Learn Programming Concepts Research Articles

SSPOT-VR: An immersive and affordable mobile application for supporting K-12 students in learning programming concepts

SSPOT-VR: An immersive and affordable mobile application for supporting K-12 students in learning programming concepts

Game Development-Based Learning Approach to Teaching Programming in Upper Secondary Education: A Case Study

The CODING4GIRLS (C4G) initiative aims to prepare young learners, especially girls, for careers in computer science by promoting a game development-based learning approach to teaching programming. Using the C4G approach, students learn programming concepts through the development of serious games. After the effectiveness of the C4G methodology has been confirmed at the lower secondary level, the aim is to examine whether the application of this approach is also effective at the upper secondary level. This paper presents the results of a study that represents the beginning of research in this direction. The study involved a mixed-gender class of 15- to 16-year-old students from a school in Croatia who participated in learning activities based on C4G learning scenarios. They were expected to develop games using the programming language Snap!. The scenarios aimed to engage both boys and girls by addressing interesting topics and promoting problem-solving skills in real-world contexts. According to the results, the students accepted the process of developing games to solve real-world problems and were motivated to learn programming using this approach. Their teacher also commented positively on the effectiveness of the approach in achieving the learning objectives related to programming and its suitability for upper secondary students.

An automatic feedback model for learning programming via block‐based programming platforms

AbstractBlock‐based programming platforms (BBPP) are often introduced to students for teaching programming. To facilitate students learning to program with BBPPs, students need quality feedback. However, BBPPs' feedback systems sometimes fail to support students in learning programming. In this study, a new BBPP, including a novel automatic feedback model, is created to support secondary school students in learning programming concepts and applying problem‐solving strategies for problems in BBPPs better. The proposed feedback model analyses the students' blocks used in BBPPs and compares them with the correct solution by calculating the distance of the codes represented by the block patterns. Teachers' and students' initial evaluations about the BBPP were generally positive and promising. The proposed model is considered to have the potential for practical application in the design and implementation of the feedback model for BBPPs. We hope that the findings of this study will assist in the future design and implementation of feedback for BBPPs to facilitate the structural and strategic knowledge dimensions of programming.

Gamification Approach for Making Online Education as Effective as In-Person Education in Learning Programming Concepts

Gamification is a contemporary concept. It is defined as using game elements such as points and badges in a nongaming environment. This paper takes a profound look at gamification methods in an academic study and comes out with a gamification approach in an attempt to make education more effective. To test the approach described in this research, an experiment was conducted by dividing 46 students in a C++ programming class at a high school into two groups; the first is In-person learning group, in which students learn through the traditional classroom method. The second group is Gamification-based group, for which the researcher designed and built a specific gamification platform by following the guidelines presented in this research study. The results analysis proved that the level of motivation and engagement in the lesson was sufficient. Furthermore, the result of the relationship analysis between variables points and the leaderboard has a strong correlation of r= -0.897 and p<0.01. Another relationship that was analyzed is Points and Concepts attempts. This relationship positively affected student motivation and quality of learning with a moderate correlation of r=0.450 and p<0.05. Regarding the questionnaire analysis results, students preferred the Leaderboard by 60.9 %, Points by 21.7 %, Levels by 13 %, and Badges by 4.3%. As for the interview conducted with teachers specialized in teaching C++, they encouraged the exploitation of the gamification approach in learning programming language concepts, and from their point of view that this approach helps to increase the motivation and engagement of students in the lesson. Further research is needed to improve this approach to learning by designing rules and guidelines to bridge the gap with other gamification approaches.

Learning Programming Using Python: The Case of the DigiWorld Educational Game

Constructivist approaches have been demonstrated to contribute effectively to learning programming concepts. Game-based learning offers a novel and productive constructivist approach in this direction. Unfortunately, there is a lack of available educational games in the Greek language for teaching and learning programming using a programming language, especially Python. This paper describes the design and implementation of an educational game designed to teach programming through Python at an introductory level in the context of Greek upper secondary education. The game uses the Ren’Py visual novel creation toolbox, digital storytelling techniques and focuses on the narrative and the basic tenets of game-based learning to create a state of flow instead of simple gamification techniques. The outcome is a fully developed educational game, titled “DigiWorld”, which can be used in the classroom as an educational tool, as well as in non-formal and informal education. The results of the preliminary evaluation are encouraging regarding the motivation and user’s engagement as well as the educational approach followed through the challenges and feats designed.

Block-Based Visual Programming as a Tool for Learning the Concepts of Programming for Novices

Programming is a course that prosecutes skills in critical thinking and problem-solving. However, learning programming for novices like junior high school students is no easy task. Moreover, the strategy uses text-based programming, which requires writing source code correctly to avoid the potential of syntax errors. This study aims to investigate a tool of block-based visual programming (BBVP) for learning the programming concepts. The method used in this study consists of five phases: analysis, design, development, experiment, and evaluation. Participants were 60 students of middle school age 14-15 years old divided into two groups, experimental and control groups. Data was collected through questionnaires, pretest-posttest, and analysis of codes in the project created by students. To compare the results of both two different groups, we employed independent samples t-test. The result shows that the significance score is less than 0.05 (p-value < 0.05), which means that learning programming concepts using BBVP significantly impacts novices. The concepts of programming that can be learned include variables, sequence, iteration or looping, and conditional statements.

Can Mindfulness Help Primary Education Students to Learn How to Program With an Emotional Learning Companion?

Teaching programming to children has attracted significant research in recent decades. In our previous work, we co-designed the learning companion called Alcody with children between 10–12 years old who had some previous programming knowledge. Alcody is based on Papert’s constructionism theory, interacting with the students in pseudocode and providing recommendations as emotional support. Students using Alcody could significantly increase their scores in a programming test as well as seeming to be happy using the system. However, the relationship between the increase in scores and satisfaction and motivation levels was not explored. Moreover, since the COVID-19 pandemic, children have seemed too distracted and stressed to keep focusing on learning programming. This is why this paper introduces, for the first time in the literature, the use of mindfulness (the quality of being aware of the present moment) to help children focus before their programming sessions. The hypothesis is that by integrating mindfulness into the teaching of programming to children with an emotional learning companion, such as Alcody, the learning of programming concepts and students’ attitudes to learning can be improved. To test the hypothesis, an experiment was carried out with 137 students between 10-12 years old during the 2020 summer, split into a control group (without mindfulness) and a test group (with mindfulness). The 69 students in the test group achieved a significantly higher improvement in their post-test programming scores, and significantly higher satisfaction and motivation levels than the students in the control group. Moreover, students in the test group reported that they liked the experience of practicing mindfulness and that they felt it helped them to focus. It is therefore concluded that integrating mindfulness practices into the teaching of programming to children can be beneficial to increase their scores, satisfaction, and motivation levels.

Didactic Module with Sphero Robotics: Approaches in Learning Programming

Education in 21st century revolve among the context of knowledge-based economy which recognize knowledge as a source of competitiveness that emphasize in the increasing importance of science, research, technology, and innovation in knowledge creation; and the use of computers and the Internet to generate, share, and apply knowledge. This study discusses on the approaches and considerations used during the development of Sphero robot-based learning modules. The module was developed for the Problem Solving and Program Design course considering on two main factors restrictions of space and resource available to be mapped to related sub-topics involved that support Sphero activities. A didactic principal approach is also considered to be embed in the module where instruction related to learning that involve multidisciplinary are directly planned and present through the student’s activities to achieve the learning objectives. In this paper, we discuss on four core components of Computational Thinking approach correlated to problem solving in learning programming. The development of module should stimulate student interest in learning programming concepts. The propose module does not focus on the use of Robotics as the main subject on its own, but as a tool during teaching and learning purposes to embed the simplicity of programming notion.

Learning to Write Programs using Think-Pair-Share Programming Strategy: What are the Students’ Perceptions and Experiences?

The need to learn programming to solve many complex problems facing humankind necessitated this study. The purpose of the study was to collect information about students’ perceptions and experiences after exposure to the think-pair-share programming strategy. The sample consisted of 12 senior secondary school two students offering computer studies in Ijebu zone, Ogun State, Nigeria purposively selected from the two experimental groups. The data were collected through one-on-one in-depth interviews of the respondents using a Student Interview Guide (SIG). The data analysis was through thematic content analysis procedure. The study found that the respondents perceived the think-pair-share programming strategy helpful to learn programming concepts with or without computers. The study also found that the use of computer was more useful for the acquisition of programming skills than without the use of computers. Moreover, the study found that programming without computers was perceived to improve thinking. Therefore, the study argued that teachers should adopt the use of think-pair-share programming strategy for learning how to write programs notwithstanding the availability of computers due to its ability to aid knowledge retention.

PyDiophantus maze game: Play it to learn mathematics or implement it to learn game programming in Python

Serious games or educational games have attracted the interest of instructors and researchers for several years. In the field of education, serious games are being used for motivating students, attracting their interest in cognitively demanding fields and making the teaching and learning process more fun. Moreover, learning through implementing games has been proposed as an effective alternative to the traditional instructor-centered approach to teaching programming. Towards this direction the study presented in this article aims to investigate whether it is feasible to learn programming concepts, as well as game programming concepts, through implementing a game in Python. More specifically, the study presented has the following goals: firstly, to review and comparatively analyze existing game engines and libraries that can be used by novice programmers for implementing simple games in Python; secondly, to investigate whether it is feasible to implement a simple but yet meaningful game that can be used as a prototype for learning programming concepts and game programming concepts in Python. In order to reach the second goal a serious game was implemented as a case study, using the free and open source Python library of pygame that based on the aforementioned comparative analysis is appropriate for novices. The PyDiophantus Maze game that was implemented can be used for teaching and learning game programming in Python, but also for learning mathematics. The article concludes with proposals for utilizing the game in mathematics and (game) programming education, as well as plans for further research.

Learn Programming Framework for Malaysian Preschoolers

Learning computer programming is a good way to develop Computational Thinking, but many students assumed that computer programming is a complicated subject, which leads toward their disinterest in computer science. We believe that this assumption can be overcome if the students were introduced to the concept of programming earlier during preschool years. The best programming method for children to learn programming is the tangible programming method but current Malaysian preschool syllabus does not contain a framework for preschoolers to learn tangible programming. This paper introduces the developmentally-appropriate Learn Programming Framework (LPF) for preschoolers to learn programming concepts. The structured syllabus in LPF involves a series of controlled-play activities to be used with the novel tangible board game. Once the framework has been successfully implemented, extensive evaluation of LPF will be done to test its effectiveness in teaching children about programming

PY-RATE ADVENTURES: A 2D Platform Serious Game for Learning the Basic Concepts of Programming With Python

Background. Learning programming is a cognitively demanding field of study accompanied with various difficulties. Although there is a high demand in the market for programmers, software analysts and engineers, a high dropout rate is recorded in relevant fields of study. Serious games are a promising means of engaging students in learning programming by giving them more incentives and making the process of learning programming concepts and languages more entertaining. Aim. This article introduces a new serious game called PY-RATE ADVENTURES, which aims to assist young students in their introduction to the basic programming concepts using Python. The game does not have any prerequisites and is suitable for players with no previous knowledge of programming. This article aims to present important information regarding the analysis, design and pilot evaluation of PY-RATE ADVENTURES. Method. The game was evaluated by 31 people that had recently graduated or were students of an Interdepartmental Programme of Postgraduate Studies in Information Systems. The participants voluntarily played the game and answered a questionnaire based on the MEEGA+ model, after their hands on experience with the game. This questionnaire’s purpose was to evaluate PY-RATE ADVENTURES in terms of perceived player experience and short-term learning. Results. The participants positively evaluated the game almost in all the elements of player experience. Furthermore, the majority of the users consider that the game helped them to learn basic programming concepts in Python and stated that they would prefer to learn programming with this game rather than other teaching methods. Conclusion. The positive results of the pilot evaluation give us the motivation to proceed and evaluate the game with students in secondary education, in order to extract stronger and generalisable conclusions regarding the impact of the game as an educational tool for learning programming concepts.

Programming with Scratch in primary school, indicators related to effectiveness of education process and analysis of these indicators in terms of various variables

Since programming processes involve different thinking skills and different fields of knowledge, it is especially important for children to acquire 21st-century skills. Even though the programming education activities are being intensively applied, it can be said that there is a gap in quantitative researches supporting the effort to reveal the direct or indirect effectiveness of the learning–teaching processes for the programming education. This study, which was done to fill this gap, aims to examine the degree to which students learn programming concepts (PC) and to identify effective variables in that process with a developed curriculum for gifted students studying in the second–third–fourth grade in primary schools. For this purpose, a 15-week application was carried out and each student developed an individual project. In the study, a criterion list, observation forms and peer evaluations were used based on PC to examine projects and learning process. The scores obtained from these tools were used to examine the application of each participant, to comment on the effective variables and the adequacy of the teaching process. The evidence from this study intimates that female participants obtained higher scores than male ones in programming education. Those scores are higher in 9 and 10 age group of students than others. Those who haven’t had Internet access, who have never used computer or have had access to Internet as well as who haven’t had any computer courses had lower scores than others. The upshot of this is that previous computer technology experiences of students may have affected the scores obtained programming education process.

A Web based Approach for Teaching and Learning Programming Concepts at Middle School Level

A Web based Approach for Teaching and Learning Programming Concepts at Middle School Level

Collaborative Strategy for Teaching and Learning Object-Oriented Programming course: A Case Study at Mostafa Stambouli Mascara University, Algeria

Several strategies and methods have been designed and tested to allow students to have better teaching and learning of programming concepts and training their programming skills acquired. In our university, old and classic pedagogical methods are still used in the learning of Oriented-Object Programming (OOP). This paper explores the experimentation of a pedagogical approach designed for Mostafa Stambouli Mascara University’s computer sciences students to enhance their chances to get an effective teaching using a collaborative learning and early introduction of current technologies. The study was made of 108 second year informatics students’ for two semesters (October–January 2016-2017, September-December 2017-2018) who were identified in a controlled experience for collaborative learning OOP in lab session. Students gathered into predetermined groups based on initial test and some settings. The students are supposed to share the same programming assignment by distributing roles according to global pedagogical scenario for problem-resolving activities. This experience allows the teachers to apply this strategy and see students in closer and permit them to express their problems and search together for solutions. The principal objective was to offer a new experience to motivate students and make this design a smart opportunity to have better programming performance. Furthermore, as a result of testing this new strategy, the students’ academic progress is clear. A questionnaire was distributed with the purpose of analyzing students’ motivation and satisfaction levels alongside the effects of the experiment. Results show that students found that among other benefits this method facilitates the learning process.

The Effect of Green Software: A Study of Impact Factors on the Correctness of Software

Unfortunately, sustainability is an issue very poorly used when developing software and hardware systems. Lately, and in order to contribute to the earth sustainability, a new concept emerged named Green software which is computer software that can be developed and used efficiently and effectively with minimal or no impact to the environment. Currently, new teaching methods based on students’ learning process are being developed in the European Higher Education Area. Most of them are oriented to promote students’ interest in the course’s contents and offer personalized feedback. Online judging is a promising method for encouraging students’ participation in the e-learning process, although it still has to be researched and developed to be widely used and in a more efficient way. The great amount of data available in an online judging tool provides the possibility of exploring some of the most indicative attributes (e.g., running time, memory) for learning programming concepts, techniques and languages. So far, the most applied methods for automatically gathering information from the judging systems are based on statistical methods and, although providing reasonable correlations, these methods have not been proven to provide enough information for predicting grades when dealing with a huge amount of data. Therefore, the great novelty of this paper is to develop a data mining approach to predict program correctness as well as the grades of the students’ practices. For this purpose, powerful data mining technologies taken from the artificial intelligence domain have been used. In particular, in this study, we have used logistic regression, decision trees, artificial neural network and support vector machines; which have been properly identified as the most suitable ones for predicting activities in the e-learning domains. The results have achieved an accuracy of around 74%, both in the prediction of the program correctness as well as in the practice grades’ prediction. Another relevant issue provided in this paper is a comparison among these four techniques to obtain the best accuracy in predicting grades based on the availability of data as well as their taxonomy. The Decision Trees classifier has obtained the best confusion matrix, and time and memory efficiency were identified as the most important predictor variables. In view of these results, we can conclude that the development of green software leads programmers to implement correct software.

Formative evaluation of an adaptive game for engaging learners of programming concepts in K-12

As the global demand for programmers is soaring, several countries have integrated programming into their K-12 curricula. Finding effective ways to engage children in programming education is an important objective. One effective method for this can be presenting learning materials via games, which are known to increase engagement and motivation. Current programming education games often focus on a single genre and offer one-size-fits-all experience to heterogeneous learners. In this study, we presented Minerva, a multi-genre (adventure, action, puzzle) game to engage elementary school students in learning programming concepts. The game content is adapted to play and learning styles of the player to personalize the gameplay. We conducted a formative mixed-method evaluation of Minerva with 32 Korean 6th grade students who played the game and compared their learning outcomes with 32 6th grade students who studied the same concepts using handouts. The results indicated that, in terms of retention, learning was equally effective in both groups. Furthermore, the game was shown to facilitate engagement among the students. These results, together with uncovered issues, will guide Minerva’s further development.

Coding by hand or on the computer? Evaluating the effect of assessment mode on performance of students learning programming

Programming courses suffer from low retention rates, believed to be caused by difficulties in learning programming concepts. Another possibility relates to how programming ability is assessed. Although extensively used, pen-and-paper is arguably not the best way to assess a student’s programming ability. Although previous studies have chosen to implement lab exams as a replacement for pen-and-paper examinations, little consideration has been made to evaluate the extent of the exam mode effect in relation to the use of computers during summative assessment in programming courses, and to what degree this could affect the student’s performance. This study aims to answer to: Are there any differences in performance between students using a computer, compared to students using pen-and-paper during summative assessment of programming ability among novice programmers? This could aid teachers to better assess students’ programming ability in novice courses, which could in turn aid in student retention. An experimental approach has been applied. 20 students participated and were divided in two groups that were giving the same programming problems that was either solved and examined through pen-and-paper assessment or through computerised assessment. While some differences between the groups were noted, the overall results demonstrate no statistical significant difference between the groups in terms of performance.

Introducing programming through acoustics and audio at Belmont University

A course in computer programming has been offered within the department of Audio Engineering Technology at Belmont University to provide an introduction to audio and physics students interested in learning about programming. This course is based on a foundation of acoustics and audio concepts, without requiring previous programming experience. The pedagogical approach has been to expose students to the application of programming within their discipline of interest as a motivation for further exploration. Topics in the course introduce programming concepts for specific signal processing methods. Programming concepts include: variables, operators, data types, as well as basic control structures like loops, conditional statements and functions. While learning programming concepts, students perform various signal processing methods such as: changing a signal’s amplitude, signal synthesis, stereo panning functions, mid-side processing, amplitude fades, amplitude modulation, soft/hard clipping, rectification, bit reduction, echo effects, convolution, algorithmic reverberation, expander/compressor dynamic-range processing, and various spectral filters. Course lessons for a “flipped classroom” are freely and publically available at http://www.hackaudio.com/. Since the initial offering of this course, the number of students in the audio engineering program who double-major or minor in computer science has quadrupled.

Visual programming languages integrated across the curriculum in elementary school: A two year case study using “Scratch” in five schools

Several authors and studies highlight the benefits of the integration of Computer Science into K-12 education. Applications such as Scratch have been demonstrated to be effective in educational environments. The aim of this study is to assess the use of a Visual Programming Language using Scratch in classroom practice, analyzing the outcomes and attitudes of 107 primary school students from 5th to 6th grade in five different schools in Spain. The intervention takes place in two academic years analyzing the practice of integrating coding and visual blocks programming in sciences and arts. The “Computational concepts and computational practices” dimension details a quasi-experimental approach, which showed significant improvement regarding learning programming concepts, logic, and computational practices with an active approach. The “Learning processes and coding in primary education” dimension analyzes the practice of the experimental group through questionnaires and structured observation. In this pedagogical design, students interact and create their own content related to curricular areas with several advantages, such as motivation, fun, commitment, and enthusiasm, showing improvements related to computational thinking and computational practices. Understanding of computational concepts through an active approach, Project Based Learning, usefulness, motivation, and commitment underline the importance and effectiveness of implementing a Visual Programming Language from active methodologies in primary education. Due to the aforementioned benefits and positive results obtained in this research, it is recommended to implement a Visual Programming Language in educational settings in 5th and 6th grade in primary education through a cross-curricular implementation.