Exploring the effects of web-mediated computational thinking on developing students’ computing skills in a ubiquitous learning environment

Much application software education in Taiwan can hardly be regarded as practical. The researchers in this study provided a flexible means of ubiquitous learning (u-learning) with a mobile app for students to access the learning material. In addition, the authors also adopted computational thinking (CT) to help students develop practical computing skills. Three classes of first-year students were chosen for the empirical study. They were divided into three groups: two experimental groups (CT&UL group and CT group) and one control group. According to the results in this study, students who received the treatment of u-learning could have significantly better computing skills in using PowerPoint and Word than those without. However, the treatment of web-mediated CT did not result in better development of students’ computing skills in this research. Finally, the researchers expect that this study provides a design and illustration of CT in a u-learning environment for schools and educators.     

Levels of thinking in computer science: Development in bachelor students’ conceptualization of algorithm

How do we know if our students are beginning to think like computer scientists? In a first study we defined four levels of abstraction in computer science students’ thinking about the concept of algorithm. We constructed a list of questions about algorithms to measure the answering level as an indication for the thinking level. This list was presented to various groups of Bachelor computer science students. The mean answering level increased between successive year groups as well as within year groups during the year, mainly from the second to the third level. Student-level estimations provided by teachers fell in the same range as the level measurements, but level growth was not detected in their estimations; level estimation appeared very difficult for lecturers. The reliability of the instrument proved to be satisfactory. To investigate the validity, a follow-up study was done with a small heterogeneous group of Bachelor students. They answered the same questions and were successively interviewed to check whether they understood the terms they used. Their understanding proved to be satisfactory, sustaining the validity of the instrument. In the first study little relation was found between thinking levels and regular test results on algorithm-oriented courses. Supposedly, besides levels on the dimension of abstraction, levels on concretizing, analyzing and synthesizing are also relevant. A broader framework for future research is being proposed.     

The effects of computer programming on high school students’ reasoning skills and mathematical self-efficacy and problem solving

In this paper we investigate whether computer programming has an impact on high school student’s reasoning skills, problem solving and self-efficacy in Mathematics. The quasi-experimental design was adopted to implement the study. The sample of the research comprised 66 high school students separated into two groups, the experimental and the control group according to their educational orientation. The research findings indicate that there is a significant difference in the reasoning skills of students that participated in the “programming course” compared to students that did not. Moreover, the self-efficacy indicator of students that participated in the experimental group showed a significant difference from students in the control group. The results however, failed to support the hypothesis that computer programming significantly enhances student’s problem solving skills.     

Exploring the characteristics of an optimal design of non-programming plugged learning for developing primary school students’ computational thinking in mathematics

Existing computational thinking (CT) research focuses on programming in K-12 education; however, there are challenges in introducing it into the formal disciplines. Therefore, we propose the introduction of non-programming plugged learning in mathematics to develop students’ CT. The research and teaching teams collaborated to develop an instructional design for primary school students. The participants were 112 third- and fourth-grade students (aged 9–10) who took part in three rounds of experiments. In this paper, we present an iterative problem-solving process in design-based implementation research, focusing on the implementation issues that lead to the design principles in the mathematics classroom. The computational tasks, environment, tools, and practices were iteratively improved over three rounds to incorporate CT effectively into mathematics. Results from the CT questionnaire demonstrated that the new program could significantly improve students’ CT abilities and compound thinking. The results of the post-test revealed that CT, including the sub-dimensions of decomposition, algorithmic thinking, and problem-solving improved threefold compared to the pre-test between the three rounds, indicating that strengthened CT design enhanced CT perceptions. Similarly, the students’ and teacher’ interviews confirmed their positive experiences with CT. Based on empirical research, we summarize design characteristics from computational tasks, computational environment and tools, and computational practices and propose design principles. We demonstrate the potential of non-programming plugged learning for developing primary school students’ CT in mathematics.

     

Kindergarten students’ and parents’ perceptions of science classroom environments: Achievement and attitudes

This study, involving the modification, validation and use of a learning environment questionnaire for both kindergarten students and their parents, is significant because prior learning environment research has normally involved neither parents nor such young students. A questionnaire, which was based on the What Is Happening In this Class? and assessed actual and preferred teacher support, involvement, cooperation and equity, exhibited sound factorial validity, internal consistency reliability and the ability to differentiate between classrooms. Parents perceived a more favourable actual classroom environment than students, but students preferred a more favourable environment than parents. Associations were found between kindergarten students’ achievement and attitudes and the nature of the learning environment.     

Disciplinary differences and implications for the development of generic skills: a study of engineering and business students’ perceptions of generic skills

Although previous research has examined how generic skills and disciplinary contexts are related, such investigation has not been conducted from students’ perspectives. Implications of disciplinary differences for the design of a generic skills curriculum have also remained unexplored. In this study, a questionnaire was administered to 502 first-year engineering and business students from a Hong Kong university which explored their perceived importance and competence level of their generic skills, as well as their motivation towards developing these skills. The results of engineering and business students were compared which revealed some disciplinary differences. Substantial differences were found in the importance and competency ratings on IT skills and business students gave significantly higher importance ratings on most generic skills than engineering students. This study will help guide curriculum design that leverages the benefits of interdisciplinary programmes and incorporates generic skills as part of learning outcomes within disciplinary contexts.     

The effects of educational computer game on low-performing children’s early numeracy skills – an intervention study in a preschool setting

The aim of this study was to determine the effects of an educational computer game, Lola’s World, on low-performing children’s early numeracy skills. Four preschools with 33 children from families of low socio-economic status (M _age = 5.5 years) took part in this study. Of the 33 children, 23 were split randomly into two groups: an intervention group playing a numeracy game (Lola’s World) and an active control group playing an early reading skills game (Lola’s ABC party). The remaining 10 children served as a passive control group. The intervention phase lasted three weeks, during which time the children played the games daily for about 15 min. The children’s numeracy skills were measured using the Early Numeracy Test. Those children (n = 22) who exhibited low numeracy (i.e. at risk for learning difficulties in mathematics) were included in the analyses. The three groups did not differ in terms of parental educational levels or home languages. They were comparable in terms of nonverbal reasoning and the amount of time spent playing. The Lola’s World group improved its early numeracy performance from pretest to post-test. No between-group differences were found. The results are discussed in relation to providing game-based support for low-performing preschoolers.     

Parent perceptions of the effects of the Saturday enrichment program on gifted students’ talent development

Based on survey responses from 187 parents of students who attended the Saturday Enrichment Program (SEP) at the Center for Talent Development (CTD) of Northwestern University, this study showed that overall, parents perceived favorable effects of the program on their children's talent development, especially academic talent development. As a result of participation in the CTD program, parents perceived that their children gained scholastic skills or knowledge, were more motivated to learn and interested in the subject areas they studied, and gained academic competence. After the program parents had higher academic expectations for their children. Parents felt positively about instructional aspects of the program such as focusing on a single subject in depth and breadth, experiencing interdisciplinary perspectives across subject areas, and having experiential learning opportunities. They also perceived that the SEP classes provided their children with both challenge and enjoyment. Despite the perceived benefits of SEP, results also showed that the majority of parents were still reluctant to pursue additional further educational actions inside or outside of school for their children after completing the program. However, of those who contacted their children's local schools, almost half said that their children received more challenging work (e.g., accepted and/or placed into advanced enrichment programs or other gifted programs/groupings in school, recommended for gifted programs, given additional materials or work, or skipped grades) as a result.     

Saudi science teachers’ perceptions of the cultural factors influencing elementary students’ science learning

Cultural Studies of Science Education - This mixed-methods research study explored Saudi Arabian elementary science teachers’ perceptions about and conceptualizations of cultural factors...     

Development of a personalized educational computer game based on students’ learning styles

In recent years, many researchers have been engaged in the development of educational computer games; however, previous studies have indicated that, without supportive models that take individual students?? learning needs or difficulties into consideration, students might only show temporary interest during the learning process, and their learning performance is often not as good as expected. Learning styles have been recognized as being an important human factor affecting students?? learning performance. Previous studies have shown that, by taking learning styles into account, learning systems can be of greater benefit to students owing to the provision of personalized learning content presentation that matches the information perceiving and processing styles of individuals. In this paper, a personalized game-based learning approach is proposed based on the sequential/global dimension of the learning style proposed by Felder and Silverman. To evaluate the effectiveness of the proposed approach, a role-playing game has been implemented based on the approach; moreover, an experiment has been conducted on an elementary school natural science course. From the experimental results, it is found that the personalized educational computer game not only promotes learning motivation, but also improves the learning achievements of the students.     

Becoming an interdisciplinary scientist: an analysis of students’ experiences in three computer science doctoral programmes

The aim of this study was to identify how and why doctoral students do interdisciplinary research. A mixed-methods approach utilising bibliometric analysis of the publications of 195 students identified those who had published interdisciplinary research. This objective measurement of the interdisciplinarity, applying the Rao-Stirling index to Web of Science and Scopus citations, allowed for a comparison of students’ interdisciplinary research outcomes from three different computer science programmes: a traditional programme, a multidisciplinary doctoral school and an interdisciplinary doctoral college. Applying a sociocultural approach, interviews with the 15 most interdisciplinary students were analysed to understand how dispositions and experiences of students and factors of the different programmes affect the circumstances and processes of becoming an interdisciplinary early career scientist. The data indicate that student motivations, previous skills and knowledge interacted with policies and programme structures including type of funding and supervisor expectations to play a crucial role in interdisciplinarity at the doctoral level. These factors can give rise to interdisciplinary research even in programmes without interdisciplinary focus and compromise the interdisciplinary goals of interdisciplinary programmes.     

The effects of peer competition-based science learning game on secondary students’ performance,achievement goals,and perceived ability

The purpose of this study is to examine the effects of different modes of competition on science learning in a game-based learning (GBL) environment. Some key motivational constructs such as learning goals, performance goals, and perceived ability were also investigated. One hundred ninety-five students from a secondary school in Taiwan were randomly assigned to three conditions (anonymous competition, non-anonymous competition, and a control group) in a GBL environment to learn the concepts of force and balance. The results suggested that students in both the anonymous competition and non-anonymous competition groups outperformed students in the control groups. Additionally, we found that the students in the anonymous competition group reported higher learning goals and higher perceived ability than the control group did, whereas students in the non-anonymous competition group reported higher performance goals than the control group did. This study extends findings from previous research on the influences of GBL on learning and motivation.     

Correction to: Saudi science teachers’ perceptions of the cultural factors influencing elementary students’ science learning

Cultural Studies of Science Education - In the Original Publication of the article, second author’s name was misspelt.     

Gender-fair assessment of young gifted students’ scientific thinking skills

This paper describes an Israeli national-level research examining the extent to which admissions of elementary school students to the gifted programmes based on standardised tests are gender-fair. In the research, the gifted students consisted of 275 boys, 128 girls, and additional 80 girls who were admitted to the gifted programme through affirmative action (AA). To assess these young students’ scientific thinking skills, also referred to as science practices, open-ended questions of case-based questionnaires were developed. The investigated scientific thinking skills were question posing, explanation, graphing, inquiry, and metacognition. Analysis of the students’ responses revealed that gifted girls who entered the programmes through AA performed at the same level as the other gifted students. We found significant differences between the three research groups in question posing and graphing skills. We suggest increasing gender-fairness by revising the standard national testing system to include case-based narratives followed by open-ended questions that assess gifted students’ scientific thinking skills. This may diminish the gender inequity expressed by the different number of girls and boys accepted to the gifted programmes. We show that open-ended tools for analysing students’ scientific thinking might better serve both research and practice by identifying gifted girls and boys equally well.     

The impact of engineering curriculum design principles on elementary students’ engineering and science learning

The Framework for K-12 Science Education and the Next Generation Science Standards propose that students learn core ideas and practices related to engineering as well as science. To do so, students will need high-quality curricular materials designed to meet these goals. We report an efficacy study of an elementary engineering curriculum, Engineering is Elementary (EiE) that includes a set of hypothesized critical components designed to encourage student engagement in practices, connect engineering and science learning, and reach diverse students. To measure the impact of the curriculum, we conducted a cluster randomized controlled trial in 604 classrooms in 152 schools in three states. Schools were randomly assigned to either the treatment curriculum or to a comparison curriculum that addressed the same learning goals but did not include several critical components. Results show that students who used the treatment curriculum (EiE) regardless of demographic characteristics outperformed students in the comparison group on outcome measures of both engineering and science content learning. The results show that curriculum design affects student-learning outcomes.     

Exploring students’ perceptions of service-learning experiences in an undergraduate web design course

Service-learning is an experiential learning experience where students learn and develop through active participation in community service to meet the needs of a community. This study explored student learning experiences in a service-learning group project and their perceptions of service-learning in an undergraduate web design course. The data showed that the service-learning project helped students learn the course material, feel more connected to the surrounding community, and improve their communication and problem-solving skills for their careers. The participants appreciated the opportunity to work with the service-learning partner and will be likely to look for more opportunities to get involved in the community. Time constraints, group work, working with real clients, and technical limitations were reported as major challenges in the group project.     

Combining formal education and citizen science: a case study on students’ perceptions of learning and interest in an urban rat project

Abstract

Citizen science is a valuable tool in environmental and formal education in creating scientific knowledge for the researchers and facilitating learning and fostering a positive relationship toward the environment and study species. We present a case study on the Helsinki Urban Rat Project in which students surveyed rat occurrence in their own near environments. According to our results, experientiality, involvement, meaningfulness, freedom to choose, ease of participation, and the rats themselves contributed to students’ increased interest in participation. Furthermore, students described diverse factual, conceptual, procedural, and metacognitive knowledge that they acquired during their participation. In general, students described negative attitudes toward rats, but they less negative views on rats after participation. We reflect on the success of the citizen science project and implications of planning a future citizen science project and incorporating citizen science in formal education.