44 research outputs found
Online supported learning and threshold concepts in novice programming
No full textNovice programming is a challenging subject to
both the students and the educators. Students struggle to
comprehend the methods, and educators try their best to put
forth the subject in an understandable manner. This paper
presents two methods implemented to support the learning
for students in a novice programming class. They are social
network support and online journaling. The threshold
concepts for computing are also discussed. Data collected
through the online journaling method provides an indicator
to the possible threshold concepts in novice programming
subject. The impacts of the methods are evaluated using
analysis of questionnaires responds, entries to the social
networking support platform, online journaling method, and
students’ grade. The conclusion of this study are 1) the
social support network helps students to work on the subject content, and 2) students who post on the platform have a significantly better grade. The conclusion drawn for the online journaling are 1) students who actively participated are scoring better grade in the class, and 2) online journaling method also confirms that one of the main thresholds for novice programming class is the object oriented concept. Apart from Memory and Object Oriented Programming, Multidimensional array and Methods are another two topics identified as threshold concepts for novice programming
Thinking in imperative or objects? A study on how novice programmer thinks when it comes to designing an application
No full textNovice programming is a challenging subject to teach and learn. However, programming is an essential skill
that is required by many majors apart from Computer
Science. The challenges in a novice programming subject
change according to the programming language used. At
the beginning of the 90s, the object-oriented programming
was introduced. Detienne claimed that it is easier for programmers to program using the object-first approach as
humans think naturally in objects. The IEEE and ACM joint
task force on Computing Curriculum proposed two tracks of
curriculum, one for imperative-first and the other for objectfirst implementation. However, most of the work conducted on novice programming focused on the issues of syntax errors, reducing the possibilities of syntax error through a new or adapted programming environment. This paper will present the preliminary work to investigate if students will naturally think in objects or a series of steps. Three intervention methods were implemented in three different workshops. The intervention methods are the object-first, the imperative-first and the problem-solving-first. The students are then requested to design an application. Through the design, the research will identify if the students use the object-first or the imperative-first design. Assuming that the object-first intervention group will design primarily in objects, and the imperative-first intervention group in a series of steps, the problem-solving intervention will be the ”neutral” group. The object-first design is reflected through the attributes and methods of a particular object. The imperative-first design is identified if the solution contains a series of steps. The findings show that most of the students designed the application using a series of steps reflecting
the imperative-first design. This finding should be included when considering if imperative-first or object-first should be the way forward for a novice programming subject
Exploration on the impact of online supported methods for novice programmers
No full textProgramming is a challenging subject to students
who are exploring it for the very first time. Common
problems faced by the students are difficult to break down
the main problem to sub-problems, providing a solution to
the problem using specific steps and placing the different
steps in the correct order to solve the problem. Three online supported methods are implemented in a programming 1
class across three semesters. They are online group discussion using Facebook group, the hour of code activities provided by code.org, and online journaling using Google Form. The impact of the three different are being discussed. It is observed that all the three methods increased students engagement towards the subject. Students posed questions, gave feedback and participated actively in the class. More study is needed to determine the impact of these methods toward students grade
Report on professional attachment with PS Phuan & Co.
No full textThis report presents the highlights of the attachment and the experiences the author, as a student, has gained through the PA. These experiences are obtained during the work and duties assigned to the author
