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Could you help me to change the variables?: comparing instruction to encouragement for teaching programming

Published: 11 November 2013 Publication History

Abstract

Computer programming has become an important skill and it can be taught from early school years. Previous research has developed and evaluated several visual programming tools that are suitable for computer education in schools. However, little is known about how pedagogic styles affect student attitudes towards learning computer programming. This paper reports on a preliminary study on the influence of alternative teaching styles on student's enjoyment and attitude towards computing. Two groups of twelve students each were asked to revise a computer game. The traditional instruction group was provided with detailed information, while the encouragement group was asked to help the teacher to change the variables of the game. The results indicate that an encouraging pedagogic style promotes more positive attitudes towards computer programming and more self-confidence than traditional instruction. Further research should repeat the experiment across several weeks for more programming concepts and should also assess the cognitive benefits.

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  • (2024)Positive Affective Feedback Mechanisms in an Online Mathematics Learning PlatformProceedings of the Eleventh ACM Conference on Learning @ Scale10.1145/3657604.3664666(371-375)Online publication date: 9-Jul-2024
  • (2023)Topic Relation Graph Construction to Identify Challenges in Introducing Programming in Indonesian K-12 Education2023 1st IEEE International Conference on Smart Technology (ICE-SMARTec)10.1109/ICE-SMARTECH59237.2023.10461964(184-189)Online publication date: 17-Jul-2023
  • (2022)Game Design, Gender and Personalities in Programming EducationFrontiers in Computer Science10.3389/fcomp.2022.8249954Online publication date: 8-Feb-2022
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  1. Could you help me to change the variables?: comparing instruction to encouragement for teaching programming

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      cover image ACM Other conferences
      WiPSE '13: Proceedings of the 8th Workshop in Primary and Secondary Computing Education
      November 2013
      141 pages
      ISBN:9781450324557
      DOI:10.1145/2532748
      Permission to make digital or hard copies of all or part of this work for personal or classroom use is granted without fee provided that copies are not made or distributed for profit or commercial advantage and that copies bear this notice and the full citation on the first page. Copyrights for components of this work owned by others than ACM must be honored. Abstracting with credit is permitted. To copy otherwise, or republish, to post on servers or to redistribute to lists, requires prior specific permission and/or a fee. Request permissions from [email protected]

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      • Aarhus University: Aarhus University
      • GI: Gesellschaft für Informatik e.V.

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      Association for Computing Machinery

      New York, NY, United States

      Publication History

      Published: 11 November 2013

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      Author Tags

      1. computational thinking
      2. computer education
      3. confidence
      4. encouragement
      5. programming
      6. scratch
      7. secondary education

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      WiPSCE '13
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      • Aarhus University
      • GI

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      Overall Acceptance Rate 104 of 279 submissions, 37%

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      Cited By

      View all
      • (2024)Positive Affective Feedback Mechanisms in an Online Mathematics Learning PlatformProceedings of the Eleventh ACM Conference on Learning @ Scale10.1145/3657604.3664666(371-375)Online publication date: 9-Jul-2024
      • (2023)Topic Relation Graph Construction to Identify Challenges in Introducing Programming in Indonesian K-12 Education2023 1st IEEE International Conference on Smart Technology (ICE-SMARTec)10.1109/ICE-SMARTECH59237.2023.10461964(184-189)Online publication date: 17-Jul-2023
      • (2022)Game Design, Gender and Personalities in Programming EducationFrontiers in Computer Science10.3389/fcomp.2022.8249954Online publication date: 8-Feb-2022
      • (2016)How Do Different Cognitive Styles Affect Learning Programming? Insights from a Game-Based Approach in Greek SchoolsACM Transactions on Computing Education10.1145/294033017:1(1-25)Online publication date: 29-Sep-2016
      • (2015)Serious game development as a creative learning experienceProceedings of the Fourth International Workshop on Games and Software Engineering10.5555/2820144.2820155(36-42)Online publication date: 16-May-2015
      • (2015)Serious Game Development as a Creative Learning ExperienceProceedings of the 2015 IEEE/ACM 4th International Workshop on Games and Software Engineering10.1109/GAS.2015.14(36-42)Online publication date: 18-May-2015
      • (2015)Computing education in K-12 schools: A review of the literature2015 IEEE Global Engineering Education Conference (EDUCON)10.1109/EDUCON.2015.7096023(543-551)Online publication date: Mar-2015
      • (2014)Should your 8-year-old learn coding?Proceedings of the 9th Workshop in Primary and Secondary Computing Education10.1145/2670757.2670774(60-69)Online publication date: 5-Nov-2014

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