Impact of Service Learning and New Teaching Methodologies on Students’ Learning Outcomes

Dr. Merlinda Drini, Engineering Technology Department

Queensborough Community College of the City University of New York

ABSTRACT

In this paper we describe additional learning methods in teaching of computer programming, which show to be effective in helping students build self-confidence and inter personal communication skills that are considered so important in the computing world.

We present the results of the student learning outcomes, conducted in five successive semesters, from Fall 2013 through Fall 2015, where total of 61 students participated. The results indicate that using active learning strategies increase their active participation and the ability to think logically, while engaging students in service-learning, gives them the opportunity to broaden their educational experience outside classroom projects, and boosts their self-efficacy.

Keywords:education,engineering,computerprogramming,servicelearning

Introduction

Learning basic computer programming skills is important for engineering and technology students in their early years of college education. 1. But, the real-life problem solving using any programming language is not an easy task, particularly for the beginners. Beginner programmers suffer from a wide range of difficulties and deficits. A large proportion of the students having difficulty through the programming sequence, ultimately change their majors or drop out of college 2. In Engineering Technology Department of the Queensborough Community College among the various offered programming courses, “Introduction to Programming” is intended for students with no prior programming skills. Over the period of more than two years, different teaching strategies were offered and while trying new ideas to aid students’ success, the data has been collected through reflection questions.

Methodology

This study employs new strategies and uses a survey technique and a rubric to collect data. The sample size of 61 students taking classes in “Introductory Programming”, participated in the research over the period of several semesters. In the first semester of this study, Fall 2013, a traditional instructional delivery of the computer programming was used. It showed that many beginner students had very unclear notions about a programming language: students were facing difficulties with the abstract plan and the program construction. The most difficult programming concepts were loop structures, array definitions, function creation and calling, and interface design and testing.

Service Learning

Therefore, improving student understanding of the programming concepts and their motivation to learn more, became our priority in the following semesters. It was seen that particularly at the introductory level, where the traditional course is taught, students who already possess the patience excel, while less motivated students become even less motivated 1. Motivation is a theoretical construct to explain the reason or reasons we engage in a particular behavior

3.

Hence, project based service-learning was employed as an evaluation tool to assess the students’ motivation to learn. Teaching through service learning can be an effective way to achieve the goal of making beginner programmer learn not only knowledge but also boost their self-confidence.

Service learning is an educational experience that provides students the opportunity to apply experiences gained in serving people in the local community to their understanding of material learned in the classroom. It provides help and support to those in need and facilitates interactions between students and members of the community who might not otherwise have contact 4.

Sometimes, barriers to participation in these kind of projects may include cost and time of travel, difficulty in operating and maintaining work, and language and cultural differences. Because it is typically easier for students and faculty to become involved with local communities, our students had the opportunity to engage with the Academic Literacy Learning center of the college as a community partner. Students completed eighteen hours of service over the course of the semester. That included orientation and exercises, a reflection meeting towards the end of the semester, and production of deliverables, which was a Word Perception Game development for non-native English students. Their computer program was designed with these features:

° The key word must appear and then disappear. ° The amount of time that the key word appears on the screen must decrease if the user gets a correct answer. ° The amount of time that the key word appears on the screen must increase if the user gets an incorrect answer. ° The entire key word must appear on the screen, even if it is long. ° When the key word disappears, the three choice words must appear. ° The current question number must be displayed while the program is running. ° There must be an immediate indication of whether or not the user's choice was correct. ° The user will get directions for how to use the program before the word perception test starts running. ° The directions include the number of questions in the game. ° The game keeps a score, so it is being clear in the directions how that score is derived.

The students included the instructions to the users that, explained clearly how to use the software. The interface that they designed, was evaluated by the staff of service - learning center and their feedback was considered for the final version of the project. The Service Learning project offered them a unique, real life opportunity working with a client. The following can testify their experience: “In this project, I worked with my classmates and built a program “Word Perception Game.” “We want to use this program to help other students learn vocabulary.” “We need to make this game in a fun way, so students will enjoy using it” “My activities made impression”… Active Learning However, except the programming skills, there is a reward on the side of industry who highly values the non-technical skills of new graduates such as the ability to learn and teamwork. As with the employer assessment, more deficiencies were found in non-technical skills than technical knowledge. These non-technical traits are best addressed by active classroom alternatives without the risk of foregoing the required technical skills 5.

Hence, it is crucial to create an active learning environment to improve students’ comprehension and retention of material, allow students to take control and regulate their own learning, and eventually empower them with necessary skills to solve problems outside of the classroom 6. It is important for programmers to master the skills that promise the success in their careers, such as communication, negotiation or team management. However, these skills are difficult to teach. Students need to learn how to give and receive feedback. Active learners prefer an environment that enables them to learn by using the knowledge such as writing programs or discussing material with their peers 7. One approach was to have the students work in pairs through a complex derivation or problem solution on a handout, with one of them explaining the solution step-by-step and the other questioning anything unclear and giving hints when necessary. Periodically the students reversed roles with their pairs and proceeded from a common starting point. It took most or all of a class period to work through the entire solution, but the students ended with a depth of understanding they would be unlikely to get any other way. Results To demonstrate the effectiveness of our pedagogical approaches, we present the results of different teaching methodologies, starting with the traditional teaching practice in one semester, Fall 2013, and then applying different teaching tools in the following semesters. The evaluation of their service learning project was based on the survey questions, whereas the assessment of the learning outcomes was based on the rubric designed to measure their programming skills, as well as their presentation skills. The outcomes are shown in Table 1. Table1AssessmentRubric

marginal good excellent Students were able to create

the algorithm and evaluate its accuracy and relevancy, but the project was lacking design features and was briefly presented.

Students were able to design the program with the corresponding algorithm and evaluate its accuracy and relevancy, but the project was briefly presented.

Students were able to create attractive interface design of the program with the corresponding algorithm and evaluate its accuracy and relevancy. The project was well presented, both written and orally.

Fall 2013 2/10=0.2=20% 4/10=0.4=40% 4/10=0.4=40% Spring 2014 2/15=0.13=13% 4/15=0.27=27% 9/15=0.6=60%

Fall 2014 1/10=0.1=10% 3/10=0.30=30% 6/10=0.6=60% Spring 2015 1/15=0.06=6% 3/15=0.2=20% 11/15=0.73=73%

Fall 2015 3/11=0.27=27% 8/11=0.72=72%

Our findings indicate that, in traditional teaching method, majority of students demonstrated a lack of design and presentation skills. But, implementation of the service - learning project, Spring 2014 – Fall 2015, showed as a positive impact on their understanding of the computer science content. Yet, based on their reflection and the service-learning survey, we found some other issues to be addressed. Students stated, that they lack the confidence of presenting in front of others or speaking in public, and working with others as a member of a team. Interpreted results were analyzed and yielded suggestions of active learning method to further improve teaching practice, Spring 2015 – Fall 2015. The students not only designed their games, by the needs of the service-learning center, but they gave feedback to each other and became inspired by other students’ games. This way, students had the potential to learn more about programming game development on their own, by participating in the teamwork. They made the presentation of their work to the colleagues, prior to the community partner. This technique was effective, and boosted student’s outcomes, where almost three fourths of the students demonstrated excellent programming and presentation skills. The active learning environment helped transform the class into an interesting, challenging, and interactive environment. Figures 2-4 present some examples of student’s work in various semesters.

Figure2StartupFormoftheProgram

0%10%20%30%40%50%60%70%80%

Fall13 Spring14 Fall14 Spring15 Fall15

StudentLearningOutcomes

Marginal Good Excellent

Figure1StudentLearningOutcomes

Figure3Options’Form

Conclusion In this paper we explained the implementation of different methodologies in the teaching of computer programming to beginners. We discussed the implications of service – learning to students and how the project made the novice programmer learn not only knowledge but also relevant application skills. Students achieved a greater level of understanding of the material because they had the opportunity to interact with the community partner. However, combining the service – learning with active learning approach, helped students gain other non-technical skills, crucial for their success in the future: communication, presentation and team working. Therefore, not only one method but combination of them proves to be a strong evidence in support of their efficacy and an improvement of their learning outcomes. References 1. Brian J. Rosmaita, Making Service Learning Accessible to Computer Scientists, SIGCSE '07 Proceedings

of the 38th SIGCSE technical symposium on Computer science education, Pages 541-545. 2. Keith J. Whittington, Increasing Student Retention and Satisfaction in IT Introductory Programming

Courses using Active Learning, Proceedings of the 2006 Informing Science and IT Education Joint Conference.

3. Barkley, E. (2010). Student Engagement Handbook. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass. 4. Carol Traynor, Maria McKenna, Service Learning Models Connecting Computer Science to the

Community , University of Nebraska Omaha DigitalCommons@UNOVolume 35, Number 4. 2003 December.

5. Sandra Poindexter, Assessing Active Alternatives for Teaching Programming , Journal of Information Technology Education Volume 2, 2003.

6. Jinzhu Gao1 and Jace Hargis Promoting Technology-assisted Active Learning in Computer Science Education, The Journal of Effective Teaching, Vol. 10, No. 2, 2010, 81-93.

7. Tom Briggs: Techniques for Active Learning in Computer Science Courses, Journal of Computing Sciences in Colleges, Volume 21 Issue 2, December 2005, Pg. 156-165.

8. Wangping Sun, Xian Sun, AC 2011-308: Teaching Computer Programming Skills to Engineering and Technology Students with a Modular Programming Strategy, American Society for Engineering Education, 2011.

9. Hwang, W. Y., Shadiev, S., Wang, C. Y., & Huang, Z. H. (2012). A pilot study of cooperative programming learning behavior and its relationship with students’ learning performance. Computers & Education, 58, 1267–1281.

10. Novak J. D. and Cañas A. J., The Theory Underlying Concept Maps and How to Construct and Use Them. Technical Report IHMC CmapTools 2006-01 Rev 01-2008, Florida Institute for Human and Machine Cognition (2008).

11. Pete Sanderson, Where's (the) Computer Science in Service-Learning?, JCSC 19, 1 (October 2003).

Figure4InterfaceoftheGame

12. David Nandigam, Hanoku Bathula, Competing Dichotomies in Teaching Computer Programming to Beginner-Students American Journal of Educational Research, 2013 1 (8), pp 307-312.