There exist several online applications for automated testing of the computer programs that students write in computerscience education. Use of such systems enables self-paced learning with automated feedback deliver...
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ISBN:
(纸本)9783031363351;9783031363368
There exist several online applications for automated testing of the computer programs that students write in computerscience education. Use of such systems enables self-paced learning with automated feedback delivered by the application. However, due to the complexity of programming languages, even the easiest tasks made available through such systems require understanding of several programming concepts and formatting. Therefore, a student's initial work in an introductory computerscience course may be highly challenging, especially for students with no previous programming background. To address this challenge, a highly-decomposed micro-task module has been developed and made available on an automated assessment platform with programming assignments. Impact of its introduction has been examined within an introductory programming university course with 239 participants. We investigated the micro-task module's impact on student affect, student performance on the platform, and student learning outcomes. Results of the experiment show that students in the experimental group (with micro-tasks enabled) significantly less frequently reported frustration, confusion and boredom, needed less time to solve tasks on the platform and achieved significantly better results on the final test.
In recent years, the XLogoOnline programming platform has gained popularity among novice learners. It integrates the Logo programming language with visual programming, providing a visual interface for learning computi...
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ISBN:
(纸本)9783031643118;9783031643125
In recent years, the XLogoOnline programming platform has gained popularity among novice learners. It integrates the Logo programming language with visual programming, providing a visual interface for learning computing concepts. However, XLogoOnline offers only a limited set of tasks, which are inadequate for learners to master the computing concepts that require sufficient practice. To address this, we introduce XLogoSyn, a novel technique for synthesizing high-quality tasks for varying difficulty levels. Given a reference task, XLogoSyn can generate practice tasks at varying difficulty levels that cater to the varied needs and abilities of different learners. XLogoSyn achieves this by combining symbolic execution and constraint satisfaction techniques. Our expert study demonstrates the effectiveness of XLogoSyn. We have also deployed synthesized practice tasks into XLogoOnline, highlighting the educational benefits of these synthesized practice tasks.
From an early age, girls may opt out of computerscience (CS) for not fitting the CS stereotypes of being male, asocial and technology-oriented. These stereotypes might be strengthened by children's books on progr...
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ISBN:
(纸本)9798400704239
From an early age, girls may opt out of computerscience (CS) for not fitting the CS stereotypes of being male, asocial and technology-oriented. These stereotypes might be strengthened by children's books on programming, but little is known about this. Therefore, this paper explores the gender, social interactions and interests of characters illustrated in ten popular extracurricular Scratch and Python children's books. We found more masculine than feminine characters in all but one book. Furthermore, nearly half of the characters are illustrated alone, and 15% are interacting with computers & robots. Over two-thirds of the characters fit at least one stereotypical trait. With this paper, we aim to create awareness of stereotypes in CS books among creators, publishers and buyers. Making and using more inclusive CS materials will help close the gender gap.
Evolutionary algorithms have been extensively utilized in practical ***,manually designed population updating formulas are inherently prone to the subjective influence of the *** programming(GP),characterized by its t...
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Evolutionary algorithms have been extensively utilized in practical ***,manually designed population updating formulas are inherently prone to the subjective influence of the *** programming(GP),characterized by its tree-based solution structure,is a widely adopted technique for optimizing the structure of mathematical models tailored to real-world *** paper introduces a GP-based framework(GPEAs)for the autonomous generation of update formulas,aiming to reduce human *** modifications to tree-based GP have been instigated,encompassing adjustments to its initialization process and fundamental update operations such as crossover and mutation within the *** designing suitable function sets and terminal sets tailored to the selected evolutionary algorithm,and ultimately derive an improved update *** Cat Swarm Optimization Algorithm(CSO)is chosen as a case study,and the GP-EAs is employed to regenerate the speed update formulas of the *** validate the feasibility of the GP-EAs,the comprehensive performance of the enhanced algorithm(GP-CSO)was evaluated on the CEC2017 benchmark ***,GP-CSO is applied to deduce suitable embedding factors,thereby improving the robustness of the digital watermarking *** experimental results indicate that the update formulas generated through training with GP-EAs possess excellent performance scalability and practical application proficiency.
This research aims to enhance the code comprehension skills of programming novices by introducing meaningful highlighting features in educational Integrated Development Environments (IDEs). Based on the fact that most...
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ISBN:
(纸本)9798400706035
This research aims to enhance the code comprehension skills of programming novices by introducing meaningful highlighting features in educational Integrated Development Environments (IDEs). Based on the fact that most IDEs solely use syntax highlighting, and building on previous studies indicating potential improvements in code highlighting, this work presents an example pointing out unused opportunities and explores a viable solution approach. To substantiate these considerations, an in-depth literature review is conducted, incorporating insights from previous work and extending existing approaches. Through the development of a prototype that incorporates these identified meaningful highlighting techniques, qualitative feedback is gathered in a preliminary study. The research methodology then advances to a comprehensive comparative study involving K-12 students. Additionally, an eye-tracking study is planned to validate the added value of meaningful highlighting and to gain insights into the cognitive processes associated with its use. By extending rather than creating a new educational tool, this research contributes to the ongoing efforts aimed at optimizing existing IDEs, ultimately making programming education more accessible and effective for novice learners.
computerscience related topics are increasingly introduced at elementary school level, aiming not only to establish basic knowledge, but also to foster affective aspects such as motivation or self-efficacy. While cor...
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ISBN:
(纸本)9798400704239
computerscience related topics are increasingly introduced at elementary school level, aiming not only to establish basic knowledge, but also to foster affective aspects such as motivation or self-efficacy. While corrective feedback is helpful to achieve the former, it may negatively impact the latter. This raises the question on how to provide feedback in an encouraging way that makes learners feel competent but also autonomous. To shed light on this question, we conducted a robotics course with 45 children aged nine to eleven years, in which we studied their preferences when given a choice of either solving a problem themselves (with only a hint from the tutor) or being given the solution directly. We find that children like the freedom of choice and slightly prefer solving their problems themselves, which in turn is significantly correlated with a higher improvement in self-efficacy for building and programming robots. Interestingly, however, only girls exhibit a significant correlation with resulting knowledge on building, and only eleven year old children with resulting knowledge on programming. These insights allow us to provide concrete recommendations on how to give feedback and involve elementary school children and their preferences to promote both knowledge and self-efficacy.
As a result of frequency and power limitations, multi-core processors and accelerators are becoming more and more prevalent in today's systems. To fully utilize such systems, heterogeneous parallel programming is ...
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As a result of frequency and power limitations, multi-core processors and accelerators are becoming more and more prevalent in today's systems. To fully utilize such systems, heterogeneous parallel programming is needed, but this introduces new complexities to the development. High-level frameworks such as SkePU have been introduced to help alleviate these complexities. SkePU is a skeleton programming framework based on a set of programming constructs implementing computational parallel patterns, while presenting a sequential interface to the programmer. Using the various skeleton backends, SkePU programs can execute, without source code modification, on multiple types of hardware such as CPUs, GPUs, and clusters. This paper presents the design and implementation of a new backend for SkePU, adding support for FPGAs. We also evaluate the effect of FPGA-specific optimizations in the new backend and compare it with the existing GPU backend, where the actual devices used are of similar vintage and price point. For simple examples, we find that the FPGA-backend's performance is similar to that of the existing backend for GPUs, while it falls behind in more complex tasks. Finally, some shortcomings in the backend are highlighted and discussed, along with potential solutions.
Dynamic flexible job shop scheduling is an important combinatorial optimization problem that has rich real-world applications such as product processing in manufacturing. Genetic programming has been successfully used...
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This paper presents and advocates for an initiative to expand access to secure programming education. The Strengthening Workforce Education: Excellence in programming Securely (SWEEPS) initiative, funded by the Nation...
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ISBN:
(纸本)9798400705328
This paper presents and advocates for an initiative to expand access to secure programming education. The Strengthening Workforce Education: Excellence in programming Securely (SWEEPS) initiative, funded by the National Centers of Academic Excellence in Cybersecurity (NCAE-C) program, seeks to advance secure programming and help achieve security aims. SWEEPS establishes a secure programming curriculum and workforce development coalition of seven institutions across two CAE (Center of Academic Excellence) regions (Northeast and Southwest) and five states (California, Massachusetts, Maryland, Indiana, and North Carolina). This coalition includes industry-based stakeholders collaborating with the US Army and government agencies on various projects. SWEEPS draws on prior work establishing critical concepts in secure programming, assessment tools, learning aids, and system infrastructure. The initiative offers a series of interconnected, stackable learning experiences tailored for early to mid-career professionals looking to enhance their cybersecurity skills. These experiences, which include practical one-day workshops and comprehensive year-long graduate certificates, provide a reassuring path for upskilling in secure programming. This paper recommends the efficacy of stackable training approaches in secure programming by exploring the practices of targeting and training individuals with diverse proficiency levels of programming experience who would benefit from increased knowledge and training.
programming is a highly demanded skill in both STEM research and the broader economy. Although many life sciences majors are interested in learning how to code, they are nervous to learn and have not been warmly invit...
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ISBN:
(纸本)9798400704239
programming is a highly demanded skill in both STEM research and the broader economy. Although many life sciences majors are interested in learning how to code, they are nervous to learn and have not been warmly invited into computational fields. While there is much research on entry into computerscience broadly, there is limited research on the unique barriers facing life sciences majors as they are introduced to programming. To address this gap, we sought to understand students' motivations to take a new introductory coding class in biology. We conducted focus group interviews with 22 students that revealed a range of motivations for taking the course, ranging from social and career motivation to the ability to be creative or analyze biological datasets. In addition, we probed the expectations for students taking the course, finding a wide range that varied depending on students' progression through college and prior experiences of pursuing opportunities to learn programming skills. Our findings elucidate the reasons students choose to take a discipline-based programming class and have implications of practices for inviting these students into these spaces.
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