ne-course for learning programming
TRANSCRIPT
ne-Course for Learning ProgrammingJosé Figueiredo
Research Unit for Inland DevelopmentPolytechnic of Guarda, Portugal
Natália GomesResearch Unit for Inland Development
Polytechnic of Guarda, Portugal [email protected]
Francisco José García-Peñalvo Computer Science Department Research Institute
for Educational Sciences GRIAL research group University of Salamanca, Spain
Track 9. A world of digital competences: mobile apps, e-citizenship and computational systems as learning
tools
Why is programming so difficult?
• The abstract concepts that are involved in programming• The capacities that are required to solve problems• The mental skill to the decomposition of the problems• Programming is a new subject for many of the students who take
programming courses• This is a difficult time for many students
T. Jenkins, “On the Difficulty of Learning to Program,” Language (Baltim)., vol. 4, pp. 53–58, 2002.
Why is programming so difficult?• The students need to know the syntax, the semantics and the
structure, of a unusual language• Programming requires a significant amount of effort in several skill
areas for often a very modest return • Reputation: Programming courses acquire the reputation of being
difficult • Image: there is the public image of a "programmer". This is of a
socially inadequate "nerd", spending all hours producing unintelligible code, fuelled by pizza and caffeine
T. Jenkins, “On the Difficulty of Learning to Program,” Language (Baltim)., vol. 4, pp. 53–58, 2002.
Solving problems in programmingIn 2014 some authors have presented a systematic review of articles describing approaches for teaching introductory programming and their influence on success.In resume, some of the best practices to teaching programing are:
• Collaboration• Contextualization• CS0• Change in the grading schema• Group work• Peer support• Support
Our proposalNo Electronic (ne) Course for learning programming.
• Follow and Give instruction• Map Design• Paper Folding and Origami• Memory Transfer Language• Parson Problems
Follow/Give instructionThe use of this kind of exercises has as purpose to increase the development of students’ cognitive reasoning abilities and spatial visualization.
Map Design
Origami and Folding paper Benefits
Reading SkillsWriting SkillsProcessing SkillsVisual MotorTemporal SpatialLogical ReasoningAttention SkillsConcentrationSequencingMath Concepts
Independent StudySocial SkillsSelf ConfidenceLibrary SkillsManual DexteritySpeech Language Development
;
MeasurementGeometryProportionFractionsSymmetryProblem SolvingScience PrinciplesCreativity
Origami examples
Paper Folding• Paper folding, in particular the Punched Holes, is frequently used to
investigate the spatial visualization skills.
Paper Folding, exercises with Punched Holes
Memory Transfer Language (MTL)- Class ExperimentThe experiment was carried out to test the comprehension that students may have between variable and computer memory
Memory Transfer Language (MTL)- Class ExperimentFirst examination• Initial concepts: computer programs and programming concepts such as
variable, basic data types and computer memory representation
Memory Transfer Language
Memory Transfer Language
Memory Transfer Language (MTL)- Class ExperimentSecond examination• After clarification of the doubts it was proposed to the students to repeat the
exercises
The results increased from 20% to 81% of correct answers.
Parson Problems• Parson’s problems are assignments for learning programming where
the student has to select, order, and indent code fragments.
Example
Example
Conclusion
The objective of this study was to test the impact of different activities when used as a learning programming tool without the intervention of any electronic component.
Where students explore with pleasure, without fear of making mistakes and where teacher-student relationship and confidence can be improved and enhanced.
Conclusion
We believe that it’s still important to see the face and expressions of students in solve programming problems. We want to feel the atmosphere and excitement in problem solving
“Programming should be taught by programming teachersand not by programmers"
Questions?