Teaching Computer Science Courses Research Articles

Computers' Place in School Education and Early Challenges of Computer Assisted Learning in India

An important factor in the social turn of events is education. Tutoring plays a key role in ensuring the success of any nation's progress. A nation's future intellectual leaders must be highly skilled, proactive, and e-modern in approach. Over 50,000 public elementary schools in India have PC-supported learning (CAL) initiatives going on. In a few countries, it has been a significant topic of inquiry and investigation how Information and Communication Technology (ICT) and Computer Science (CS) have been included into educational programs. The term "instruction innovation" refers to the use of a wide range of contemporary media and materials to increase learning opportunities. Experts suggest training innovation as one of the anticipated approaches to successfully and competently enabling education.Before, teachers used to demonstrate in a rigid, official, and well-organized manner. Then, education was seen as a means of exchanging knowledge and ideas. Understudies utilized to memorize any content or instructions offered by the teacher. They frequently struggled to understand the instructions they were given and required to repeat at test time [1] [2] [3][4][5][6] [7]. The nature of CS instruction depends not only on the support of the government and the content of the curriculum but also on the knowledge and skills of the teachers who are teaching CS courses. Powerful instructors' CS preparation is therefore approaching. Since the 1980s, there have been active projects bringing PCs to low-paying areas in order to deliver innovative benefit.Such motivations would often anticipate a formative inspiration in the endeavor, especially in impoverished nations. Growing trust among government and confidential organizations, whose information on figures is a significant connection in human turn of events, and that the early presentation has large long-term gains, has led to an interest in such ICTD projects. In this essay, we investigate the availability of free processing in government-funded schools in rural India. This review suggests a system for focusing on PC-aided learning projects in low-pay schools after observing designs that imply "achievement" at both the mutual and individual levels. It also raises issues regarding learning and undertaking association that scientists in ICT training may look at for theories [8] [9] [10]11][12][13] [14].

Capacity-related factors associated with computer science access and participation in Georgia public high schools

States across the United States are enacting policies aimed at increasing computer science (CS) courses and content in K–12 schools. We explore the relationship between such policy with the capacity of high schools to teach CS courses and student access to and participation in CS courses. To do this, we focus on Georgia, a state that has had a robust CS education movement over the past two decades. This paper investigates two research questions: 1) What factors at the school or district level are related to whether a high school teaches CS in Georgia? 2) What factors are related to CS enrollment rates in Georgia high schools? We examine these questions within the context of national and state policy factors that increase capacity of schools to teach CS. We describe the results of correlation and regression analyses of publicly available data for each school and district from 2016 and school CS enrollment from 2012 to 2016 in answering these questions. Results indicate that the odds of a school offering CS in 2016 were greatest for schools that taught CS the prior year, although median income and school size were also significant factors when prior CS was not considered. For CS enrollment, the model that included prior CS enrollment rates explained the most variance, although school size, median income, and the percentage of students who identify as Asian were also significant when prior CS enrollment was not included in the model. CS-specific policy has the potential to mitigate the effects of school size and income by offering capacity supports to schools that do not currently offer CS and can contribute to the sustainability and growth of CS offerings. These results have implications for policy efforts beyond the state of Georgia and provide direction for future research examining the causes of sustained CS offerings and enrollment patterns.

Secondary Computer Science Teachers’ Pedagogical Needs

The purpose of this study is to identify secondary computer science (CS) teachers’ pedagogical needs in the United States. Participants were selected from secondary teachers who were teaching CS courses or content in a school setting (public, private, or charter) or an after-school program during the time of data collection. This is a qualitative study using CS teachers’ discussions in Computer Science Teachers Association’s (CSTA) email listserv, responses to open-ended questions in a questionnaire, and discussions in follow-up interviews. Content analysis, thematic analysis and constant comparative method of qualitative data analysis were used to analyze the data. The most common pedagogical need expressed was learning student-centered strategies for teaching CS and guiding students’ understanding with the use of scaffolding and team-management strategies in CS classes. Furthermore, addressing students’ beliefs in CS and their preconceptions in math and reading were important factors influencing teaching CS effectively in secondary schools.

Using Targeted Feedback to Address Common Student Misconceptions in Introductory Programming: A Data-Driven Approach

With the expansion of computer science (CS) education, CS teachers in K-12 schools should be cognizant of student misconceptions and be prepared to help students establish accurate understanding of computer science and programming. Digital tools, such as automated assessment systems, can be useful and supportive in teaching CS courses. This two-stage design-based research (DBR) study investigated the effects of targeted feedback in an automated assessment system for addressing common misconceptions of high school students in a Java-based introductory programming course. Based on students’ common errors and underlying misconceptions, targeted feedback messages were designed and provided for students. The quantitative analysis found that with targeted feedback students were more likely to correct the errors in their code. The qualitative analysis of students’ solutions revealed that when improving the code, students receiving feedback made fewer intermediate incorrect solutions. In other words, the targeted feedback messages may help to promote conceptual change and facilitate learning. Although the findings of this exploratory study showed evidence of the power of digital tools, more research is needed to make technology benefit more CS teachers.

Comparison between traditional teaching method and discussion style to teach computer science courses and the impact of using discussion technique on the students marks.

If the teacher was able to clarify to students what is the purpose of the lecture? What they will learn? How to build and construct what they learn by themselves? If the students were able to answer similar questions; that would increase their chance to understand the lecture. The main goal of this study is review the curriculum of the cores to nd any potential problem and suggest a solution for such limitation then analyze the impact of that solution on the knowledge of students. Furthermore, this paper presents a result of a real study of the impact of changing teaching method from traditional method to teaching with discussion technique and who that re ected on the level of students.

An Example of a Successful Inclusion of Teamwork and Web 2.0 Elements in Teaching Practice

In this paper, the authors will demonstrate their experiences with the utilization of Web 2.0 elements in teaching computer science courses. The robust, reliable learning management solution the authors have employed for over a decade (Moodle) enabled them to integrate the typical building blocks of current social services and Internet communication in their common educational activities. Moreover, they conducted a number of surveys among both lecturers and students in order to draw inside information about the attitudes, feelings and thoughts of users of the mentioned services. On the general level, opinions are mostly positive within both groups of users, with slight variations regarding different services. Some of the offered possibilities are more appreciated, and used more willingly, while the rest of them are still considered only as a possibility, which suggests that the authors should provide more support and guidance to both their students and colleagues.

Leveraging Free and Open Source Software to Model Teaching and Learning in Computer Science Education

Free and Open Source Software (FOSS) is not only seen by computer science departments as an optional free and low cost technology to support their IT infrastructure and administrative duties, but also as a methodology to improve pedagogy and provide opportunities for students to learn. As a result, many teachers are turning to FOSS projects and communities as effective tools to teach computer science courses and give their students significant real-world experience. However, few teaching and learning models exist that can help computer science teachers provide guidance and mentorship for their students' involvement in FOSS projects. In order to address this gap in computer science education, this paper presents a teaching and learning model that was evaluated using a series of pilot studies conducted with software engineering students. Experiences and lessons learnt from the pilot studies shows one possible way teachers can guide students' involvement in FOSS projects and how this approach can be integrated into a formally structured curriculum. Index Terms—Capstone projects, computer science education, curriculum design, open source software communities, open source software projects, software engineering.

Facilitating class attendance to improve student achievements

Many studies have revealed that attendance is strongly associated with students’ achievements, and have proposed different strategies to improve students’ attendance. However, there are few studies investigating how to efficiently take students’ attendance – the key component to improve students’ attendance. Taking attendance manually is inefficient since it will consume part of the limited class time. This paper describes the design and the implementation of an online attendance system that is currently used in classes at West Virginia University and California University of Pennsylvania. Examples of the system are provided online. Implementation codes of the system are shared, which can be used to teach computer science courses such as Web Programming or Client-Server Script Languages.

Tutoring model for promoting teaching skills of computer science prospective teachers

One of the greatest challenges Computer Science (CS) teachers face is that of guiding their pupils through problem-solving processes, i.e., the process of constructing a solution for a given problem as an algorithm or a computer program. This paper suggests a tutoring model, to be implemented by prospective CS teachers, that aims at training them to accomplish this challenge. The model is based on one-on-one tutoring sessions, in which the prospective teacher meets a novice undergraduate student taking an introductory CS course and guides him or her through problem-solving processes. The tutoring activity provides the prospective CS teachers with an opportunity to experience teaching situations, especially learners' difficulties with respect to problem-solving processes, and consequently, to improve their teaching skills. The tutoring model was integrated into the Methods of Teaching Computer Science course and was accompanied by a qualitative research. The main research findings indicate that the prospective CS teachers: (a) change their perspective with respect to teaching processes; (b) focus in their teaching on learners' difficulties; (c) increase their awareness to problem-solving processes and to the need to adapt different teaching approaches for different learners; (d) become reflective practitioners; and (e) increase their confidence with respect to teaching processes.

A comparison of Ada and Java as a foundation teaching language

Java has entered the software arena in unprecedented fashion, upstaging languages and technologies that are longstanding players in the industry. Almost unheard of before 1995, the language and its surrounding technology are attracting increasing attention not merely in the hardware and software communities but also among lay users and in the popular press. This phenomenon has not escaped the attention of academia, and a growing number of colleges and universities are looking at Java as a candidate "foundation" language on which to base computer science curricula.This paper looks at the role of a programming language for teaching computer science courses and compares Ada and Java against the identified criteria. It concludes that Ada is the superior choice, based on technical factors such as its more comprehensive feature set and its methodology-neutral design, and also taking into account external factors including the availability of good but inexpensive compilation environments.Section 1 provides a brief overview of the Java technology. Section 2 identifies the criteria relevant to choosing a programming language for a foundation-level Computer Science course. Section 3 compares Ada and Java with respect to the criteria related to technical aspects of the language, and Section 4 compares the languages with respect to external factors. Section 5 summarizes the conclusions of this analysis.Appendix A furnishes a summary of the Java language. It is assumed that the reader is familiar with Ada, and thus an Ada language summary is not included. Web sites with links to Ada information include [SIGAda], [Kempe 1 ], and [AdaIC].

Writing Activities Can Improve Learning in Computer Science Courses

Those of us who teach computer science courses, especially upper division courses, face a difficult pedagogical problem. What kind of activities can we provide that will help our students progress beyond the superficial level of learning yet another collection of disjointed facts and procedures? The literature on writing strongly suggests that writing assignments can help the students master difficult concepts and develop the higher level skills that should be part of their education. Short, narrowly focused writing assignments have been used effectively to supplement a wide range of computer science courses. Holistic grading and follow‐up discussions can reduce the grading burden without sacrificing the quality of the feedback.

Personal computer networks and graphical animation

This paper examines how progress in computer hardware and software may be applied to solve several serious problems in teaching computer science courses. It is concerned primarily with two such problems: 1) the lack of immediate reinforcement of computing concepts because of long delays between learning and practice, and 2) the difficulty instructors have motivating and explaining complex topics with currently available instruction tools and techniques. The paper first reviews the involvement of educational institutions in the evolution of computing. It then briefly surveys recent experiments in powerful personal computing. It describes an experiment in the application of new personal computer technology at Brown University which addresses the two educational problems noted above. It then outlines in detail the initial courseware for the environment. Finally, it discusses what changes in pedagogy will be needed to make such technology usable on a wide-scale.