Agoritsa Gogoulou

Enhancing Learning in Introductory Computer Science Courses Through SCALE: An Empirical Study

The work presented in this paper aims to support and promote the learning process in introductory computer science courses through the Web-based, adaptive, activity-oriented learning environment known as Supporting Collaboration and Adaptation in a Learning Environment (SCALE). The environment engages students actively in the learning process and supports them with multiple informative and tutoring feedback components. The exploitation of appropriately developed educational material, which was provided through SCALE, showed that SCALE can be a valuable tool for supporting the learning process in introductory computer science courses.

Adapting and personalizing the communication in a synchronous communication tool

In this paper, we present a synchronous text-based communication tool, referred to as Adaptive Communication Tool (ACT), which provides capabilities for adaptation and personalization. ACT supports both the free and the structured form of dialogue. The structured dialogue is implemented by two types of Scaffolding Sentence Templates (SST); i.e. sentence openers or communicative acts. The capability of adaptation is considered in the sense of making suggestions for the supported form of dialogue and SST type and providing the most meaningful and complete set of SST with respect to the learning outcomes addressed by the collaborative learning activity and the model of collaboration followed by the group members. Also, ACT enables learners to have control on the adaptation by selecting the form of dialogue and the SST type they prefer to use and enriching the provided SST set with their own ones in order to cover their communication needs. The results from the formative evaluation of the tool showed that (i) the proposed dialogue form, SST type and the provided set of SST cover students’ communication needs, (ii) the capability of personalizing the communication by selecting the desired communication means as well as by enriching the provided SST set satisfied students, and (iii) students used adequately both types of SST resulting into on-task and coherent dialogues.

e-ECLiP: A Web-Based Environment Supporting Exploratory and Collaborative Learning in Programming

ECLiP aims to establish a learning environment which supports students’ active involvement, contributes to the knowledge construction and the development of skills in programming through the elaboration of explorative and collaborative activities. In this work, we present the main principles of ECLiP, the three-step process for the design of activities and the e-ECLiP environment. The collaboration is supported either through synchronous or asynchronous communication means. The results from the experimental evaluation of e-ECLiP in the teaching of the loop construct to students of secondary education revealed that the proposed didactical approach and the context of the activities contributed positively in the comprehension of the loop construct and its application in solving simple problems. Also, the study revealed that the supported synchronous communication tool can support students’ collaboration and students appreciated the provided facilities.