Extreme Apprenticeship Research Articles

Whether to flip Extreme Apprenticeship: which is more effective in programming instruction?

Programming knowledge is more important than ever in the digital world. However, teaching programming can be challenging, especially with novice learners. Considerable research has been conducted into the most effective methods for teaching programming. Extreme apprenticeship, a variation of cognitive apprenticeship, is a method that has been used in teaching programming at university level in recent years. Because this method focuses particularly on completing lots of exercises with coaching and guidance, it may solve many problems related to learning programming. Flipped learning can be useful for student preparedness and providing sufficient theoretical knowledge at the beginning of the course. This study compares the applications of the extreme apprenticeship method, flipped extreme apprenticeship, and traditional classroom, analyzing them at the university level in terms of their effects on academic achievement and engagement coupled with gender differences. The findings of the study indicate that the extreme apprenticeship and flipped extreme apprenticeship instructional methods improve academic achievement and student engagement in introductory programming more than the traditional method. The results of the research point to important directions for the development of the extreme apprenticeship method in programming instruction and provide a guide for instructors.Supplementary InformationThe online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s10639-022-11055-y.

Correction notice for “Types and time of interaction for teaching introductory programming using instruction method of extreme apprenticeship”

This article refers to:Types and time of interaction for teaching introductory programming using instruction method of extreme apprenticeship

Transformative Learning in Mastery-Oriented CS0 Course

The introductory programming course, commonly known as CS1 and offered as a core course in the first year in all engineering programs in India, is unique because it can address higher cognitive levels, metacognition and some aspects of the affective domain. It can provide much needed transformative experiences to students coming from a system of school education that is dominantly performance-driven. Unfortunately, the CS1 course, as practiced in almost all engineering programs, is also performance-driven because of a variety of compulsions. This paper suggests that the inclusion of a course CS0 can bring about transformative learning that can potentially make a significant difference in the quality of learning in all subsequent engineering courses. The suggested instruction design of this course takes the advantage of the unique features of a course in programming. The proposed CS0 course uses “extreme apprenticeship” and “guided discovery” methods of instruction. The effectiveness of these instruction methods was established through the use of the thematic analysis, a well-known qualitative research method, and the associated coding of transformative learning experiences and instruction components.

Types and time of interaction for teaching introductory programming using instruction method of extreme apprenticeship

CS1 courses are designed in Indian Institutions as a lecture course of three to four credits and one credit lab course. The issues related to curriculum design, instruction design, and students’ le...

The Extreme Apprenticeship Method

Over the past 9 years, we have implemented, developed, and refined a novel student-centered teaching method called Extreme Apprenticeship in university mathematics context. In this paper, we report the theoretical orientation behind the method, as well as its practical implementation. We also reflect on our experiences gained from using it in our teaching.

Extreme Apprenticeship: Instructional Change as a Gateway to Systemic Improvement

In this article we describe a long-term departmental change effort in one mathematics department. The change began with one instructor adopting the Extreme Apprenticeship instructional model. This modest shift served as the catalyst for a series of subsequent, systemic improvements. We believe that this innovation and the resultant change demonstrate how instructional change can serve as a catalyst for broader change, rather than a change that focuses solely on instruction. We use four frames from the literature on organizational development to characterize the changes that have occurred in this department. This in-depth case study describes the department’s current culture and how it developed, and we suggest that this explanation could serve as a guide for other departments seeking change.

Supporting Quality of Learning in University Mathematics: a Comparison of Two Instructional Designs

Prior research acknowledges the need to further develop undergraduate mathematics instruction. The aim of this study is to investigate the relationship between instructional design and quality of learning. This quantitative study approaches the learning environment by comparing students’ approaches to learning, self-efficacy, and experiences of the teaching-learning environment in two undergraduate mathematics courses using different pedagogical approaches. The first course functioned within a traditional lecture-based framework with the inclusion of student-centred elements, and the second course was implemented with Extreme Apprenticeship, a novel student-centred teaching method. The analysis is based on the same cohort of students in these two contexts (N = 91). Students were clustered based on their deep and surface approaches to learning and three clusters were identified: students applying a deep approach, students applying a surface approach, and students applying a context-sensitive surface approach. The results show that the more student-centred course design succeeded in supporting more favourable approaches to learning, higher self-efficacy levels, and more positive experiences of the teaching-learning environment. In addition, all three clusters benefited from the more student-centred course design, with students applying a context-sensitive surface approach benefiting the most. Overall, the results suggest that it is possible to promote the quality of university mathematics learning with instructional designs that, besides content, take a holistic approach to the learning environment.

Reflective Apprenticeship for Teaching and Learning Mathematical Proof

This article explores teacher learning in a graduate-level analysis course for teachers. Drawing from the frameworks of extreme apprenticeship and Peer-Assisted Reflection (PAR), the course created authentic learning experiences for the teachers that served as models that they could use in their own classrooms. This paper describes how the teachers developed across the four dimensions of extreme apprenticeship. While this paper is grounded in mathematics, the extreme apprenticeship and PAR frameworks are cross-disciplinary, and thus there are implications for teaching and learning in all of the STEM disciplines.

How measuring student performances allows for measuring blended extreme apprenticeship for learning Bash programming

Extreme apprenticeship, a recent learning methodology, was used in a blended fashion for teaching a technical subject: Bash scripting for operating systems. Online learning was supported with the Moodle platform, in particular, for managing Bash programming exercises. How did students behave? Were the exercises equally difficult for them? If not, where did differences arise? And why? This paper reports on the design of a blended learning experience for Bash programming, focusing on the definition and evaluation of levels of programming exercises and on students behavior in programming, supported by Moodle.

Operating Systems with Blended Extreme Apprenticeship: What Are Students’ Perceptions?

Extreme apprenticeship, an emerging learning methodology, has been used in a blended fashion for teaching a technical subject: bash scripting for operating systems. Online learning was first supported with the Moodle platform, and then enhanced with playful videos. How did students perceive learning in such a manner? This paper reports on the design of the blended learning experience for operating systems, and then focusses on the evaluation of learners’ perceptions of it.

Extreme Apprenticeship – Engaging undergraduate students on a mathematics course

This paper describes how an educational method called Extreme Apprenticeship has been used in teaching mathematics to undergraduates. The aim has been to facilitate the transition from secondary to tertiary education and to teach students the kind of skills they need in further studies and professional life. We report how the Extreme Apprenticeship method has been implemented in the course Linear algebra and matrices I at the University of Helsinki. This first year mathematics course has approximately 400 students each year. We compare the method with the traditional lecture-based approach that was in use before introducing the Extreme Apprenticeship method. We focus on how these two methods engage students. The results show that the Extreme Apprenticeship method managed to engage the students better than traditional teaching, as more students completed their coursework than before. Even though the new teaching method demanded a lot of personal effort from the students, they did not think that the workload was too big, and were pleased with the course.