Rapid advancements in the multidisciplinary field of biomedical engineering (BME) require competitive engineers with skill sets in a broad range of subjects including biology, physiology, mechanics, circuits, and prog...
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Rapid advancements in the multidisciplinary field of biomedical engineering (BME) require competitive engineers with skill sets in a broad range of subjects including biology, physiology, mechanics, circuits, and programming. Accordingly, such a need should be reflected in the training of BME students. Among those skills, computer programming is an essential tool that is used in a wide variety of applications. in this paper, we have provided our experience in incorporating project-based learning, a promising approach in active learning, for teaching computer programming to BME students. We describe a low-cost method for using physical, hands-on computing that directly relates to BME. Additionally, we detail our efforts to teach multiple programming languages in one semester and provide a detailed analysis of the outcomes. We also provide basic materials for other instructors to adapt to fit their own needs.
computer programming is widely regarded as a key skill in the 21st century. Yet, and despite a growing aging population and interest in promoting computer programming for all, research on this topic with older people ...
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computer programming is widely regarded as a key skill in the 21st century. Yet, and despite a growing aging population and interest in promoting computer programming for all, research on this topic with older people (60+) is scant in the Human-computer Interaction literature. This paper presents a qualitative case study aimed to explore the first experiences of computer programming of a group of older active computer users with low levels of educational attainment (i.e., primary school / K-12). Over a 6-month period, we provided a hands-on introduction to several textual and visual programming languages and environments to (N = 29) older and adult people in three courses in an adult educational center. We reveal and explain relevant factors that shape, and help us understand, the participants' computer programming learning experiences, including their motivations, difficulties, and identity, along with strategies that hindered and fostered empowerment. Implications for research and design are discussed.
Problem solving within the context of learning to program has been a concern for educators for a long time. The study explored a number of questions related to this issue. Firstly, the possible link between mathematic...
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Problem solving within the context of learning to program has been a concern for educators for a long time. The study explored a number of questions related to this issue. Firstly, the possible link between mathematics and programming was investigated, and it was found that problem solving in programming does not correlate with students' Mathematics marks. Secondly, 40 grade 10 learners, 35 grade 12 learners and 20 pre-service teachers completed questionnaires and students were interviewed, in order to determine what they perceive as the main factors in learning to program and how they experience the process of solving a programming problem. While a majority of the students stated that they had more than one method to solve a problem and did not consider the problems they had encountered in class difficult, they struggled to complete a specific programming task. Finally, classes were observed in order to determine the extent to which instruction in computer programming support the development of programming competencies. The observations indicate that it is likely that students' struggle with the practice of programming is linked to the teaching of computer programming they have experienced, which tended to focus on language and tools rather than solving problems requiring designing a program.
Fostering students' computer programming ability has been recognized as being an important and challenging educational issue which is highly related to the process of problem solving. However, most existing comput...
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Fostering students' computer programming ability has been recognized as being an important and challenging educational issue which is highly related to the process of problem solving. However, most existing computer programming instruction mainly focuses on the training of programming language syntax and programming skills, while the problem-solving concepts are often ignored. Thus, in this study, an integrated Scratch and project-based learning (PBL) approach is proposed to embed problem-solving scenarios in programming learning tasks. To test the effectiveness of the proposed approach, a total of 91secondary school students, including 43 average students and 48 mathematics-gifted students, participated in a PBL activity. The experimental results showed that the mathematics-gifted students outperformed the average students in terms of problem-solving performance, learning attitude, and learning motivation. Furthermore, both average and mathematics-gifted students showed significant progress after the learning activity, implying that the proposed approach benefited all of the students, no matter whether they tended to be gifted in mathematics or not.
Open Learning movement opens up opportunities for the collaboration between institutions, educators and learners globally, and for enabling more meaningful engagement in teaching and learning. Massive Open Online Cour...
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Open Learning movement opens up opportunities for the collaboration between institutions, educators and learners globally, and for enabling more meaningful engagement in teaching and learning. Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs), one of the latest internet revolutions, boasting tens or hundreds of thousands of participants worldwide, and, hence, present an intense interest by the research and education community. Particularly, there is a strong interest in investigating the added value of collaborative features for enriching the development process, as well as the quality of the result. The purpose of this research is to explore the perspectives of a team-based methodology for the implementation of MOOCs. In this paper we present a methodology for a team-based development of MOOCs, illustrating the development process of a computer programming MOOC.
Many learners find the study of introductory computer programming difficult. This is also true of children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and, in order to support them, we need an improved unders...
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Many learners find the study of introductory computer programming difficult. This is also true of children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and, in order to support them, we need an improved understanding of how they learn programming. This study explored strategies for constructive learning of introductory programming by children with ADHD. The aim was to evaluate the effectiveness of the Karplus learning cycle—a constructivist teaching tool—to teach introductory programming to these learners. Working from an interpretive perspective, data was gathered through action research techniques and analysed using grounded theory methods. Four major constructivist teaching categories emerged, all of which support the use of the Karplus cycle. We concluded that—with some augmentation—the Karplus cycle can be used to assist learners with ADHD to learn introductory programming. We recommend that, to ensure effective learning, the middle phase of the three-phase cycle should be expanded into two sub-phases, and suggest two alternative ways to do this.
Scratch is a free graphical programming language designed for children to create their own interactive games, animations, simulations and stories. Scratch provides a virtual space where children use some mathematics i...
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Scratch is a free graphical programming language designed for children to create their own interactive games, animations, simulations and stories. Scratch provides a virtual space where children use some mathematics ideas in order to build their own animated artefacts. This paper reports on some preliminary findings from a research project where two elementary teachers in an urban New Zealand school introduced Scratch to nine and ten year old children in their classrooms. In each of the classrooms a small number of computers and an interactive whiteboard (IWB) were utilised. This paper uses a case study approach to describe how engagement with Scratch and independent use of the IWB enabled children to work collaboratively to solve design challenges. Initial results indicate that the Scratch program is engaging for children. It created an environment where the children were, by necessity, using problem-solving processes such as goal setting, and generating and testing of ideas. The interactive whiteboard afforded rich opportunities for children to collaborate and share their thinking. Some questions and implications for the learning and teaching of elementary school mathematics are explored at the conclusion of the paper.
In learning systems and environment research, intelligent tutoring and personalisation are considered the two most important factors. An Intelligent Tutoring System can serve as an effective tool to improve problem-so...
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In learning systems and environment research, intelligent tutoring and personalisation are considered the two most important factors. An Intelligent Tutoring System can serve as an effective tool to improve problem-solving skills by simulating a human tutor's actions in implementing one-to-one adaptive and personalised teaching. Thus, in this research, a solution-based intelligent tutoring system (SITS) is proposed. It benefits from Bayesian networks in managing uncertainty based on the probability theory for the process of decision-making so as to aid students learn computer programming. Additionally, SITS benefits from a multi-agent system that employs an automatic text-to-flowchart conversion approach to engage novice programmers in flowchart development with the aim of improving their problem-solving skills. Finally, the performance of SITS is investigated through an experimental study. It is revealed that SITS is not only capable of boosting students' learning interest, attitude and technology acceptance, but it also helps students achieve more in terms of problem-solving activities.
This article reports on an investigation into the reflective thinking activities of secondary school learners in computer programming while they are involved in programming activities. With the emphasis on the role of...
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This article reports on an investigation into the reflective thinking activities of secondary school learners in computer programming while they are involved in programming activities. With the emphasis on the role of reflection in effective learning, problem solving, and computer programming, the investigation on which this article is based, aimed at determining the extent to which high and low achievers, respectively, are engaged in reflective thinkingbeforebeginning to code a computer program,whilethey are busy working on it andafterthey have finished the program. A questionnaire on reflective thinking during these three phases of computer programming was completed by both high and low achievers after they had finished a programming task. No practical significant difference between high and low achievers in either of these phases was found. Both high and low achieving groups displayed the use of reflective strategies to a medium to large extent, though it seems as if the low achievers did not gain from the reflection.
This meta-analysis maps the evidence on the effectiveness of instructional approaches and conditions for learning computer programming under three study conditions: (a) Studies focusing on the effectiveness of program...
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This meta-analysis maps the evidence on the effectiveness of instructional approaches and conditions for learning computer programming under three study conditions: (a) Studies focusing on the effectiveness of programming interventions per se, (b) studies focusing on the effectiveness of visualization and physicality, and (c) studies focusing on the effectiveness of dominant instructional approaches. Utilizing the data from 139 interventions and 375 effect sizes, we found (a) a strong effect of learning computer programming per se (Hedges' (g) over bar = 0.81, 95% CI [0.42, 1.21]), (b) moderate to large effect sizes of visualization ((g) over bar = 0.44, 95% CI [0.29, 0.58]) and physicality interventions = 0.72, 95% CI [0.23, 1.21]), and (c) moderate to large effect sizes for studies focusing on dominant instructional approaches ((g) over bars= 0.49-1.02). Moderator analyses indicated that the effect sizes differed only marginally between the instructional approaches and conditions-however, collaboration in metacognition instruction, problem solving instruction outside of regular lessons, short-term interventions focusing on physicality, and interventions focusing on visualization through Scratch were especially effective. Our meta-analysis synthesizes the existing research evidence on the effectiveness of computer programming instruction and, ultimately, provides references with which the effects of future studies could be compared.
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