Ketrina Yim

Bio: Ketrina Yim is an academic researcher from University of California, Berkeley. The author has contributed to research in topics: Visual learning. The author has an hindex of 1, co-authored 1 publications receiving 4 citations.

Computer science illustrated: engaging visual aids for computer science education

Abstract: Computer Science Illustrated1 is an endeavor to help visual learners comprehend computer science topics through a series of resolution-independent illustrations, which are made available online for use as handouts in class and posters in the computer labs. These illustrations are designed to present concepts as engaging and memorable visual metaphors combined with concise explanations or short narratives, intended to maintain the students' interest and facilitate retention. An additional goal of the project is to make learning the concepts an entertaining experience through the use of colorful and whimsical characters in the illustrations. In producing our twenty-seven illustrations, we determined which topics were most difficult for students to understand in our university's introductory computer science courses and followed a step-by-step process of design, redesign, and revision to generate our illustrations. We also assessed the effectiveness of our creations, using both subjective and objective measures.

Metaphors and analogies for teaching algorithms

Abstract: In this paper we explore the topic of using metaphors and analogies in teaching algorithms. We argue their importance in the teaching process. We present a selection of metaphors we successfully used when teaching algorithms to secondary school students. We also discuss the suitability of several commonly used metaphors, and in several cases we show significant weaknesses of these metaphors.

Using social network technology as a peer-mediated learning tool in a computer course

Abstract: This study examines the effectiveness of applying social network technology in a classroom. A slide-sharing social network technology, the OpenSlide system, was installed for use in an operating systems course for college students in a university's information management department. A quasi-experimental study was conducted to examine the effectiveness of the instructional design by comparing the performance of an experimental class who used the OpenSlide system and a control class who did not use the system. The findings show that all students in the experimental class made significantly more progress than those in the control class, and that surface learners in the experimental class made significantly more progress than surface learners in the control class. Using the OpenSlide system helps construct a situated learning environment for legitimate peripheral participation in the classroom.

Improving Concept Learning Through Specialized Digital Fanzines

Abstract: Specialized digital fanzines were successfully used to facilitate learning problematic concepts in an undergraduate programming course, dynamically adapting to student needs. The design of these fanzines favors creating and reading them quickly by establishing a common graphical layout, rules, and focusing in the most problematic parts of the concepts. This paper details the agile fanzine creation procedure, the way problematic concepts were identified and quickly handled, and how this approach was implemented in an actual course, so it could be applied to other courses with similar needs.

Improving Concept Learning Through Specialized Digital Fanzines

Abstract: Specialized digital fanzines were successfully used to facilitate learning problematic concepts in an undergraduate programming course, dynamically adapting to student needs. The design of these fanzines favors creating and reading them quickly by establishing a common graphical layout, rules, and focusing in the most problematic parts of the concepts. This paper details the agile fanzine creation procedure, the way problematic concepts were identified and quickly handled, and how this approach was implemented in an actual course, so it could be applied to other courses with similar needs.

How Do We Read Formal Claims? Eye-Tracking and the Cognition of Proofs about Algorithms

Abstract: Formal methods are used successfully in high-assurance software, but they require rigorous mathematical and logical training that practitioners often lack. As such, integrating formal methods into software has been associated with numerous challenges. While educators have placed emphasis on formalisms in undergraduate theory courses, such courses often struggle with poor student outcomes and satisfaction. In this paper, we present a controlled eye-tracking human study (n = 34) investigating the problem-solving strategies employed by students with different levels of incoming preparation (as assessed by theory coursework taken and pre-screening performance on a proof comprehension task), and how educators can better prepare low-outcome students for the rigorous logical reasoning that is a core part of formal methods in software engineering. Surprisingly, we find that incoming preparation is not a good predictor of student outcomes for formalism comprehension tasks, and that student self-reports are not accurate at identifying factors associated with high outcomes for such tasks. Instead, and importantly, we find that differences in outcomes can be attributed to performance for proofs by induction and recursive algorithms, and that better-performing students exhibit significantly more attention switching behaviors, a result that has several implications for pedagogy in terms of the design of teaching materials. Our results suggest the need for a substantial pedagogical intervention in core theory courses to better align student outcomes with the objectives of mastery and retaining the material, and thus bettering preparing students for high-assurance software engineering.