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First Principles of CS Instruction
Get PDFMuch attention has been paid in recent years to finding more flexible and less prescriptive approaches to the design of instruction than those put forward during the latter part of the twentieth century. A view of instruction as causal and largely behaviouristic has given way to one that is guided and primarily constructivist. In his current research, David Merrill outlines five fundamental principles of instruction which have broad implications for teaching computer science (CS). These five principles are: 1) solving real-world problems, 2) activating existing knowledge to build new knowledge, 3) demonstrating new knowledge to the learner, 4) allowing learners to apply new knowledge, and 5) integrating knowledge into the learner's world. The following paper describes these principles and discusses how they related to instruction in CS
Death to Deadlines: A 21st Century Look at the Use of Deadlines and Late Penalties in Programming Assignments
Get PDFThe practice of setting hard deadlines, sometime
s with stiff penalties for late submissions
has been the norm in many CS departments for
as long as most can remember. This paper
will examine the notion of submission deadlines as applied to programming assignments,
in particular in the freshman year of a
four-year computer science program. A brief
outline of the common practices and the effect on novice students will be presented,
followed by an alternative strategy that was implemented in a relatively small (i.e. 30
students) class in September 2005. Some initial student reactions are outlined along with
known research from education
which supports a more flexible approach such as this.
The discussion that follows will outline the expected benefits from allowing greater
flexibility in assignment submissions,
the context necessary for successful
implementation, as well as some of the
drawbacks and difficulties. It begins by
examining the place of deadlines in the curriculum and the effect this often has on
students. Next, a highly successful approach from an unlikely source is reviewed to
discover which elements might
be appropriated and applied
in a post-secondary learning
environment. That unlikely source is modern
video games. The approach used there is
highly relevant to work that
involves setting challenges, and to experiencing and
accepting their associated consequences. Both of
these conditions exist in a typical CS
programming assignment
Self-assessment skills for lifelong learning.
No full textLOEX of the West Conference, Kona, Hawaii.Presentation for LOEX of the West Conference
On The Pedagogy of Commercial Video Games
No full textThis presentation is intended to fulfill two goals: 1. To show that many commercial games, the successful ones at least, already implement sound pedagogy when it comes to how they get players to learn the game and how they facilitate gameplay. 2. To encourage critical examination of successful video games, to learn how this has been done, so that we may use that information to build engaging educational games
Digital games as simulations
Get PDFOn a computer, all games are simulations, but
not all simulations are games.
With the recent and rapidly growing interest in
digital games, it has become important to examine this
claim in detail. In this paper, the authors will examine
the dichotomy between modern digital games and the
more traditional view of simulations, and what
implications this has for the development of both
‘pure’ simulations as well as games
Pedagogy in Commercial Video Games
Get PDFBooks, film, television, and indeed every other medium that came before them has been used and sometimes studied as media for the delivery of instruction. Outstanding examples of each medium have been applied to educative purposes with enduring results. Digital games are now also receiving attention in this context. A first step to gaining an understanding for just how a particular medium can be used in education is to study the outstanding examples, regardless of their original purpose. This chapter examines numerous well-known and commercially successful games through the lens of several known and accepted learning theories and styles, using the premise that “good” games already embody sound pedagogy in their designs even if the incorporation of those theories was not deliberate
1st principles of CS instruction
No full textMuch attention has been paid in recent years to finding more flexible and less prescriptive approaches to the design of instruction than those put forward during the latter part of the twentieth century. A view of instruction as causal and largely behaviouristic has given way to one that is guided and primarily constructivist. In his current research, David Merrill outlines five fundamental principles of instruction which have broad implications for teaching computer science (CS). These five principles are: 1) solving real-world problems, 2) activating existing knowledge to build new knowledge, 3) demonstrating new knowledge to the learner, 4) allowing learners to apply new knowledge, and 5) integrating knowledge into the learner’s world. The following paper describes these principles and discusses how they related to instruction in CS
