Donna Teague

On the reliability of classifying programming tasks using a neo-piagetian theory of cognitive development

Recent research has proposed Neo-Piagetian theory as a useful way of describing the cognitive development of novice programmers. Neo-Piagetian theory may also be a useful way to classify materials used in learning and assessment. If Neo-Piagetian coding of learning resources is to be useful then it is important that practitioners can learn it and apply it reliably. We describe the design of an interactive web-based tutorial for Neo-Piagetian categorization of assessment tasks. We also report an evaluation of the tutorials effectiveness, in which twenty computer science educators participated. The average classification accuracy of the participants on each of the three Neo-Piagetian stages were 85%, 71% and 78%. Participants also rated their agreement with the expert classifications, and indicated high agreement (91%, 83% and 91% across the three Neo-Piagetian stages). Self-rated confidence in applying Neo-Piagetian theory to classifying programming questions before and after the tutorial were 29% and 75% respectively. Our key contribution is the demonstration of the feasibility of the Neo-Piagetian approach to classifying assessment materials, by demonstrating that it is learnable and can be applied reliably by a group of educators. Our tutorial is freely available as a community resource.

Learning to Program: Going Pair-Shaped

Abstract Students continue to struggle with learning to program. Not only has there been a significant drop in the number of students enrolling in IT courses, but the attrition rate for these courses continues to be significant. Introductory programming subjects in IT courses seem to be a stumbling block for many students. How do we best engage students in the learning of a programming language? How can our current teaching and learning methods be improved to provide a better experience for them? Issues that have a detrimental effect on students’ learning outcomes include more than simply the cognitive. Although programming really is complex and difficult to learn, there are also cultural and social influences on students presenting to introductory computer science courses. This paper highlights the advantages of intensive collaboration between students by exploiting the students’ own ability and desire to interact with their peers. Peer interaction can lead to very strong learning experiences. This paper reflects on the current approaches to teaching programming by the Queensland University of Technology (QUT), Australia, with a short summary of the current focus of QUT’s first programming subject and the methods used to teach it. An overview is then given of the web-based Environment for Learning to Program (ELP) which provides scaffolding for students while learning to program. The authors propose the introduction of tools to present a collaborative environment for students to actively engage in the course material through interaction with each other.