming instructional process organized through elaboration theory

This article draws on a semester design study to evaluate the quality of an online from the point of e-learning. Adobe Connect web conferencing system was used as a delivery platform in an Introductory Programming course. The course content was specifically sequenced and elaborated in terms of elaboration theory (ET). Thirty pre-service computer teachers enrolled in instructional technologies department online program were participated to the study. The evaluation criteria included dimensions of e-learning in which both qualitative and quantitative data was used. The results indicated that the online course almost met the seven dimensions of e-learning in order to provide high quality learning outcomes. Elaborating the content provided positive contributions to the dimensions of content, interaction, learning and support. Along with the results, some implications were provided for elaborating and evaluating the content for online courses. Copyright © 2018, IGI Global