Using Online Forums to Promote Collaborative Learning in Introductory Programming Courses

[EN] The asynchronous online discussion can enrich learning experience in many ways, even in classroom or blended learning scenarios. It is quite challenging to design an effective online discussion. The presented study draws on the action research strategy. After observing and analyzing students’ learning problems in introductory programming courses, we came up with intervention of the online collaborative activity to guide students during their individual studying at home in a more regulative manner. The main goal was to involve students in active learning and strengthen the feel of being a friendly community member. Students were producing sample test questions/tasks for others, and then using products of their classmates for their own learning. The intervention was evaluated deeply using both, qualitative and quantitative methods. This reflection implied that the activity’s design was appropriate and the impact on students’ learning process was positive. We found the constructivist features of the activity essential as for its effectiveness. The learning scenario described in this paper provides a verified framework for designing similar collaborative activities suitable mainly for problem-oriented areas of study, e. g. in science or engineering education.Michaličková, V. (2021). Using Online Forums to Promote Collaborative Learning in Introductory Programming Courses. En 7th International Conference on Higher Education Advances (HEAd'21). Editorial Universitat Politècnica de València. 145-152. https://doi.org/10.4995/HEAd21.2021.13097OCS14515

California Dreams and Nightmares

Ever since the discovery of gold in 1848, people have been coming to California in belief that they would be rewarded generously for their hard work and talents. California was thus perceived as the promised land of opportunity and fulfilled dreams. However, for many the dream did not come true. The paper analyses California’s most prominent groups of immigrants arriving to California during the Gold Rush and afterwards paying attention to their initial expectations and reasons for coming and contrasts them with conditions they encountered

ECONOMIC SUSTAINABILITY OF THE LOCAL DUAL-PURPOSE CATTLE

Base economic characteristics (total revenues, total costs, profit and profitability ratio) of the Slovak Pinzgau breed were calculated in this study. Under the actual production and economic conditions of the breed, production system is operated with loss (-457 € per cow and per year) and with negative profitability ratio (-20%). Optimisation of the production parameters on the level defined in the breed standard (5,200 kg milk per cow and year, 92% for conception rate of cows, 404 days of calving interval and 550 g in daily gain of reared heifers) and improved udder health traits (clinical mastitis incidence and somatic cells score) was of positive impact on the total revenues (+34%), on the effective utilisation of costs (+105%) and balanced profit of dairy systems. Next to the positive profitability of the system, higher quality and security of dairy milk products should be mentioned there. Moreover, direct subsidies as an important factor of positive economic result of dairy cattle systems has to be pointed as well. Subsidies should be provided to compensate the real biological limitation of the local breed farmed in marginal areas. However, improvement of the production parameters of the Slovak Pinzgau breed is recommended with the same attention to reach the economic sustainability of dairy production system. To reach economic sustainability of the breed from practical point of view, the farmer activity should be aimed especially to the enhanced herd management

A New Low-Energy Proton Irradiation Facility to Unveil the Mechanistic Basis of the Proton-Boron Capture Therapy Approach

Protontherapy (PT) is a fast-growing cancer therapy modality thanks to much-improved normal tissue sparing granted by the charged particles' inverted dose-depth profile. Protons, however, exhibit a low biological effectiveness at clinically relevant energies. To enhance PT efficacy and counteract cancer radioresistance, Proton–Boron Capture Therapy (PBCT) was recently proposed. PBCT exploits the highly DNA-damaging α-particles generated by the p + 11B→3α (pB) nuclear reaction, whose cross-section peaks for proton energies of 675 keV. Although a significant enhancement of proton biological effectiveness by PBCT has been demonstrated for high-energy proton beams, validation of the PBCT rationale using monochromatic proton beams having energy close to the reaction cross-section maximum is still lacking. To this end, we implemented a novel setup for radiobiology experiments at a 3-MV tandem accelerator; using a scattering chamber equipped with an Au foil scatterer for beam diffusion on the biological sample, uniformity in energy and fluence with uncertainties of 2% and 5%, respectively, was achieved. Human cancer cells were irradiated at this beamline for the first time with 685-keV protons. The measured enhancement in cancer cell killing due to the 11B carrier BSH was the highest among those thus far observed, thereby corroborating the mechanistic bases of PBCT

Python Intermediate

Let us test the following program, e. g. with the input values 7 and 2: a = int(input('a: ')) b = int(input('b: ')) print(a // b, a % b.The Output: a: 7 b: 2 3 1 Correct results (division and remainder) were calculated. Now again, but with other input values: The Output: a: 7 b: 0 Traceback (most recent call last): File ".../test.py", line 3, in print(a // b, a % b) ZeroDivisionError: integer division or modulo by zero An runtime error occurred while executing the program as we tried to divide a number by zero. The program got into an exceptional state (something unexpected or abnormal has happened), so its execution was stopped. We say, that an exception was raised. In this case, it was the ZeroDevisionError (we can see it from the output message) (...)

C/C++ Advanced

Erasmus+ FITPED Work-Based Learning in Future IT Professionals Education Project 2018-1-SK01-KA203-04638

Python Classes

In Object Oriented Programming, a class is a blueprint to create data objects. Classes represent entities or concepts while objects are actual instances of those concepts. There can be many objects of the same class. For example, a chair is a concept that stands for "a type of seat. Its primary features are two pieces of a durable material, attached as back and seat to one another at a 90° or slightly greater angle, with usually the four corners of the horizontal seat attached in turn to four legs" (Wikipedia). The objects in the photos are actual instances of the concept "chair" (...)

C/C++ Specific

Erasmus+ FITPED Work-Based Learning in Future IT Professionals Education Project 2018-1-SK01-KA203-04638

C/C++ Fundamentals

Erasmus+ FITPED Work-Based Learning in Future IT Professionals Education Project 2018-1-SK01-KA203-04638