Understanding problem solving behavior of 6–8 graders in a debugging game

Liu, Zhongxiu; Zhi, Rui; Hicks, Andrew; Barnes, Tiffany

doi:10.1080/08993408.2017.1308651

Cited by 69 publications

(66 citation statements)

References 16 publications

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“…The findings even showed the significant effect of consecutive years of taking the computer course, where the findings intriguingly showed significant differences in PS ability performance only between the first- and the second-, as well as the first- and third-year pupils, but not between the second- and third-year pupils. Accordingly, the findings of our study complement the results of Liu, Zhi, Hicks, and Barnes [ 53 ] where pupils’ PS behaviours were found to be related to their self-reported prior programming experiences. Moreover, our findings also show, intriguingly, that there was a significant effect of pupils’ age on PS ability performance.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 88%

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Assessment of problem solving ability in novice programmers

et al. 2018

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Problem Solving (PS) skills allow students to handle problems within an educational context. PS is a core competence of Computer Science education and affects programming success. In this vein, this paper aims to investigate PS ability performance in primary school pupils of a computer course, implemented according to the Neo-Piagetian theory of cognitive development. The study included 945 Slovenian pupils, ranging from fourth to sixth grade. The effects of gender, age and consecutive years of attending the course were examined on pupils’ PS ability at the pre-operational and concrete operational stages. Pupils completed a survey questionnaire with four types of tasks (a series of statements, if-statements, loops and variables) at both stages. The analysis revealed three findings: the performance of PS ability in all tasks was, at the pre-operational stage, associated positively with performance at the concrete operational stage; there were no gender differences in PS performance at both stages, and both the grade and consecutive year of taking the computer course had an effect on PS ability performance at both stages. Those in the lowest grade and those taking the course for the first year reported lower performances than their older counterparts. These findings may help curriculum designers across the world develop efficient approaches to teaching computer courses.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 88%

“…The only impossible combination was to be in the fourth grade and attend the computer course for the third time. The aim of identifying the pupils’ history of taking the computer course was to identify pupils’ prior program experience [ 53 ].…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Assessment of problem solving ability in novice programmers

et al. 2018

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“…Riley and Hunt (2014), in turn, find similarities between a debugging process and the proof of a mathematical theorem. In the education context, debugging also provides a deeper understanding of the problem-solving behavior of students (Liu, Zhi, Hicks, & Barnes, 2017). Denning (2009) suggests that the basic idea behind computational thinking is in essence algorithmic thinking.…”

Section: Modeling and Revising Solutionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Computational Thinking Processes and Their Congruence with Problem-Solving and Information Processing

Labusch

Eickelmann

Vennemann

2019

Computational Thinking Education

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Computational thinking is emerging as twenty-first century's key competence, especially for today's students as the new generation of digital learners. The acquisition of this competence requires in-depth knowledge in learning and computational thinking processes (Labusch & Eickelmann, 2017), both of which feature in various frameworks (e.g., Kong et al., 2017). Problem-solving theories can also be taken into account to obtain a more precise analysis of these processes since previous research has suggested a large degree of congruence between problem-solving and computational thinking (e.g., Yadav, Stephenson, & Hong, 2017b; Wing, 2008). In this contribution, to analyze computational thinking processes, computational thinking will be first considered in a general problem-solving context and then in an information processing context. Research of this kind is of immense importance to pave the way for further computational thinking in schools. In this regard, the approach provides the theoretical grounding for a national extension (

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“…However, debugging requires a deeper understanding than just writing a program from scratch. This might detrimental to the motivation of students who learn about programming through debugging [6]. Consequently, we designed an experiment to assess the effect of two different teaching methods on the learners' computational thinking ability and attitude.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Teaching computing in primary school

Neutens

wyffels

2018

Proceedings of the 13th Workshop in Primary and Secondary Computing Education

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We describe the setup of an experiment conducted in the spring of 2018. The experiment aims to identify the differences between teaching computing through creating programs as opposed to fixing them. Quantitative and qualitative data are collected in the forms of pre-and post-knowledge tests, pre-and post-attitude tests, programming environment logging data and student interaction video's. The logging data shows that starting from incorrect program leads to less interactions with the code. However it leads to more testing in simulation and on the physical system.

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Understanding problem solving behavior of 6–8 graders in a debugging game

Cited by 69 publications

References 16 publications

Assessment of problem solving ability in novice programmers

Assessment of problem solving ability in novice programmers

Computational Thinking Processes and Their Congruence with Problem-Solving and Information Processing

Teaching computing in primary school

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