Subject Programs Research Articles

Computational Thinking Skills Theorization in The Vocational High School Computer Programming Subject Context

The purpose of the study is to compile concepts related to computational thinking skills in the context of computer programming subject. The research design used is data theorization (grounded theory) with open coding and axial coding data analysis techniques. Three types of data collection protocols are used: interview protocols, observation protocols, and recording protocols. The characteristics informants used are students who have experience learning computer programming in the vocational high school. The research produced several concepts, namely the problem concept, which then gave rise to the computational thinking skills concept. The problem concept consists of three sub-concepts: the common problem sub-concept, the medium problem sub-concept, and the high problem sub-concept. The concept of computational thinking skills is a set of skills required in the problem-solving process in computer programming. Computational thinking is not just a thought process but an expression of skills that others can observe. In the computer programming subject context, two concepts influence the process of mastering computational thinking skills: the guidance strategies concept and the information sources concept. The concept of success becomes a mediator in developing computational thinking skills. The theory produced in this study can be used as a basis for conducting research with quantitative designs related to deductive proof of the theory.

Effects on Saudi Female Student Learning Experiences in a Programming Subject Using Mobile Devices: An Empirical Study

There is a dearth of research on how mobile learning might help Saudi female students in particular perform better in computer programming courses. This paper aims to measure educational experiences ofSaudi female students using an empirical study, based on aframework related to mobile learning in a computer programming subject.
 The empirical study sample involved 21 students who used the ViLLE software tool in their quizzes in programming class. This study includes a survey with a mixed-method approach. The study results showed that students were satisfied with their mobile learning experience. The degree of satisfaction demonstrates how mobile learning can enhance learning in a computer programming subject.

Interactive Learning Environment Through Visualization to Promote Creative Thinking Among Non-Major Undergraduate Computer Science Students Learning Computer Programming Subject

This study aimed to investigate whether the experience of learning using a visual interactive learning environment through visualization impacts performance and dimensions of creative potential in terms of creative thinking. Sixteen (16) non-random non-major undergraduate computer science students learning computer programming subjects were exposed to a visual interactive learning environment through visualization in a pre-experimental single group pre-posttest research design. Before and after participants learn using visual interactive learning environment through visualization for six (6) weeks, they must complete three Visual tests and two verbal tasks of the Torrance Tests of Creative Thinking (TTCT). Both descriptive and inferential statistics were used to analyze the data. The study showed significant evidence that the performance and creative level of the students are better after learning using a visual interactive learning environment except for Verbal Fluency and Verbal Flexibility dimensions of Creative thinking. Implications of these findings for future research are discussed.

Cloud Gaming Approach To Learn Programming Concepts

Computer science and programming subjects can be overwhelming for new students, presenting them with significant challenges. As programming is considered one of the most important and complex subjects to grasp, it necessitates a fresh teaching methodology that can make the learning process more enjoyable and accessible. One approach that has gained attraction is the integration of gaming elements, which not only makes programming more engaging but also enhances understanding and retention. In our research, we adopted an innovative educational strategy that utilized a Role-Playing Game (RPG) centered on programming concepts. The aim of the research is to create an interactive and enjoyable learning experience for students by leveraging the immersive nature of gaming. The RPG provided a platform for students to actively participate in programming challenges, where they will apply their knowledge and skills to complete tasks and advance through the game. Our teaching methodology focuses on embedding programming concepts within the game's missions and quests. Additionally, we considered students' overall experience and engagement throughout the research study. Capturing both objective and subjective measures, we gained insights into the impact of our teaching methodology on student learning outcomes and their overall perception of the educational experience. In the RPG, each student is required to complete a series of tasks within the game in order to advance to the next mission. The sequential nature of the tasks ensured a structured learning process, gradually introducing new concepts and challenges to the students. The game mechanics provides an immersive environment for students to play different missions and answer the questions and learn programming. Through our research, we aim to present a compelling teaching methodology that effectively addresses the challenges facing new students in learning computer science and programming subjects. Harnessing the power of gaming, we strive to make programming more accessible, enjoyable, and engaging, ultimately empowering students to become proficient programmers. The evaluation of student performance, task accomplishment, and overall experience will provide valuable insights into the effectiveness and potential impact of this innovative approach.

Cloud Gaming Approach To Learn Programming Concepts

Computer science and programming subjects can be overwhelming for new students, presenting them with significant challenges. As programming is considered one of the most important and complex subjects to grasp, it necessitates a fresh teaching methodology that can make the learning process more enjoyable and accessible. One approach that has gained attraction is the integration of gaming elements, which not only makes programming more engaging but also enhances understanding and retention. In our research, we adopted an innovative educational strategy that utilized a Role-Playing Game (RPG) centered on programming concepts. The aim of the research is to create an interactive and enjoyable learning experience for students by leveraging the immersive nature of gaming. The RPG provided a platform for students to actively participate in programming challenges, where they will apply their knowledge and skills to complete tasks and advance through the game. Our teaching methodology focuses on embedding programming concepts within the game's missions and quests. Additionally, we considered students' overall experience and engagement throughout the research study. Capturing both objective and subjective measures, we gained insights into the impact of our teaching methodology on student learning outcomes and their overall perception of the educational experience. In the RPG, each student is required to complete a series of tasks within the game in order to advance to the next mission. The sequential nature of the tasks ensured a structured learning process, gradually introducing new concepts and challenges to the students. The game mechanics provides an immersive environment for students to play different missions and answer the questions and learn programming. Through our research, we aim to present a compelling teaching methodology that effectively addresses the challenges facing new students in learning computer science and programming subjects. Harnessing the power of gaming, we strive to make programming more accessible, enjoyable, and engaging, ultimately empowering students to become proficient programmers. The evaluation of student performance, task accomplishment, and overall experience will provide valuable insights into the effectiveness and potential impact of this innovative approach.

Application of a Teaching Plan for Algorithm Subjects Using Active Methodologies: An Experimental Report

Computer programming subjects have high failure rates, their contents are of great importance for the formation of undergraduate students, however their learning is considered challenging. There are several studies in the specialized literature that investigate the use of types of intervention that can improve the learning of contents, most of them are focused on introductory subjects such as algorithms, considering that it provides the basis for the development of necessary skills and competences for the computer programming. By establishing a solid foundation in the learning of programming contents, through the algorithms subject, it is expected that students will have less difficulty in absorbing the knowledge needed to deepen their programming skills in subsequent subjects. In this sense, the use of approaches that promote active learning on the part of students in algorithmic subjects stand out in the specialized literature, in order to increase their engagement and awaken their interest in the contents covered, making them protagonists of their learning. Thus, the objective of this work is to discuss and analyze the results of an experiment that consisted in the application of a teaching plan that makes use of multiple active methodologies (Virtual Learning Environments, Coding Dojo, Gamification, Problem Based Learning – PBL, Flipped Classroom and Serious Games) in an algorithms subject. We sought to evaluate the learning gains of the proposed approach compared to teaching using the traditional teaching method. A statistical analysis was performed using the Student-t two-tailed approach for independent samples, which showed significant statistical gains when using the proposed approach.

Deep Learning Approach for cognitive competency assessment in Computer Programming subject

This research examines the competencies that are essential for an lecturer or instructor to evaluate the student based on automated assessments. The competencies are the skills, knowledge, abilities and behavior that are required to perform the task given, whether in a learning or a working environment. The significance of this research is that it will assist students who are having difficulty learning a Computer Programming Language course to identify their flaws using a Deep Learning Approach. As a result, higher education institutions have a problem with assessing students based on their competency level because; they still use manual assessment to mark the assessment. In order to measure intelligence, it is necessary to identify the cluster of abilities or skills of the type in which intelligence expresses itself. This grouping of skills and abilities referred to as "competency". Then, an automated assessment is a problem-solving activity in which the student and the computer interact with no other human intervention. This review focuses on collecting different techniques that have been used. In addition, the review finding shows the main gap that exists within the context of the studied areas, which contributes to our key research topic of interest.

I Explain, You Collaborate, He Cheats: An Empirical Study with Social Network Analysis of Study Groups in a Computer Programming Subject

Students interact with each other in order to solve computer science programming assignments. Group work is encouraged because it has been proven to be beneficial to the learning process. However, sometimes, collaboration might be confused with dishonest behaviours. This article aimed to quantitatively discern between both cases. We collected code similarity measures from students over four academic years and analysed them using statistical and social network analyses. Three studies were carried out: an analysis of the knowledge flow to identify dishonest behaviour, an analysis of the structure of the social organisation of study groups and an assessment of the relationship between successful students and social behaviour. Continuous dishonest behaviour in students is not as alarming as many studies suggest, probably due to the strict control, automatic plagiarism detection and high penalties for unethical behaviour. The boundary between both is given by the amount of similar content and regularity along the course. Three types of study groups were identified. We also found that the best performing groups were not made up of the best individual students but of students with different levels of knowledge and stronger relationships. The best students were usually the central nodes of those groups.

Discovering the Role of Problem-Solving and Discussion Techniques in the Teaching Programming Environment to Improve Students' Computational Thinking Skills

Computational thinking skill is one of the essential abilities to be learned and perfected by students of this century. Studies have shown that in the teaching and learning of programming courses, discussion and problem-solving techniques have been widely used. However, studies based on the suitability of such teaching techniques for the development of the computational thinking skills of students are, however, lacking. In this context, this research was conducted to define the teaching techniques used by university lecturers when teaching a computer programming subject and to explore how the techniques can influence the development of the computational thinking skills of students. This research was based on a combination of qualitative and quantitative approaches involving a semi-structured interview and a survey method, respectively. The research sample consisted of eight (8) university lecturers recruited from several Malaysian public universities, who had been teaching computer science to undergraduates. The results showed that in teaching computer programming, a majority of the respondents used discussion and problem-solving methods, with each assisting students to gain computer programming skills and learn certain components of computational thinking. As such, it is recommended that teaching practitioners incorporate the discussion and problem-solving techniques in the teaching and learning of programming courses. The incorporation of such strategies will help students develop good computer programming and computational thinking skills encompassing all the fundamental elements. The results also revealed that the respondents had no experience in using the metacognitive technique. As such, it is also proposed that future research should focus on this technique to investigate any possible effects that it may have on the growth of the computer programming and computational thinking skills of undergraduates.

The Effect of Problem-Based Instruction Learning Methods on Improving Cognitive and Psychomotor Learning Outcomes in Computer Programming Subjects on Branching Control Structure Material

The research aims to prove that the implementation of the Problem-Based Instruction (PBI) method has impact on cognitive and psychomotor learning outcomes in computer programming subjects. The research was limited in branching control structure topic. This experimental research used Quasi Experimental Design with Nonequivalent Control Group Design type. The test instrument was used to get a score in the cognitive domain. Performance assessment instruments are used to obtain scores in the psychomotor domain. Data were tested by independent sample t-test and paired sample t-test. The test results showed a value less than 0.05, which means that there is a difference in scores between the pretest and posttest in the cognitive domain, and there is a difference between the pretest and posttest scores in the psychomotor domain. It can be concluded that PBI learning has an influence on the improvement of cognitive and psychomotor learning outcomes at branching control structure topic in computer programming subjects.

The Usability Analysis Online Learning Site for Supporting Computer programming Course Using System Usability Scale (SUS) in a University

Computer programming subject is the most-feared subject by students because it is hard to learn. At present, various learning media for programming are available, therefore, the learning process which was often considered as boring and hard to learn becomes interesting and easy to do. One of those media is through internet. This condition is parallel with various number of learning-based online sites that currently grow, including CodeSaya; one of the learning websites for computer programming languages. Usability is an important aspect to be noticed for the users to feel facilitated in using it, acquiring the required knowledge, and be interested to always rely on the site within the learning process. By collecting the user perception about user interfaces, questionnaire might help identifying the weakness in website usability to perform improvements. This research was done to analyze the success of online learning site, whether it meets the usability criteria by implementing System Usability Scale (SUS) questionnaire as the research instrument. SUS is an effective and reliable instrument to measure the usability of various products and services. The research questionnaire consisted of 10 questions which disseminated toward 162 respondents divided into two groups, namely familiar users that amounted to 81 respondents and unfamiliar users that amounted to 81 respondents as well. The usability of CodeSaya site acquired 72.1 of score for familiar users and 70 of score for unfamiliar users. The score acquired from the rating given by familiar respondents only a bit higher compared to the unfamiliar respondents. The rating in alphabet resulted in B or Good. It can be concluded that this computer programming learning site has met the usability criteria, therefore, it can be implemented as a learning medium that is feasible to be used by the users.

Toward Developing a Real-World Computational Thinking Test Tool from Existing Models

Various researches are always being carried out to measure the effectiveness of software education. We analyzed previously developed computational thinking tools and studied their practical application and verification methods. Using this information, we developed a 20-item questionnaire to categorize the tools by the abilities they measured: analysis, design, implementation, and reasoning. We surveyed college freshman and 204 students in computer programming subjects in liberal arts and then conducted an exploratory factor analysis to analyze the validity and reliability of our questionnaire test tool. Our test showed that previously used computational testing tools lacked the ability to measure problem-solving processes based on computational thinking. To solve this problem, we revised the questionnaire items to consider the problem-solving process based on computational thinking and proposed a tool that can check the computational thinking through the material of real life using the students’ empirical knowledge. The statistical analysis was as follows: analysis ability (reliability α = .895); design ability (reliability α = .727); implementation ability (reliability α = .745), and reasoning ability (reliability α = .833). To measure computing errors, you need a testing tool that can address real-world problems. We aimed to develop a research tool for measuring computational thinking based on the case of applying and revising existing test tools.

Ambiente integrado de visualización de estructuras de datos para la enseñanza-aprendizaje de la programación de computadoras

In the teaching-learning process of computer programming subjects, problems have been faced in the design and adequate selection of data structures to represent the information and the basic operations that are carried out with them, which makes it difficult to obtain efficient algorithms. Based on this situation, an Integrated Environment for Visualization of Data Structures is developed based on conceptual maps that contains a resource repository, in which the VisualProg system is highlighted, which has the code in the SubC language as input and has the components of code visualization, of data, of the recursion tree and of the complexity analysis of the program. The implementation was based on an architecture conceived in three layers: Code Analyzer, Controller and View. Modeling is used to develop the algorithms, statistical methods to verify the usefulness of the proposal and validate the fundamental contributions of the research. The environment was applied in the teachinglearning process of the subject Data Structure of the Computer Engineering career at the University of Granma, Cuba and Systems Engineering of the Southern State University of Manabi in Ecuador. It is demonstrated that the integration of visualization techniques contributes to solve problems related to the design and implementation of data structures and programs.

A Case Study of Operating the Computer Programming Subject based on the Flipped Learning Model

This paper shows what kind of influence the learning motivation factors have on the effectiveness of Flipped Learning Model through the case of operating a JAVA programming subject. The Flipped Learning Approach consisting of Before Class, Before or At Start of Class, and In Class provides the students with learning motivation as well as satisfies Keller's ARCS(Attention, Relevance, Confidence, Satisfaction) to keep them studying steadily. This research conducts the operation of Flipped Learning and gets Exploratory Factor Analysis and Reliability Analysis from the result of the course experience questionnaire at the end of the class. Given this survey result, Flipped Learning approach improves the learners' satisfaction in class and the effectiveness in the fields of understanding learning context more than does the previous lecture-based learning approach by pacing learning procedure and conducting self-directed learning.

Study of ocean and wind energy potential with R: an innovative experience in the classroom

Abstract The Engineer School of Eibar initiated the Grade of Engineering in Renewable Energies four years ago. This pioneering educational project has shown many challenges to the teachers of the new grade. Among the different software skills used in this project, R programming language has been a very important one because of its capacity for spatio-temporal analysis and graphical visualization of wind energy and wave energy potential. A quarter of the subject's program in Wind Energy and Ocean Energy has been used via Problem Based Learning for the application of statistical calculus with R. The aim of this contribution is to show some paradigmatic problems solved by the students and the results obtained. Finally, the opinion of the students about the use of R and its learning potentiality have been gathered and analysed.

Meta-analysis on the Role of Mathematics Backgorund in the Performance of BSCS Freshmen in Computer Programming Subjects

Meta-analysis on the Role of Mathematics Backgorund in the Performance of BSCS Freshmen in Computer Programming Subjects

Problem-Based Learning Framework for Junior Software Developer: Empirical Study for Computer Programming Students

Teacher-centered has been traditionally playing the role of basic teaching method for long time. In this way, students only perceive and learn subject's content from the class and this seems that they only remember the content for taking an exam. On the other hand, when the time comes to solve the real problems, they usually find difficulty to accomplish, due to lacking of practical experience. Basic programming skills are compulsory factor for students in Information Technology (IT) field. Only memorizing content knowledge is not adequate for learning further programming subjects. Students should practice the actual work by themselves for comprehensive understanding. This study represents teaching processes applied problem-based learning technique, both learning directions and communications between lecturer and student. Freshmen of Computer Programming subject, School of IT, Mae Fah Luang University are a target group of this empirical study.

Automated Analysis of Exam Questions According to Bloom's Taxonomy

Bloom's Taxonomy is a classification of learning objectives within education that educators set for students. The cognitive domain within this taxonomy is designed to verify a student's cognitive level during a written examination. Educators may sometimes face the challenge in analysing whether their examination questions comply within the requirements of the Bloom's taxonomy at different cognitive levels. This paper proposes an automated analysis of the exam questions to determine the appropriate category based on this taxonomy. This rule-based approach applies Natural Language Processing (NLP) techniques to identify important keywords and verbs, which may assist in the identification of the category of a question. This work focuses on the computer programming subject domain. At present, a set of 100 questions (70 training set and 30 test set) is used in the research. Preliminary results indicate that the rules may successfully assist in the identification of the Bloom's taxonomy category correctly in the exam questions.

PERFORMANCE EVALUATION OF CONCEPTUAL MODEL INSTANCE (CMI) DATA FOR E-LEARNING MULTIMEDIA PRESENTATIONS IN SCORM RUN-TIME ENVIRONMENT

The paper aims to describe dynamic presentation generator that presents the same content in different ways through different media object and presentation layouts. The different media presentation will then display to student via Learning Management Systems (LMS). The paper also presents SCORM Compliant Learning Objects and Conceptual Model Instance (CMI). The prototype is then evaluated to demonstrate the performance of the students where the CMI data are collected for each student. The data collected include media preference, test score and time spent to study the Computer Programming subjects. The results show that with more media object used, students spent more time on the Webpages. However, the results also showed that using more media object may not produce better results in the assessment.

Factors influencing occupational therapy students' perceptions of rural and remote practice

There is a serious shortage of health professionals in rural and remote areas in Australia and world wide. The purpose of this article was to add to existing information about allied health students, particularly occupational therapy students, and rural and remote practice by reviewing the literature on occupational therapy students' perceptions of rural and remote practice. A variety of influencing factors were identified, as were the main characteristics of rural practice in relation to the future employment of students. The effect of undergraduate rural training programs on students' perceptions was identified. The shortage of rural and remote health practitioners is well documented. Because rural and remote practice is characterised by a diversity of healthcare needs, rural health professionals need a variety of knowledge and skills. This diversity may attract rural health professionals and encourages undergraduate students to consider rural and remote practice. A student's rural background was reported to be one of the strongest factors in their decision to work rurally, and an undergraduate rural program is one useful strategy to overcome the rural health professional shortage. Undergraduate rural programs promote students' positive perceptions of rural and remote practice by exposure to a rural location, and factors such as rural fieldwork experience and fieldwork supervisors are likely to be influential. Negative influential factors include a student's desire to work as a 'specialist', and personal, social and professional factors, such as a lack of professional development opportunities in a rural setting. The relationship between a student's rural background and the likelihood of working in a rural area is evident. However, few studies have examined the influence of the undergraduate program's subjects. Further studies should explore the influence of a student's perceptions of the undergraduate rural program on their decision to work in a rural setting.