A Flexible Approach to Introductory Programming

Gordon, Neil; Brayshaw, Mike; Grey, Simon

doi:10.1145/3294016.3294025

Cited by 5 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 10 publications

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“…The programming tutor software architecture design is an evolution of the architecture proposed by Gordon et al [22] to deliver a limited set of functionalities. Practical considerations included the need to deliver content and collect usage data.…”

Section: Software Designmentioning

confidence: 99%

Motivating Students to Learn How to Write Code Using a Gamified Programming Tutor

Grey

Gordon

2023

Education Sciences

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Engagement and retention are widely acknowledged problems in computer science and more general higher education. The need to develop programming skills is increasingly ubiquitous, but especially so in computer science where it is one of the core competencies. Learning to write code is a particularly challenging skill to master, which can make retention and success even more difficult. We attempt to address student engagement within an introductory programming module by attempting to motivate students using a gamified interactive programming tutor application that provides immediate feedback on the student’s work. In this paper, we describe the design of the gamified programming tutor application, along with a related topology to characterize student engagement. We discuss the design of the software, the gamified elements, and the structured question design. We evaluate the engagement with the gamified programming tutor of two cohorts of students in the first year of a computer science programme, with over two hundred students taking part. We attempt to frame this engagement in terms of frequency, duration, and intensity of interactions, and compare these engagement metrics with module performance. Additionally, we present quantitative and qualitative data from a survey of students about their experience using the programming tutor application to demonstrate the efficacy of this approach.

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Section: Software Designmentioning

confidence: 99%

Motivating Students to Learn How to Write Code Using a Gamified Programming Tutor

Grey

Gordon

2023

Education Sciences

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“…Gamification approaches -that is the use of game mechanics in teaching (Gordon et al, 2013) -can also offer ways to influence and potentially improve student engagement. This approach was used for one of the assessments in Computer Science, with students allowed repeated attempts at a summative assessment.…”

Section: Assessment: Formative and Summativementioning

confidence: 99%

Approaches to Measuring Attendance and Engagement

Gordon

Grey

2018

NEW DIR TEACH PHYS SCI

Self Cite

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In this paper, we argue that, where we measure student attendance, this creates an extrinsic motivator in the form of a reward for (apparent) engagement and can thus lead to undesirable behaviour and outcomes. We go on to consider a number of other mechanisms to assess or encourage student engagement – such as interactions with a learning environment – and whether these are more benign in their impact on student behaviour i.e. they encourage the desired impact as they are not considered threatening, unlike the penalties associated with non-attendance. We consider a case study in Computer Science to investigate student behaviour, assessing different metrics for student engagement, such as the use of source control commits and how this measure of engagement differs from attendance.

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“…It is clear that engagement and motivation have a fundamental role in the success of students. Skipping classes make the students disconnect from the regular flow of class, contributing to lower involvement and lower possibility of success [3]. Universities should provide mechanisms to stimulate students to participate, to be actively involved in class and to keep a regular attendance.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Moving to an Attendance Control System. Does It Matter?

Asanov¹,

Lopes²,

Faizova³

2019

EDULEARN Proceedings

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The scientific community not always agree when discussing the benefits or problems with using student attendance systems. Some refer that these systems are expensive, flawed and demotivate students [1], while others argue that one of the main factors for academic failure is not being in class [2]. Regardless of this discussion, there is the need for leadership to optimize higher education resources, such as staff, classrooms, laboratories and teachers. With the democratization of higher education and the opening of new opportunities, more students are pursuing education at a high level, leading to increasing number of students, with diverse academic backgrounds, economic status and culture. Universities have to adapt, within budget constraints and in the assumption of the commitment to their social and economic development mission.In this context, it is necessary to separate "mandatory attendance", in which a student is required, by regulations, to attend to a specific percentage of classes, from "attendance control", which allows to get valuable information for management and allocation of resources. The choice of enforcing a minimum number of presences in class depends on the policy of the scientific and pedagogical bodies. However, the information about student attendance represents valuable management information that can be used for informed decision making regarding the university operation.Regardless of this discussion, some universities, such as the Taraz State University, are currently performing manual registration of attendance. In each class, the teachers register the students' attendance, and, after class, they transcribe this information to a digital platform, to be consulted by the faculties' management body. This is a repetitive, boring and error prone process, taking valuable time from teachers and harming other scientific or pedagogical activities.In this paper, we describe the design, development and implementation of a digital attendance control management system, adequately integrated with other university's services, such as class timetables, b-learning platform, registration record office, and others. The system is based on open source programming languages, protocols and tools, and composed of hardware devices to be installed in the classroom and servers to receive and save the information in a database. Each student can use both an RFID card and smartphone to register attendance, that will be immediately accessible to the management bodies. Teachers can validate the students' attendance in each class, ensuring that the information is correct and up to date.

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A Flexible Approach to Introductory Programming

Cited by 5 publications

References 10 publications

Motivating Students to Learn How to Write Code Using a Gamified Programming Tutor

Motivating Students to Learn How to Write Code Using a Gamified Programming Tutor

Approaches to Measuring Attendance and Engagement

Moving to an Attendance Control System. Does It Matter?

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