From Legos and Logos to Lambda: A Hypothetical Learning Trajectory for Computational Thinking

This thesis utilizes design-based research to examine the integration of computational thinking and computer science into the Finnish elementary mathematics syllabus. Although its focus is on elementary mathematics, its scope includes the perspectives of students, teachers and curriculum planners at all levels of the Finnish school curriculum. The studied artifacts are the 2014 Finnish National Curriculum and respective learning solutions for computer science education. The design-based research (DBR) mandates educators, developers and researchers to be involved in the cyclic development of these learning solutions. Much of the work is based on an in-service training MOOC for Finnish mathematics teachers, which was developed in close operation with the instructors and researchers. During the study period, the MOOC has been through several iterative design cycles, while the enactment and analysis stages of the 2014 Finnish National Curriculum are still proceeding.The original contributions of this thesis lie in the proposed model for teaching computational thinking (CT), and the clarification of the most crucial concepts in computer science (CS) and their integration into a school mathematics syllabus. The CT model comprises the successive phases of abstraction, automation and analysis interleaved with the threads of algorithmic and logical thinking as well as creativity. Abstraction implies modeling and dividing the problem into smaller sub-problems, and automation making the actual implementation. Preferably, the process iterates in cycles, i.e., the analysis feeds back such data that assists in optimizing and evaluating the efficiency and elegance of the solution. Thus, the process largely resembles the DBR design cycles. Test-driven development is also recommended in order to instill good coding practices.The CS fundamentals are function, variable, and type. In addition, the control flow of execution necessitates control structures, such as selection and iteration. These structures are positioned in the learning trajectories of the corresponding mathematics syllabus areas of algebra, arithmetic, or geometry. During the transition phase to the new syllabus, in-service mathematics teachers can utilize their prior mathematical knowledge to reap the benefits of ‘near transfer’. Successful transfer requires close conceptual analogies, such as those that exist between algebra and the functional programming paradigm.However, the integration with mathematics and the utilization of the functional paradigm are far from being the only approaches to teaching computing, and it might turn out that they are perhaps too exclusive. Instead of the grounded mathematics metaphor, computing may be perceived as basic literacy for the 21st century, and as such it could be taught as a separate subject in its own right

Henkistä työhyvinvointia lisäävät ja heikentävät tekijät ja organisaatioon sitoutuminen – tutkimuskohteena kansanopistot

Tutkimuksen pääongelma on, ovatko henkistä työhyvinvointia lisäävät ja heikentävät tekijät yhteydessä organisaatioon sitoutumiseen kansanopistoissa. Alaongelmina tarkastellaan, mitkä tekijät henkistä työhyvinvointia lisäävät ja heikentävät sekä millaisia sitoutuminen ja työpaikan vaihtohalukkuus ovat rakenteeltaan ja voimakkuudeltaan. Työmotivaatio liittyy sekä henkiseen työhyvinvointiin että sitoutumiseen, joten niitä lähestytään Maslow’n tarvehierarkian ja Herzbergin motivaatio–hygienia-teorian kautta. Työstressiä tarkastellaan Karasekin, Siegristin, Warrin ja Kalimon mallien avulla. Tutkimusaineisto (N=313) kerättiin Suomen kansanopistoihin keväällä 2010 lähetetyllä e-lomakkeella. Aineiston analysoinnissa käytettiin kvantitatiivisia menetelmiä, kuten Pearsonin korrelaatiokerrointa ja pääkomponenttianalyysia. Sekä henkistä työhyvinvointia lisäävät että sitä heikentävät tekijät jakautuvat kolmeen ulottuvuuteen: Henkistä työhyvinvointia lisäävät työn sisältö, työpaikan ihmissuhteet ja työsuhteen varmuus sekä ulkoiset tekijät. Henkistä työhyvinvointia heikentävät kehittymismahdollisuuksien puute ja heikko johtaminen, kiire sekä työn haittapuolet. Yksittäisistä tekijöistä henkistä työhyvinvointia lisäävät eniten työn sisältö, työn itsenäisyys, miellyttävät asiakkaat/oppilaat, työn vaihtelevuus ja suhteet työtovereihin. Henkistä työhyvinvointia heikentävät eniten kiire tai kireät aikataulut, kokemus, ettei olennaista tietoa anneta ajoissa, huonot työjärjestelyt/johtaminen, palkka ja arvostuksen puute. Organisaatioon sitoutumista tarkastellaan Mowdayn, Steersin ja Porterin (1979) mittarin avulla. Sitoutumisen kolme ulottuvuutta ovat samaistuminen organisaatioon ja ylpeys siellä työskentelystä, halu pysyä organisaation jäsenenä ja halu ponnistella organisaation hyväksi. Lisäksi erillisenä dimensionaan tarkastellaan työpaikan vaihtohalukkuutta. Tutkimus osoittaa henkisen työhyvinvoinnin ja sitoutumisen olevan kaksisuuntaisessa yhteydessä toisiinsa. Hyvinvoiva henkilö on todennäköisesti myös vahvasti sitoutunut, kun taas heikko työhyvinvointi ja vähäinen sitoutuminen kytkeytyvät toisiinsa.fi=Opinnäytetyö kokotekstinä PDF-muodossa.|en=Thesis fulltext in PDF format.|sv=Lärdomsprov tillgängligt som fulltext i PDF-format

Having it all: auto-graders reduce workload yet increase the quantity and quality of feedback

Due to COVID-19, teaching has moved online at an accelerated pace, and this movement will partially be permanent. Online teaching implies an automatic assessment of exercises. Using automated grading, the studied web development course (N=257) managed to serve students promptly and increase the amount of feedback received by students even if the number of submissions increased remarkably. Automatic graders guaranteed the uniformity of feedback, equal treatment, and most importantly, reduced the routine work of the personnel. Being less burdened, the course personnel could concentrate on assisting students in online discussion channels, where discussions were targeted for the students needing more help and support. Compared with previous manually assisted course implementations, the workload moved from "in situ" to prior to the course, where the most laborious part was the design of the exercises and the implementation of automatic graders. The amount of work for grading the exercises and assignment was decreased by about 70 per cent. In the graders, the feedback given by them is of paramount importance and should suggest necessary improvements. The graders enforced good coding conventions and other targets set for the code (e.g., maintainability and accessibility). In some cases, this feedback was modified during the course based on the difficulties experienced to give more targeted advice. Automatic grading provided a way for students to iteratively improve their code based on the feedback. The software and methods used in this course could be applied to such other courses and domains, where automatic grading is considered helpful.acceptedVersionPeer reviewe

“Why is this course pushing functional programming?” - educating well-rounded web developers with functional JavaScript

Imperative, object-oriented, and multi-paradigm programming languages are dominant in higher education. However, the use of functional languages is emerging. In parallel, features supporting functional paradigm (FP) have been added to languages traditionally categorized to other paradigms. Students benefit from fluency with several paradigms. In the studied primary Web Development course, JavaScript was used to familiarize students with selected features of the FP. The grading of the FP exercises was automatic. The automatic graders guaranteed the uniformity of feedback, treating each student’s submissions equally. Exercise graders accepted multiple submissions, and their feedback suggested code improvements to students. After each of the ten exercise modules, students (N=257) estimated the topic difficulty and gave feedback. The post-module questionnaires emphasized FP topics in particular. The results show that students are aware of programming paradigms, but more support should be offered when learning new ones, for instance, having more concrete instructions and hands-on videos. The need for more instructions was apparent as, after the course’s FP introduction, some students were still easily confused about such abstract FP concepts as ‘functions as first-class citizens’. However, exercise results showed that students learned to use the taught FP features. They found them difficult, but for example, the JavaScript concurrency model was found to be more difficult.acceptedVersionPeer reviewe

Growing grade-by-grade

The enrollment of computer science students continues to increase, with record enrollment numbers in the course ”Data Structures and Algorithms” in fall 2022. As a result, teaching methods and systems must evolve to support student progress in the face of scarce teaching resources. This paper examines the shift from manual to peer-reviewed and auto-graded grading processes and investigates students’ perceptions of different grading styles. The developed automatic graders utilize data from both the Plussa LMS and GitLab, which serves as the channel for student submissions and provides feedback for formative assessments. The results indicate that peer-reviews are accepted as an exercise for the reviewer, but not as a means to grade the reviewee. Autograders are well-received due to their instant feedback, ability to allow for multiple submissions and iterate towards more efficient solutions, which helps foster a growth mindset.publishedVersionPeer reviewe