Programming Tasks Research Articles

Effect of emotion and workload on expertise in programming

In recent times, few studies on program comprehension have incorporated the use of psycho-physiological devices and self-report tools to measure participants’ emotions and cognitive workload. The use of self-report scales is beneficial in settings where there is no access to biosensors or a need for a general understanding of programmers’ emotions and workload during learning or in an assessment of a large group. Hence, we designed a study that would use self-report tools — the Self-Assessment Manikin (SAM) test and NASA TLX (Task Load Index) to obtain the emotions and workload of the participants on two types of programming tasks (logical and conceptual). Our aim was to identify the relationship between emotions and expertise, and workload and expertise on conceptual and logical questions in timed and untimed conditions. Our findings indicate that participants showed Low Valence-High Arousal (LVHA) in timed conditions and High Valence-Low Arousal (HVLA) in untimed conditions. Findings further indicate that high performers showed High Valence-Low Arousal (HVLA) on conceptual questions and High Valence-High Arousal (HVHA) on logical questions, whereas low performers showed High Valence-Low Arousal (HVLA) on conceptual questions and Low Valence-High Arousal (LVHA) on logical questions. We found that participants had a higher workload in timed conditions than untimed conditions and had a higher workload on logical questions than conceptual questions. Furthermore, we employed machine learning algorithms to predict expertise using emotions and workload and the best classifier produced an accuracy of 71.4%, with 72% weighted precision, 71.5% weighted recall, and 71.11% weighted F-score.

Toward the Validation of a Novel Measure of Individuals’ Influence During Team Collaborations

Collaborative problem solving (CPS) is an important skill in the modern workforce, and due to its interactive nature, is challenging to assess. The present study builds on work in team sciences to provide initial validation for a metric that quantifies CPS influence—the extent to which each individual contributes toward the team’s CPS processes—using average mutual information (AMI). The measure is investigated in teams collaborating in a computer programming task, where one teammate was assigned to a controller role (i.e., the only person who engaged with the task interface directly). Results suggest the controller had more influence over the team’s CPS processes than the other participants in the triad, providing initial validation for the influence metric. Future work will investigate the measure in classrooms and multiple modalities, and extend the metric in real-time to understand how influence fluctuates over the course of collaboration.

Pengembangan Model Inovasi dan Kreativitas Keilmuan Pendidikan Islam Anak Usia Dini

One of the important tasks of the study program is to carry out educational innovation and creativity. This research was conducted to find a model for developing scientific innovation and creativity in the study program. The research method used is field research in which the data is identified through interviews, documentation, and observation. The results of the research are First, PIAUD Study Program students realize the importance of scientific innovation and creativity in early childhood education because it is based on the scientific reality of early childhood education that requires creativity, the demands of institutional work that want creative graduates, and scientific opportunities in early childhood education that have market opportunities. good to develop. Second, the model for developing scientific innovation and creativity in early childhood education is carried out through intensive collaboration between lecturers and students which is realized by institutional mentoring of lecturers with the PIAUD Studio community which is established and developed according to students' interests and talents in the scientific field of early childhood education. With this model, PIAUD Study Program students have good creativity and innovation as evidenced by various achievements at the national level in innovation and creativity competitions for early childhood education students.

The Effectiveness of JASPER Program Tasks for Early Intervention in Developing Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder Skills

The current study aims to use JASPER program components; joint attention, symbolic play, engagement, and regulation to develop the skills of children with autism and reduce the level of disorder. The study sample consisted of 7 children (3 males and 4 females) in addition to their mothers, the children were enrolled in one of the centers for people with disabilities in the United Arab Emirates. The chronological ages of the sample were between 6 to 8 years. The study used a set of tools to achieve the objectives of the study, including the scale of Jasper tasks for Early Intervention, the autism disorder scale, and a training program prepared by the researcher. The results of the study confirmed the effectiveness of the training program in improving the average scores of the experimental group children on JASPER scale for the dimensions and total score. The results also revealed that there were statistically significant differences between the mean scores before and after the application of the training program for the experimental group children for the dimensions and the total degree of autism disorder diagnosis scale in the direction of the post-test. The results also showed that there were no statistically significant differences between all of post-tests and follow-up tests (a month after the end of the program application). Keywords: Tasks, Program, JASPER, Early intervention, Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder.

3-Dimensionally Printed Affordable Nose Model: A Reliable Start in Endoscopic Training for Young Neurosurgeons

Training neurosurgical skills is one of the most important tasks of a residency program. Techniques' complexity and pathology rarity define a long learning curve for mastering different surgical skills for which simulation on anatomic samples is extremely important. For this purpose, cadaver laboratory training is the most reliable tool. However, since access to cadaveric specimens is limited, due to costs and availability, surgical skills could be developed using inanimate models. This work aimed to develop a printable3-dimensional model of the nasal cavity and sellar floor using an open-source downloadable file, to give residents the opportunity to improve their endoscopic surgical skills in a low-risk atmosphere with little cost. The 3D model was realized taking as a sample a real-case CT scan imaging from which the sellar floor was removed. A quail egg was placed underneath the printed model covering the sellar floor opening. Under endoscopic visualization, the "sellar floor" was drilled by each participant with the goal of sparing the egg's inner membrane. Once the task was achieved, surgeons were asked to participate in a satisfaction survey. The total cost for printing was 6.31€ (6,72$). A satisfaction survey showed technical improvement (90%), increased confidence (80%), and bringing learned skills into the operating room (70%), leading to a 100% agreement in introducing this project into residency programs. Training on affordable anatomic models represents a useful tool in technical skills improvement. We believe this model could help residents bring their technical capabilities to more sophisticated levels.

Корпоративне навчання як новий бренд методичної служби в закладі загальної середньої освіти

Methodical work in a modern school is an integral system of interrelated activities based on the achievements of psychological and pedagogical science, advanced pedagogical experience and aimed at improving the professional skills of teachers, developing the creative potential of each teacher in particular and the entire teaching staff in order to increase the effectiveness of the educational process.
 The content of the article reveals the questiona new approach to the organization of methodological work, which is the most important link in the system of continuous training of members of the teaching staff and is aimed at enriching and developing the creative potential of teachers.
 Given the practical implementation of the tasks of the State National Program "Education (Ukraine of the XXI century)," the urgent task is to adapt teachers to educational requirements. An important role in ensuring the reform of education is played by the modernization of scientific and methodological work in an educational institution through the introduction of modern educational, management technologies, stimulating professional growth of personnel, increasing their professional skills, in particular; through the effective application of effective forms and methods of adult learning, tools, computer learning systems and information network interaction.
 A model of the system of organization of methodological work in the institution of general secondary education has been developed. It is determined that methodical work with pedagogical personnel occurs by differentiation of pedagogical potential and requires the presence (or formation) of information and technological competence among pedagogical workers, which is advisable to do through corporate training.
 Therefore, in the present (the emergence and dissemination of a large amount of information), a key feature of the system of methodological work with pedagogical personnel should be the ability to obtain the necessary skills in time to be able to meet immediate educational needs. The article determined that the most effective method in this case is corporate training. The priority of which is the acquisition of relevant knowledge, skills and abilities to increase the efficiency of any institution in general and institutions of general secondary education in particular.

HISTORICISM AS A GENERAL SCIENTIFIC PRINCIPLE IN A MODERN SOCIOLOGY OF SCIENCE

In the given article, the author tries to defi ne historicism as an eff ective scientifi c principle in the fi eld of humanities, namely in the modern sociology of science. Trying to solve this task, the author focuses his attention on the B. Latour and G. Harman’s discussion on the essence of material objects. Analyzing their positions, the author states that despite initially diff erent philosophical attitudes, both thinkers consider the subject of their research in a historicist way, that is, as dynamic and changeable in the course of the time. This way of thinking, in turn, forces them to solve their program tasks, using the instruments which were developed in the frame of classical historicist thought. So B. Latour chooses to use the historicist methodology and G. Harman, in turn, reproduces its specific ontology. Taking into consideration the results of the study and opinions of domestic and foreign researchers, the author concludes that despite the destructive criticism of postmodernism, historicism still remains a kind of organizing principle in humanities, which doesn’t only set the context of modern discussions, but also forms prospects for further development.

OCCUPATIONAL THERAPY AND PHYSICAL THERAPY IN INCLUSIVE EDUCATION

In the context of solving the tasks of inclusive education, the competencies of physical therapists and occupational therapists, defined by the Standard of Higher Education of the second (master's) level of higher education in the field of knowledge 22 Health care, specialty 227 Physical therapy, occupational therapy, in particular effective cooperation with all members of the multidisciplinary rehabilitation team and other health, education and social policy professionals involved in providing services to patients/clients.
 The purpose of the research is to reveal the content and tasks of physical therapy, occupational therapy in an inclusive educational space. In order to achieve the set goal, the following research tasks must be solved: to reveal the state of scientific study of the problem of using methods of physical therapy, occupational therapy in inclusive education; to analyze the task of the team of psychological and pedagogical support of a child with special educational needs; determine the types of health-preserving technologies in educational institutions with an inclusive form of education; to analyze the content, forms and methods of adaptive physical education in an inclusive educational space.
 Conclusions:
 
 The introduction of an inclusive form of education in Ukraine significantly actualized the need for the use of occupational therapy and physical therapy in corrective and developmental assistance for children with disabilities of different age and nosological groups. At the same time, the support of children with special educational needs in the implementation of the tasks of the individual development program by a multidisciplinary team of specialists in an inclusive educational space has become an important direction of ensuring their special educational needs.
 The use of various types of health-preserving technologies is an important condition for the effective functioning of inclusive education. In order to preserve, strengthen and increase the physical, mental and social health of pupils of inclusive groups of special education, such main groups of health-preserving technologies are used as: organizational-pedagogical, psychological-pedagogical and educational-educational. Organizational and pedagogical ones are used to determine the structure of the educational process, which is able to prevent overwork, hypodynamia, etc.
 Among the types of health-preserving technologies that are used in the inclusive educational space of primary schools, it is appropriate to single out: physical culture and health, medical and preventive technologies, and technologies for ensuring optimal mental and social health of preschoolers.
 The effectiveness of the introduction of AFV in the work with pupils of special educational institutions who have normative development and their peers with special needs of different nosological groups depends on ensuring an optimally favorable, barrier-free educational environment in special educational institutions. The results of AFV directly depend on taking into account and realizing the potential opportunities and needs of each child, individual characteristics, preservation and strengthening of his health. At the same time, it is necessary to take into account that regardless of the psychophysical development of preschoolers and their state of health, each of them has resource opportunities, the use of which can positively affect the quality of life.

Retrieving API Knowledge from Tutorials and Stack Overflow Based on Natural Language Queries

When encountering unfamiliar APIs, developers tend to seek help from API tutorials and Stack Overflow (SO). API tutorials help developers understand the API knowledge in a general context, while SO often explains the API knowledge in a specific programming task. Thus, tutorials and SO posts together can provide more API knowledge. However, it is non-trivial to retrieve API knowledge from both API tutorials and SO posts based on natural language queries. Two major problems are irrelevant API knowledge in two different resources and the lexical gap between the queries and documents. In this article, we regard a fragment in tutorials and a Question and Answering (Q&A) pair in SO as a knowledge item (KI). We generate ⟨ API, FRA ⟩ pairs (FRA stands for fragment) from tutorial fragments and APIs and build ⟨ API, QA ⟩ pairs based on heuristic rules of SO posts. We fuse ⟨ API, FRA ⟩ pairs and ⟨ API, QA ⟩ pairs to generate API knowledge (AK for short) datasets, where each data item is an ⟨ API, KI ⟩ pair. We propose a novel approach, called PLAN, to automatically retrieve API knowledge from both API tutorials and SO posts based on natural language queries. PLAN contains three main stages: (1) API knowledge modeling, (2) query mapping, and (3) API knowledge retrieving. It first utilizes a deep-transfer-metric-learning-based relevance identification (DTML) model to effectively find relevant ⟨ API, KI ⟩ pairs containing two different knowledge items (⟨ API, QA ⟩ pairs and ⟨ API, FRA ⟩ pairs) simultaneously. Then, PLAN generates several potential APIs as a way to reduce the lexical gap between the query and ⟨ API, KI ⟩ pairs. According to potential APIs, we can select relevant ⟨ API, KI ⟩ pairs to generate potential results. Finally, PLAN returns a list of ranked ⟨ API, KI ⟩ pairs that are related to the query. We evaluate the effectiveness of PLAN with 270 queries on Java and Android AK datasets containing 10,072 ⟨ API, KI ⟩ pairs. Our experimental results show that PLAN is effective and outperforms the state-of-the-art approaches. Our user study further confirms the effectiveness of PLAN in locating useful API knowledge.

Integrating programming errors into knowledge graphs for automated assignment of programming tasks

Integrating programming errors into knowledge graphs for automated assignment of programming tasks

Changes in functional brain activity patterns associated with computer programming learning in novices.

Computer programming, the process of designing, writing, and testing executable computer code, is an essential skill in numerous fields. A description of the neural structures engaged and modified during programming skill acquisition could help improve training programs and provide clues to the neural substrates underlying the acquisition of related skills. Fourteen female university students without prior computer programing experience were examined by functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) during the early and late stages of a 5-month 'Computer Processing' course. Brain regions involved in task performance and learning were identified by comparing responses to programming and control tasks during the early and late stages. The accuracy of performing a programming task was significantly improved during the late stage. Various regions of the frontal, temporal, parietal, and occipital cortex as well as several subcortical structures (caudate nuclei and cerebellum) were activated during programming tasks. Brain activity in the right inferior frontal gyrus was greater during the late stage and significantly correlated with improved task performance. Although the left inferior frontal gyrus was also highly active during the programming task, there were no learning-induced changes in activity or a significant correlation between activity and improved task performances. Computer programming learning among novices induces functional neuroplasticity within the right inferior frontal gyrus but not the left inferior gyrus (Broca's area).

The system for automated assessment of knowledge and practical skills in programming

The article describes a software package (automated knowledge assessment system) that allows in practice to apply a new type of tasks for automated control of knowledge and skills in programming, based on a constructive-selective method. In such tasks, the student constructs an answer (program) from the proposed components (lines of program code), and the task involves many correct answers. A new type of task allows assessing the knowledge of previously studied algorithms and skills of writing programs, that complement black-box testing. The developed automated control system consists of two subsystems: “Processing” and “Demonstration”. The “Demonstration” subsystem, which is a web application, provides the minimum necessary set of features for using this type of tasks in the educational process, and it also serves as an example that can be used when developing extensions for other systems. The “Processing” subsystem allows integration of a new type of programming tasks into various automated knowledge assessment systems and LMS, if they provide an opportunity for expansion. A teacher creates manually or using the tools developed by the authors of this article a pattern and a list of components before applying a new type of task. A student makes up the answer (program) from the proposed components (lines of program code). The assessment algorithm evaluates the compliance of the student’s answer with the pattern and assesses compliance in the interval [0; 1].

Parametric optimization of bar structures with discrete and continuous design variables using improved gradient projection method

The paper considers a parametric optimization problem for the bar structures formulated as nonlinear programming task, where the purpose function and non-linear constraints of the mathematical model are continuously differentiable functions of the design variables. The method of the objective function gradient projection onto the active constraints surface with simultaneous correction of the constraints violations has been used to solve the parametric optimization problem. A discretization technique for the design variables that should vary discretely has been proposed. The discretization of the optimal design solution obtained in the continuous space of the design variables is performed by the purposefully selecting discrete points around the point of the continuous optimum. The comparison of the optimization results presented by the paper demonstrates that improved gradient method together with proposed discretization technique for the discrete design variables converges to better solutions of the problem comparing to the meta-heuristic algorithms.

Multiple-Criteria Decision-Making for Medical Rescue Operations during Mass Casualty Incidents

Mass casualty incident (MCI) is an unpredictable situation where a great number of people have been injured after an accident or sudden disease. Survival of the injured in the MCI depends on the efficiency of the directed emergency system (DES). The organization and management of medical assistance is of paramount importance. The shortest possible time to provide medical services to injured persons is crucial. The medical service in the case of the MCI primarily requires decisions on the priority of the order of treatment of the injured, the choice of medical transport and the location of specialized emergency treatment. As part of this paper, the effectiveness of the DES has been analyzed, and criteria used to improve rescue operations have been formulated. A formalized mathematical description of the medical rescue operations in MCIs has been proposed, and the optimization problem as the mixed integer linear programming (MILP) task was formulated. Optimization of an example case of rescue operations in MCIs has been presented. A computer simulator for optimal decision-making in medical rescue operations (CSMRO) has been developed for this purpose. The CSMRO implements various multi-criteria optimization methods to solve the formulated problem of rescue operations optimization. The results of computations made with the developed CSMRO simulator significantly shorten the time of decision-making in mass casualty incident handling.

Determination of Country-Specific Criteria Weights for Long-Term Energy Planning in Europe

Energy strategies and decision-making studies rely heavily on a system of criteria and their weights of importance, typically determined through stakeholder involvement or surveys. However, the methodology presented in this study considers a reverse approach, as the importance weights are computed based on historical data of each European country’s prevailing decisions on pre-defined aspects. An in-house-developed model was applied to analyze data from the ENTSO-E database for the determination of optimal criteria weights with combination of a linear programming task and Monte Carlo simulations. Applying the new model, the importance weights of seven selected criteria could be calculated for all European countries. The Eastern European region demonstrated exceptional sensitivity towards investment costs, while countries relying heavily on renewable or nuclear energy sources, such as Denmark, Greece, Norway, Slovenia, Spain, and the United Kingdom, exhibited a dominant influence of environmental factors. Moreover, it was observed that the flexibility criterion aligned well with the installed generation capacities. However, the geopolitical factor and the risk of accidents criteria introduced nuances to the overall rating, indicating a somewhat reduced dependence on production data.

Mining relevant solutions for programming tasks from search engine results

AbstractOfficial documentation of software development technologies, for example, APIs, may not be sufficient for all developer needs, so searching on the Internet is a usual practice. Nonetheless, finding useful information may be challenging because the best solutions are not always among the first ranked pages. Developers need to read and discard irrelevant pages, that is, those without code examples or those that have content with little focus on the desired solution. This work aims at proposing an approach to mine relevant solutions for programming tasks from search engine results by removing irrelevant pages. The authors evaluated the top‐20 pages returned by the Google search engine, for 10 different queries, and observed that only 31% of the evaluated pages are relevant to developers. Then, the authors proposed and evaluated three different approaches to mine the relevant pages returned by the search engine. Google's search engine has been used as a baseline, and authors’ results have shown that it returns a reasonable number of irrelevant pages for developers, and the authors could establish an effective approach to remove irrelevant pages, suggesting that developers could benefit from a customised web search filter for development content.

Looking “Under the hood” of learning computer programming: the emotional and cognitive differences between novices and beginners

ABSTRACT Background and Context Current programming learning research often compares novices and experienced programmers, leaving early learning stages and emotional and cognitive states under-explored. Objective Our study investigates relationships between cognitive and emotional states and learning performance in early stage programming learners with varying expertise (12 novices and 11 beginners; N = 23). Method Measures such as electrodermal activity, automated facial emotion recognition, and pupil diameter were collected to study cognitive and emotional states during a programming task. We examined how these states correlated with performance and the influence of expertise on these correlations. Findings Multiple regression analysis on panel data (n = 690 observations) suggested fear negatively impacts programming performance, irrespective of expertise level. Meanwhile, programming expertise positively moderated cognitive effort applied to the task. Implications Our findings highlight the importance for educators to design early programming experiences that anticipate and reduce fear and cognitive overload, promoting better learning outcomes.

A Type System for Safe Intermittent Computing

Batteryless energy-harvesting devices enable computing in inaccessible environments, at a cost to programmability and correctness. These devices operate intermittently as energy is available, using a recovery system to save and restore state. Some program tasks must execute atomically w.r.t. power failures, re-executing if power fails before completion. Any re-execution should typically be idempotent —its behavior should match the behavior of a single execution. Thus, a key aspect of correct intermittent execution is identifying and recovering state causing undesired non-idempotence. Unfortunately, past intermittent systems take an ad-hoc approach, using unsound dataflow analyses or conservatively recovering all written state. Moreover, no prior work allows the programmer to directly specify idempotence requirements (including allowable non-idempotence). We present curricle, the first type system approach to safe intermittence, for Rust. Type level reasoning allows programmers to express requirements and retains alias information crucial for sound analyses. Curricle uses information flow and type qualifiers to reject programs causing undesired non-idempotence. We implement Curricle’s type system on top of Rust’s compiler, evaluating the prototype on benchmarks from prior work. We find that Curricle benefits application programmers by allowing them to express idempotence requirements that are checked to be satisfied, and that targeting programs checked with Curricle allows intermittent system designers to write simpler recovery systems that perform better.

The Python programming language as an alternative tool for solving tasks of the Unified State Exam in informatics

Programming is the basis of the content line "Algorithms and programming", which is studied throughout the entire school course of informatics, therefore programming tasks are one of the thematic blocks of the Unified State Exam (USE) in informatics. In particular, one of the educational languages used in solving tasks of the USE in informatics is the Python programming language. This language can be used both for solving the problems of the "Programming" section, and for solving other tasks of the Unified State Exam, simplifying the way to solve them if the students have the skills to write programs in this programming language using the main algorithmic structures (sequencing, selection, and iteration) and data structures (arrays, strings).The article describes the possibilities of using the Python programming language as an alternative tool for solving tasks No. 2, No. 5, No. 15 and No. 16 of the USE in informatics using the example of tasks from the demo version of the USE 2023 control measuring materials, as well as tasks from the open bank of USE tasks.

DreamCoder: growing generalizable, interpretable knowledge with wake-sleep Bayesian program learning.

Expert problem-solving is driven by powerful languages for thinking about problems and their solutions. Acquiring expertise means learning these languages-systems of concepts, alongside the skills to use them. We present DreamCoder, a system that learns to solve problems by writing programs. It builds expertise by creating domain-specific programming languages for expressing domain concepts, together with neural networks to guide the search for programs within these languages. A 'wake-sleep' learning algorithm alternately extends the language with new symbolic abstractions and trains the neural network on imagined and replayed problems. DreamCoder solves both classic inductive programming tasks and creative tasks such as drawing pictures and building scenes. It rediscovers the basics of modern functional programming, vector algebra and classical physics, including Newton's and Coulomb's laws. Concepts are built compositionally from those learned earlier, yielding multilayered symbolic representations that are interpretable and transferrable to new tasks, while still growing scalably and flexibly with experience. This article is part of a discussion meeting issue 'Cognitive artificial intelligence'.