Integrating Computational Science Tools into a Thermodynamics Course

Computational tools and methods have permeated multiple science and engineering disciplines, because they enable scientists and engineers to process large amounts of data, represent abstract phenomena, and to model and simulate complex concepts. In order to prepare future engineers with the ability to use computational tools in the context of their disciplines, some universities have started to integrate these tools within core courses. This paper evaluates the effect of introducing three computational modules within a thermodynamics course on student disciplinary learning and self-beliefs about computation. The results suggest that using worked examples paired to computer simulations to implement these modules have a positive effect on (1) student disciplinary learning, (2) student perceived ability to do scientific computing, and (3) student perceived ability to do computer programming. These effects were identified regardless of the students’ prior experiences with computer programming.     

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.     

A Placement Test for Computer Science: Design,Implementation, and Analysis

An introductory CS1 course presents problems for educators and students due to students' diverse background in programming knowledge and exposure. Students who enroll in CS1 also have different expectations and motivations. Prompted by the curricular guidelines for undergraduate programmes in computer science released in 2001 by the ACM/IEEE, and driven by a departmental project to reinvent the undergraduate computer science and computer engineering curricula at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, we are currently implementing a series of changes which will improve our introductory courses. One key component of our project is an online placement examination tied to the cognitive domain that assesses student knowledge and intellectual skills. Our placement test is also integrated into a comprehensive educational research design containing a pre- and posttest framework for assessing student learning and providing valuable feedback for needed instructional revisions. In this paper, we focus on the design and implementation of our placement exam and present an analysis of the data collected to date.     

Optimally Engineering Traditional Introductory Physics Classes

This paper presents a measurement of the time and resources committed to traditional student actions such as reading and working homework. The perception of the educational value of each basic action for both students and faculty is captured. From this information, basic educational efficiencies are computed for a traditional mechanics course and a non-traditional hands-on Electricity and Magnetism course. The calculations show an allocation of resources in the traditional course which uses the most student time in the least educationally valuable activity. The computed efficiencies also show overseen student note-taking as potentially a very valuable general tool. The techniques presented allow any institution to carry out quantitative educational engineering of their course offerings at the highest level.     

Studying computer programming externally: Who succeeds?

Learning computer programming is difficult for many students. Distance education students in particular often have problems as the difficulty of the course content is compounded by the problems of isolation from other students and their tutor. This paper reports an investigation of distance education student performance in an introductory computer programming course. The aim of the study was to develop a better understanding of the factors associated with academic success, withdrawal or failure and to attempt to identify students at risk of non‐completion. Some implications for teaching computer programming externally are discussed.     

ISI:一个师生共建的个性化学习服务平台

个性化学习是现代教育技术领域的一个重点研究课题。单纯靠软件技术来帮助学生实现个性化电子学习十分困难。为此,设计了一个师生共建的个性化学习服务平台,由教师、系统共同帮助学生完成个性学习。对该平台从功能结构、软件结构和物理结构三个方面进行了描述,然后对该平台的特征进行了讨论和分析。实践表明,此平台对学生和教师都有很大帮助。     

What are students doing during lecture? Evidence from new technologies to capture student activity

Engaging students in class is paramount if they are to gain a deep understanding of class content. Student engagement is manifested by attention to the various components of instruction. However, there is little research at the tertiary level focusing on what aspects of instruction are related to changes in student attention during class. To address this gap, we collected multiple streams of data that provide a measure of student attention during instruction. We had students in an organic chemistry course who wear hats with a camera mounted on the brim, to provide a record of student gaze (i.e. looking at the board, notes, and friends). We also had students who use electronic pens that allowed us to record what information students transferred into their notes (pencasts). Based on our initial results, we believe the data provided by the point-of-view cameras and electronic pens hold great promise for using these technologies as viable research tools in educational settings to address various research questions.     

Case study of a problem-based learning course of physics in a telecommunications engineering degree

Active learning methods can be appropriate in engineering, as their methodology promotes meta-cognition, independent learning and problem-solving skills. Problem-based learning is the educational process by which problem-solving activities and instructor's guidance facilitate learning. Its key characteristic involves posing a ‘concrete problem’ to initiate the learning process, generally implemented by small groups of students. Many universities have developed and used active methodologies successfully in the teaching–learning process. During the past few years, the University of the Basque Country has promoted the use of active methodologies through several teacher training programmes. In this paper, we describe and analyse the results of the educational experience using the problem-based learning (PBL) method in a physics course for undergraduates enrolled in the technical telecommunications engineering degree programme. From an instructors’ perspective, PBL strengths include better student attitude in class and increased instructor–student and student–student interactions. The students emphasised developing teamwork and communication skills in a good learning atmosphere as positive aspects.     

基因工程课程教学改革的探索与实践

基因工程是生物工程专业的主干课程。以修订教学大纲、优化课程教学内容、建设电子教案、改进教学方法、改革考核方式和加强教师自身素质为内容的教学改革,既注重传授给学生专业知识,更注重传授学生学会学习的方法,培养学生分析问题和解决问题的能力,提高基因工程教学质量。     

Learning Environments and Learning Styles: Non-traditional Student Enrollment and Success in an Internet-based Versus a Lecture-based Computer Science Course

Colleges and universities are increasingly using information technologies to enhance the learning environment. Many educational institutions offer Internet-based on-line courses in an effort to meet the educational needs of students. The primary goal of this research was to determine if there is a relationship between students' preferred learning environment (i.e. face-to-face or on-line) and their learning style. The secondary goal was to determine if there were any differences in the academic success of students in the face-to-face versus on-line sections. Participants were adult (ages 22+ years), non-traditional computer science students given the option to take a face-to-face lecture-based or an on-line Internet-based computer science course. Results revealed that computer science students in the face-to-face learning environment were more likely to have the Assimilator learning-style, whereas computer science students in the on-line Internet-based learning environment were more likely to have the Converger learning-style. Student academic success did not reliably differ as a function of learning environment selection. Implications of these results are discussed in terms of learning style characteristics of computer science students, learning styles and gender differences and implications of student academic success in on-line vs face-to-face environments. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

函数编程技术在计算机数学教学中的应用探讨

计算机数学,又称离散数学,是计算机学科的重要专业基础课程。在实际教学中发现,计算机科学专业的学生对该课程感兴趣的不多,多数畏惧其概念多、理论强且抽象。利用一种函数式程序设计语言(Haskell)辅助学生进行计算机数学中相关概念理解及其实际编程实验,主要针对课程教学中代数系统(如群)知识点,通过群定义及其性质验证实验来介绍函数编程技术,可以帮助计算机专业学生更好地学习理解计算机数学课程,并能充分调动其学习积极性和主动性,还可培养学生接受新知识的能力。     

汇编语言课程的教学设计探讨

汇编语言是面向机电类和计算机类等理工科专业开设的重要专业基础课程,因其和具体的计算机硬件细节密切相关,内容涉及面广而且比较抽象,导致学生对编程的学习感到比较困难。本文结合教学实践经验,针对汇编语言课程特点,将多种媒体形式相结合,对在教学过程中取得良好教学效果的教学设计过程及方法进行了探讨。     

The role of cognitive style in educational computer conferencing

This paper reports an investigation of the impact of students’ cognitive style on their effective use of educational text‐based computer‐mediated conferences. The research centres on an empirical study involving students from three courses run by the British Open University. Statistical analysis of the data does not suggest that cognitive style has a strong influence on student participation in the conference, but does suggest that, contrary to expectations, ‘imagers’ may send more messages to conferences than ‘verbalisers’. The data also suggest a possible link between certain cognitive styles and course completion, and that the interaction of different styles within a group, as described by Riding and Rayner's (1998 ) team roles, may have an indirect influence on task completion.     

We!Design: A student-centred participatory methodology for the design of educational applications

The development of educational applications has always been a challenging and complex issue, mainly because of the complications imposed by the cognitive and psychological aspects of student–computer interactions. This article presents a methodology, named We!Design, that tries to encounter the complexity of educational applications development from within the participatory design framework. The methodology enables computer literate students and designers to cooperate in the design of applications that (1) enhance typical educational processes for which students have extensive experience in, such as note taking or assessment, and (2) are well‐suited to the technological, social and cultural particularities of each educational environment. The methodology can be easily applied in real educational contexts and consists of two phases. During the first phase, students participate in short‐duration design sessions where they formulate needs, tasks and interface prototypes for the educational application under examination. In the second phase, the designers systematically analyse and then integrate student suggestions. In order to evaluate the methodology, it was applied in the design of two educational applications: an electronic assessment environment and a course website. A total of 86 undergraduate informatics students participated in 22 4‐hour design sessions. The methodology was evaluated by collecting students' responses through questionnaires and by introspection on the video recordings of the design sessions. The design sessions proved to be a very intriguing experience for the students while the methodology's products managed to respond to their personal needs and expectations in an efficient and effective way.     

Supporting Student Learning through Instructional Videos in Business Statistics

While statistics is an essential topic for business students, many students experience barriers to successful learning due to anxiety, motivation, or difficulty with quantitative understanding. This research examines the use of online videos with an effort to explore the relationship between student characteristics, video usage, and course performance measures. In addition, the study examines student perceptions of the supplemental resources in an effort to examine the efficacy related to student learning and performance. This study seeks to confirm previous research regarding the benefit of supplemental video resources and extend the knowledge base by understanding the impact for various types of students (e.g., level of course, level of previous academic performance, etc.). The study found that the use of the video resources varies based on students’ previous math performance and the difficulty of the material. Student ratings indicate that the videos were helpful in learning the content and that they provided an important resource when students needed additional tools to master the material. Analysis of the results provides implications for understanding how different students use online videos and offers recommendations for educators and researchers about how to enhance student success in difficult statistics coursework.     

基于e-portfolio的学生评价策略的研究

课程评价既是学校教学活动的基本环节,也是保证学校教学沿着正确的方向向前发展的重要手段。文章立足于新课程评价改革的目标,介绍了档案袋(Portfolio)及电子档案袋(e-Portfolio)评价法,深入分析了利用e-Portfolio进行学生评价的必要性,并提出了一套基于e-portfolio的学生评价策略。     

The Use of an Automatic Computer System in Teachin

PLATO II is an automatic teaching device designed to teach a number of students concurrently, but independently, by means of a single, central, high-speed computer. Only two student sites have been constructed thus far, but, in principal, the number of students that can be taught by PLATO II is limited only by the capacity and speed of the central computer. The power of such a computer-based teaching system stems from its ability to ask complex questions, judge the students' answers to these questions, and take an appropriate course of action on the basis of student responses. The computer also keeps detailed and accurate records of student performance, which are extremely useful guides to improving course content. The paper reports in some detail a study using PLATO II to teach nine undergraduate students a portion of a course on computer programming. By way of example of what can be done, the paper presents some analysis and interpretation of data gathered by the computer in the course of the study. The apparent effectiveness of PLATO II as a teacher, as well as the kinds of problems encountered in preparing lesson material for an automatic system, are discussed.     

Student time choices and success

Internationally, first-year student experience surveys suggest that modern students are investing increasingly less time in their study at university, raising concerns about the impact this may have on their success. This paper describes a case study exploring student workload at a New Zealand university interested in understanding how student time allocation decisions are being made during actual weeks of study rather than hypothetical ‘typical’ weeks. The results show that the sampled students allocated time in line with university expectations. Time allocation on course work was significantly affected by assessment deadlines and by student achievement striving. Student grade point average was strongly correlated with time spent, and strongly influenced by students’ beliefs regarding their motivation and self-efficacy. Universities are encouraged to explore mechanisms that support students being better informed about the implications of their choices, actively influencing their sense of priorities and expectations regarding the effort needed to be successful in their studies.     

Psychosocial factors impacting STEM career selection

Attention on P-20 science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education has increased tremendously in recent years. Many efforts are underway to promote STEM major and career selection across the nation; specifically, in engineering and computer science. The authors' purpose was to examine an underlying profile combinations of latent traits that influence student STEM career selection while designing serious educational games (SEGs). The authors combine a number of quantitative analysis methods in an effort to develop a rich understanding of how a profile combination of traits interact with one another to effect selection of STEM careers and majors. Study participants were 585 students enrolled in a full-time traditional high school. The addition of SEG design experiences into the student profile increases the probability of STEM career selection by 5.1 times.     

计算机程序设计语言的教学探索

随着市场经济的发展,社会对人才的实际工作能力和综合素质的要求越来越高,高等教育正面临着严峻的挑战。计算机程序设计语言是计算机的基础科目,在教学的过程中利用信息化技术,力求激发学生对课程的学习热情,培养学生动手实践的能力,创造性思维培养。