E-learning of PHP based on the solutions of real-life problems

Abstract

PHP is one of the most popular web programming languages. Many people want to learn PHP because of its simplicity. One of the important features of PHP is that it is a server-side scripting language. Learning PHP is more effective if a student can learn through a real environment. Many PHP online-learning systems and hardcopy books are available at present. Problem-based learning (PBL) is an effective pedagogy used to increase the problem-solving skill of the students. Existing PHP learning systems support limited problems in real-life environment. In this work, we have integrated the conventional e-learning of PHP with the PBL pedagogy to improve the problem-solving capability of the students. In this system, a teacher designs some problems for the students. Each problem contains proper description and reference with standard PHP output. On the web server, students can practice and submit answers pertaining to the problem with the help of the relevant references, urls, examples, and standard output. System provides the facility for the students to practice and experiment on coding with real-time error. Students can edit codes repeatedly comparing their outputs with the standard output within the specific duration. For evaluation, a teacher can compare the students’ submitted codes with the standard code of the system, predefined keywords, and outputs. This system helps the students to engage in self-learning of PHP based on the real problems.