scholarly journals If You Can Program, You Can Write: Learning Introductory Programming Across Literacy Levels

10.28945/4509 ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 19 ◽  
pp. 065-085 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ziva R Hassenfeld ◽  
Madhu Govind ◽  
Laura E De Ruiter ◽  
Marina Umashi Bers
Keyword(s):  
Programming Language ◽  
Computer Programming ◽  
Positive Impact ◽  
First Grade ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Early Elementary ◽  
Introductory Programming ◽  
Positive Correlation ◽  
Curricular Intervention ◽  
Programming Knowledge

Aim/Purpose: This paper presents findings on a curricular intervention aimed at integrating computer programming with reading and writing in early elementary school. The purpose of this research was to explore the relation between students’ varying literacy levels and their level of success in mastering an introductory programming language. Methodology: This curricular intervention study was implemented in a single school district in southeastern Virginia. Of the district’s 33 elementary schools, eight schools received an external grant from the U.S. Department of Defense to introduce computer science in early elementary education. Standardized literacy test scores were correlated with internally developed, and age appropriate programming assessment scores from N = 132 second grade students. Contribution: This study is the first of its kind to look at how students at varying literacy levels succeed in mastering an introductory programming language when introduced through a literacy lens. Findings: The findings indicated that there was strong evidence for a weak, positive correlation between students’ literacy levels, as determined by the PALS assessment, and their programming mastery, as determined by the curricular programming assessments. The positive correlation suggests that there may indeed be underlying constructs that overlap between literacy and programming. Recommendations for Practitioners: Consider integrating computer programming as a foundational component of the literacy curriculum, especially in the early grades, where the two skill sets can mutually support one another. Recommendation for Researchers: Additional research is necessary, using a variety of literacy and programming measures, to continue to understand the relationship between emerging literacy and emerging computer programming skills. Impact on Society: Reimagining computer programming as a language has significant implications for how we teach programming in schools and how students then use programming out in the workforce. Future Research: Future work will repeat this curricular intervention with younger students: the district’s first grade and kindergarten classrooms. Introducing programming through the Coding as Literacy (CAL) approach even earlier in students’ literacy trajectories, we believe, will allow the positive impact of programming knowledge to influence students’ literacy development. In this next phase of our research agenda, we will collect pre and post literacy scores, both standardized and internally developed, to see the myriad ways that programming knowledge impacts literacy.

scholarly journals The Impact of Teacher Gender on Girls’ Performance on Programming Tasks in Early Elementary School

10.28945/4082 ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 17 ◽  
pp. 153-162
Author(s):  
Amanda Sullivan ◽  
Marina Umashi Bers
Keyword(s):  
Role Models ◽  
Teaching Style ◽  
First Grade ◽  
Preliminary Evidence ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Teacher Gender ◽  
Gender Based ◽  
And Performance ◽  
Programming Knowledge ◽  
The Impact

Aim/Purpose: The goal of this paper is to examine whether having female robotics teachers positively impacts girls’ performance on programming and robotics tasks Background: Women continue to be underrepresented in the technical STEM fields such as engineering and computer science. New programs and initiatives are needed to engage girls in STEM beginning in early childhood. The goal of this work is to explore the impact of teacher gender on young children’s mastery of programming concepts after completing an introductory robotics program. Methodology: A sample of N=105 children from six classrooms (2 Kindergarten, 2 first grade, and 2 second grade classes) from a public school in Somerville, Massachusetts, participated in this research. Children were taught the same robotics curriculum by either an all-male or all-female teaching team. Upon completion of the curriculum, they completed programming knowledge assessments called Solve-Its. Comparisons between the performance of boys and girls in each of the teaching groups were made. Findings: This paper provides preliminary evidence that having a female instructor may positively impact girls’ performance on certain programming tasks and reduce the number of gender differences between boys and girls in their mastery of programming concepts. Recommendations for Practitioners: Practitioners should expose children to STEM role-models from a variety of backgrounds, genders, ethnicities, and experiences. Future Research: Researchers should conduct future studies with larger samples of teachers in order to replicate the findings here. Additionally, future research should focus on collecting data from teachers in the form of interviews and surveys in order to find out more about gender-based differences in teaching style and mentorship and the impact of this on girls' interest and performance in STEM.

scholarly journals Increasing Intrinsic Motivation of Programming Students: Towards Fix and Play Educational Games

10.28945/3996 ◽  
2018 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Intrinsic Motivation ◽  
Programming Language ◽  
Computer Programming ◽  
Educational Games ◽  
Educational Game ◽  
Size Analysis ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Novel Approach ◽  
Programming Students ◽  
Casual Games

Aim/Purpose: [This Proceedings paper was revised and published in the 2018 issue of the journal Issues in Informing Science and Information Technology, Volume 15] The objective of this research is to investigate the effectiveness of educational games on learning computer programming. In particular, we are focusing on examining whether allowing the players to manipulate the underlying code of the educational game will increase the intrinsic motivation of the programming students. Background: Traditionally, learning computer programming is considered challenging. Educational games can be used as a tool to motivate students to learn challenging subjects such as programming. Young students are fond of playing digital games. Moreover, they are also interested in creating game applications. Methodology: We created a prototype for a casual game to teach the fundamentals of conditional structures. Casual games, compared to other genres, are easy to learn and play. A number of errors were intentionally included in the game at different stages. Whenever an error is encountered, students have to stop the game and fix the bug before proceeding. In order to fix a bug, a student should understand the underlying program of the game. In this strategy, we believe that the self-esteem of the students will be built as they fix the bugs. This in turn will intrinsically motivate the students to actively engage in learning while playing. Contribution: Learning first programming language is considered very challenging. This research, investigates a novel approach to teach programming using educational games. Findings: A pilot study was conducted using the prototype to evaluate our claim. The outcome of the evaluation is encouraging. Allowing the gamers, who use educational games for learning programming, to manipulate the underlying code of the educational game will increase the intrinsic motivation of the programming students. This paper will describe the problem statement, research methodologies, preliminary results, and future directions of the research. Recommendations for Practitioners: Creating industry level educational games to teach programming will be beneficial to the society. Recommendation for Researchers: Learning first computer programming language is considered challenging. This research investigates a novel approach to teach programming. we focused on examining whether allowing the players to manipulate the underlying code of the educational game will increase the intrinsic motivation of the programming students. We used casual games for investigation. This research may be extended for other genres. Comparing this approach with other approaches such as Algorithm Animation techniques will be another potential research topic. Impact on Society: Today, digital technology plays a key role in our daily lives. Even the kids’ toys are becoming more and more digital and some of which are programmable. The future generations of students should be able to use digital technologies proficiently. In addition, they should also be able to understand and modify the underlying computer programs. Nevertheless, learning computer programming is considered challenging, and beginning students are easily frustrated and become bored. This research investigate a novel approach to alleviate this disenchantment. Future Research: In future, different types of casual games will be developed to learn different topics in computer programming, and a full scale evaluation (including objective evaluation using game scores) will be conducted. This research will follow the principles outlined in the US Department of Education’s Common Guidelines for Education and Research The reliability of the questionnaire will be measured using Cronbach’s alpha. One-way MANOVA will analyze the efficacy of the proposed intervention on the students’ performance, and their intrinsic motivation and flow experience. The sample sizes may be different. A priori analysis will be conducted to verify existence of multivariate outliers, normality condition, and homogeneity of covariance. Power and Effect size analysis will be reported

Computer Programming With Pre-K Through First-Grade Students With Intellectual Disabilities

2018 ◽  
Vol 52 (2) ◽  
pp. 78-88 ◽  
Author(s):  
Matthew S. Taylor
Keyword(s):  
Intellectual Disabilities ◽  
Computer Programming ◽  
Explicit Instruction ◽  
Single Case ◽  
First Grade ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Single Case Design ◽  
Grade Levels ◽  
Students With Intellectual Disabilities ◽  
And Mathematics

Researchers suggest students in early elementary grade levels are active learners and creators and need to be exposed to science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) curriculum. The need for student understanding in STEM curriculum is well-documented, and positive results in robotics and computer programming are leading researchers and policy makers to introduce new standards in education. The purpose of this single-case design study is to research the potential for PreK-1st grade students with intellectual disabilities (ID) to learn skills in computer programming through explicit instruction, concrete manipulatives, and tangible interfaces. Students were assessed through baseline, treatment, and generalization phases. The students with ID were found to successfully program the robot, following explicit instruction, although they had difficulty generalizing skills to tablet application. Discussion of results, future research, and limitations is provided.

scholarly journals Comparison of Traditional and ADRI Based Teaching Approaches in an Introductory Programming Course

10.28945/3793 ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 16 ◽  
pp. 267-283 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sohail Iqbal Malik ◽  
Jo Coldwell-Neilson
Keyword(s):  
Problem Solving ◽  
Focus Group ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Science Studies ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Learning Approach ◽  
Final Exam ◽  
Introductory Programming ◽  
Problem Solving Strategies ◽  
Programming Knowledge

Aim/Purpose: This study introduced a new teaching and learning approach based on an ADRI (Approach, Deployment, Result, Improvement) model in an introductory programming (IP) course. The effectiveness of the new teaching and learning process was determined by collecting feedback from the IP instructors and by analyzing the final exam grades of the course. Background: Learning to program is considered a difficult and challenging task for a considerable number of novice programmers. As a result, high failure and dropout rates are often reported in IP courses. Different studies have been conducted to investigate the issue. One of the reasons for this challenge is the multiple skills that students have to master in order to be able to build programs. These skills include programming knowledge and problem-solving strategies and being able to pay equal attention to these required skills in the IP course. Methodology: A focus group was conducted to obtain feedback from the IP instructors about the ADRI approach. The performance of the students who had completed the IP course before ADRI was compared with those who used the ADRI approach by undertaking a comparative analysis of their final exam grades. Contribution: The study demonstrates that the new teaching and learning approach based on the ADRI model encourages students to pay equal attention to programming knowledge and problem-solving strategies, discouraging programming shortcuts and reducing high attrition rates (failure and dropout) in the IP course. Findings: The results of the focus group show that the instructors preferred the ADRI approach compared to the traditional approach. The final exam grades show that the students performed better in semesters which offered the ADRI approach as compared to those semesters without this approach. Future Research: Future research will explore the ADRI approach in other fields of computer science studies, such as database and data structure, to determine if its impact has a wider application than just teaching introductory programming.

Locus of Control, Safety Attitudes and Involvement in Hazardous Events in Indian Army Aviators

2013 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 9-18 ◽  
Author(s):  
Catherine Joseph ◽  
Suhasini Reddy ◽  
Kanwal Kashore Sharma
Keyword(s):  
Locus Of Control ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Research Needs ◽  
Negative Attitudes ◽  
Human Errors ◽  
Safety Attitudes ◽  
Positive Correlation ◽  
Self Confidence

Locus of control (LOC), safety attitudes, and involvement in hazardous events were studied in 205 Indian Army aviators using a questionnaire-based method. A positive correlation was found between external LOC and involvement in hazardous events. Higher impulsivity and anxiety, and decreased self-confidence, safety orientation, and denial were associated with a greater number of hazardous events. Higher external LOC was associated with higher impulsivity, anxiety, and weather anxiety and with lower self-confidence, safety orientation, and denial. Internal LOC was associated with increased self-confidence, safety orientation, and denial. Hazardous events and self-confidence were higher in those involved in accidents than those not involved in accidents. Future research needs to address whether training can effectively modify LOC and negative attitudes, and whether this would cause a reduction in, and better management of, human errors.

Non-economic impact of craft brewery visitors in British Columbia: A quantitative analysis

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jarrett R. Bachman ◽  
John S. Hull ◽  
Byron Marlowe
Keyword(s):  
British Columbia ◽  
Positive Impact ◽  
Sustainable Growth ◽  
Wine Industry ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Craft Beer ◽  
Beer Industry ◽  
Self Image ◽  
Gender Education ◽  
Global Growth

The number of craft breweries in British Columbia has grown significantly in recent years,numbering over 140 in 2017. Very little is known about the effects of the craft brewery industryin British Columbia, specifically as it relates to impacts not related to brewery revenue and jobcreation. Beyond British Columbia, the craft beer industry has not empirically examined non-revenue impacts in a manner that reflects the global growth of the sector. Tourism experiences,such as those offered by craft breweries, are becoming increasingly important for resilience and sustainable growth and success of destinations. The goal of this research was to determine whovisitors to craft breweries are, how tourist and resident patrons differ, and what effects craftbreweries have on tourists who visit breweries. A 55 item survey was distributed at 11 craftbreweries in three regions in British Columbia during the summer of 2017. Results founddifferences between tourist and resident patrons in self-image congruency, age and travel partysize, but no difference in gender, education, or household income. From a tourism standpoint, itwas found that memories have a significant, positive impact on loyalty regarding the breweryand the destination. For tourists, strong connections were found between social involvement andboth authenticity and place attachment for those who were more socially involved in craft beer.Comparisons to previous research in the wine industry provide additional commentary.Implications for craft breweries, destinations, and future research in this area are discussed.

The Effects of Technology Supports on Community Grocery Shopping Skills for Students With Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities: A Meta-Analysis

2021 ◽  
pp. 016264342198997
Author(s):  
Sojung Jung ◽  
Ciara Ousley ◽  
David McNaughton ◽  
Pamela Wolfe
Keyword(s):  
Developmental Disabilities ◽  
Positive Impact ◽  
Single Case ◽  
Effect Sizes ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Intellectual And Developmental Disabilities ◽  
Positive Effects ◽  
Analytic Review ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
The Impact

In this meta-analytic review, we investigated the effects of technology supports on the acquisition of shopping skills for students with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) between the ages of 5 and 24. Nineteen single-case experimental research studies, presented in 15 research articles, met the current study’s inclusion criteria and the What Works Clearinghouse (WWC) standards. An analysis of potential moderators was conducted, and we calculated effect sizes using Tau-U to examine the impact of age, diagnosis, and type of technology on the reported outcomes for the 56 participants. The results from the included studies provide evidence that a wide range of technology interventions had a positive impact on shopping performance. These positive effects were seen for individuals across a wide range of ages and disability types, and for a wide variety of shopping skills. The strongest effect sizes were observed for technologies that provided visual supports rather than just auditory support. We provide an interpretation of the findings, implications of the results, and recommended areas for future research.

scholarly journals Improving the experience of facility-based delivery for vulnerable women through obstetric care navigation: a qualitative evaluation

2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Kirsten Austad ◽  
Michel Juarez ◽  
Hannah Shryer ◽  
Patricia L. Hibberd ◽  
Mari-Lynn Drainoni ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Health Workers ◽  
Positive Impact ◽  
Qualitative Evaluation ◽  
Obstetric Care ◽  
Hospital Staff ◽  
Public Hospitals ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Care Seeking ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
The Impact

Abstract Background Global disparities in maternal mortality could be reduced by universal facility delivery. Yet, deficiencies in the quality of care prevent some mothers from seeking facility-based obstetric care. Obstetric care navigators (OCNs) are a new form of lay health workers that combine elements of continuous labor support and care navigation to promote obstetric referrals. Here we report qualitative results from the pilot OCN project implemented in Indigenous villages in the Guatemalan central highlands. Methods We conducted semi-structured interviews with 17 mothers who received OCN accompaniment and 13 staff—namely physicians, nurses, and social workers—of the main public hospital in the pilot’s catchment area (Chimaltenango). Interviews queried OCN’s impact on patient and hospital staff experience and understanding of intended OCN roles. Audiorecorded interviews were transcribed, coded, and underwent content analysis. Results Maternal fear of surgical intervention, disrespectful and abusive treatment, and linguistic barriers were principal deterrents of care seeking. Physicians and nurses reported cultural barriers, opposition from family, and inadequate hospital resources as challenges to providing care to Indigenous mothers. Patient and hospital staff identified four valuable services offered by OCNs: emotional support, patient advocacy, facilitation of patient-provider communication, and care coordination. While patients and most physicians felt that OCNs had an overwhelmingly positive impact, nurses felt their effort would be better directed toward traditional nursing tasks. Conclusions Many barriers to maternity care exist for Indigenous mothers in Guatemala. OCNs can improve mothers’ experiences in public hospitals and reduce limitations faced by providers. However, broader buy-in from hospital staff—especially nurses—appears critical to program success. Future research should focus on measuring the impact of obstetric care navigation on key clinical outcomes (cesarean delivery) and mothers’ future care seeking behavior.

scholarly journals Accreditation and Certification: Do They Improve Hospital Financial and Quality Performance?

Healthcare ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (7) ◽  
pp. 887
Author(s):  
Matthew Brooks ◽  
Brad M. Beauvais ◽  
Clemens Scott Kruse ◽  
Lawrence Fulton ◽  
Michael Mileski ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Positive Impact ◽  
Performance Outcomes ◽  
Healthcare Management ◽  
Academic Program ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Graduate Degree ◽  
Healthcare Administration ◽  
Professional Certification ◽  
The Impact

The relationship between healthcare organizational accreditation and their leaders’ professional certification in healthcare management is of specific interest to institutions of higher education and individuals in the healthcare management field. Since academic program accreditation is one piece of evidence of high-quality education, and since professional certification is an attestation to the knowledge, skills, and abilities of those who are certified, we expect alumni who graduated from accredited programs and obtained professional certification to have a positive impact on the organizations that they lead, compared with alumni who did not graduate from accredited programs and who did not obtain professional certification. The authors’ analysis examined the impact of hiring graduates from higher education programs that held external accreditation from the Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Management Education (CAHME). Graduates’ affiliation with the American College of Healthcare Executives (ACHE) professional healthcare leadership organization was also assessed as an independent variable. Study outcomes focused on these graduates’ respective healthcare organization’s performance measures (cost, quality, and access) to assess the researchers’ inquiry into the perceived value of a CAHME-accredited graduate degree in healthcare administration and a professional ACHE affiliation. The results from this study found no effect of CAHME accreditation or ACHE affiliation on healthcare organization performance outcomes. The study findings support the need for future research surrounding healthcare administration professional graduate degree program characteristics and leader development affiliations, as perceived by various industry stakeholders.

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