Good practices to influence engagement and learning outcomes on a traditional introductory programming course

ABSTRACT

There have been many successful examples of new methodological approaches developed to help students in computer programming courses. Of these approaches, the peer assessment mechanism could be useful in providing students with opportunities to learn from one another, improve their learning experience and reach efficient learning outcomes. The paper presents and analyses an improved system based on the received evaluations of a previously developed web-based programming-assisted environment. This system automatically manages the peer code review process and delivers feedback to peers in a manner that favours the incremental learning of the concepts presented throughout the course. The experimental results are focussed on the impact of this system on students’ programming competence, time management capabilities and student engagement.     

A Specification Error Test That Uses Instrumental Variables to Detect Latent Quadratic and Latent Interaction Effects

The relations between the latent variables in structural equation models are typically assumed to be linear in form. This article aims to explain how a specification error test using instrumental variables (IVs) can be employed to detect unmodeled interactions between latent variables or quadratic effects of latent variables. An empirical example is presented, and the results of a simulation study are reported to evaluate the sensitivity and specificity of the test and compare it with the commonly employed chi-square model test. The results show that the proposed test can identify most unmodeled latent interactions or latent quadratic effects in moderate to large samples. Furthermore, its power is higher when the number of indicators used to define the latent variables is large. Altogether, this article shows how the IV-based test can be applied to structural equation models and that it is a valuable tool for researchers using structural equation models.     

Advanced Nonlinear Latent Variable Modeling: Distribution Analytic LMS and QML Estimators of Interaction and Quadratic Effects

Interaction and quadratic effects in latent variable models have to date only rarely been tested in practice. Traditional product indicator approaches need to create product indicators (e.g., x ₁ ², x ₁ x ₄) to serve as indicators of each nonlinear latent construct. These approaches require the use of complex nonlinear constraints and additional model specifications and do not directly address the nonnormal distribution of the product terms. In contrast, recently developed, easy-to-use distribution analytic approaches do not use product indicators, but rather directly model the nonlinear multivariate distribution of the measured indicators. This article outlines the theoretical properties of the distribution analytic Latent Moderated Structural Equations (LMS; Klein & Moosbrugger, 2000) and Quasi-Maximum Likelihood (QML; Klein & Muthén, 2007) estimators. It compares the properties of LMS and QML to those of the product indicator approaches. A small simulation study compares the two approaches and illustrates the advantages of the distribution analytic approaches as multicollinearity increases, particularly in complex models with multiple nonlinear terms. An empirical example from the field of work stress applies LMS and QML to a model with an interaction and 2 quadratic effects. Example syntax for the analyses with both approaches is provided.     

城市教育资源合理规划的数学模型

本文以乐山市中区几所初中学校为研究对象,根据市中区的地理位置、人口分布的特点,建立了以上学总路程最短和教育资源利用率方差最小的双目标规划模型,得到各学校招生区域划分的合理方案,并结合乐山实际情况提出可行性建议.     

数学建模中线性规划与目标规划的比较

对数学建模中的线性规划与目标规划模型的概念、特点、模型的结构以及解模的方法进行了比较,展示了较前沿的建模与解模方向。     

研究型教学在非计算机专业程序设计课程中的应用探索

本文结合非计算机专业开设程序设计课程的特点,从教学内容和教学方法、课程实践体系、课程学习评价三方面,探讨了研究型教学理念在程序设计教学中的应用。     

高校VB程序设计教学方法的改进

为了提高高校VB程序设计的教学效果,文章通过分析VB课程的教学现状,结合社会需求、专业特色和学生兴趣,提出高校VB程序设计教学的改进方法。该方法提出了一种多维教学模型和一系列教学改进措施,能够更为有效地调动学生的积极性、提高学生编程能力、为学生以后的程序应用和开发打下扎实的基础。     

浅析一元二次方程根与系数关系的应用

本文探讨了一元二次方程根与系数关系的不同应用：求含x1、x2的代数式的问题;求系数范围或值的问题;求一元二次方程式的问题;构造一元二次方程再应用根与系数的关系的问题。     

动态岸线约束规划下的内河港口规模分期扩建模型

针对我国内河港口在发展建设中普遍存在码头规模小、可供利用的岸线资源少、港口通过能力不足等问题,在分析内河港口的特点和建设原则的基础上,充分考虑内河港口岸线资源的限制以及未来较长时间内其港口规模的适应性,对内河港口的泊位建设进行研究,基于增加岸线约束的动态规划模型建立一套内河港口规模扩建的定量分析方法体系.选择杭州港进行实证分析,得出杭州港件杂货泊位未来目标年内分期扩建的具体方案.     

Bridging the gap between supply chain management practice and curriculum: A location analytics exercise

This teaching brief explores how and why location analytics should be taught in business schools using three objectives. First, an explanation is provided for the importance of including location analytics in the standard business school curriculum—especially in the field of supply chain management. Second, a lack of GIS-based location analytics methods in business school curricula is demonstrated. Third, a three-part location analytics exercise is introduced to contribute to the supply chain management curriculum. The proposed exercise utilizes the output of a GIS-based location analytics software (namely, Esri's ArcGIS Online) as the input for a location set covering problem that can be solved using an integer programming solver. The exercise can also be used as a stand-alone example of GIS in a supply chain management course. This teaching brief aims to (1) develop a new method to use in teaching location analytics in supply chain management and analytics courses and (2) bridge an important gap between supply chain management practice and curriculum.