Automatic Feedback Provision in Teaching Computational Science.
03 Jun 2020-pp 608-621
TL;DR: A method of automatic feedback provision for students learning computational science and data science methods in Python that very significantly reduces the staff time required to establish whether a student’s solution is correct, and shifts the emphasis of computing laboratory student contact time from assessing correctness to providing guidance.
Abstract: We describe a method of automatic feedback provision for students learning computational science and data science methods in Python We have implemented, used and refined this system since 2009 for growing student numbers, and summarise the design and experience of using it The core idea is to use a unit testing framework: the teacher creates a set of unit tests, and the student code is tested by running these tests With our implementation, students typically submit work for assessment, and receive feedback by email within a few minutes after submission The choice of tests and the reporting back to the student is chosen to optimise the educational value for the students The system very significantly reduces the staff time required to establish whether a student’s solution is correct, and shifts the emphasis of computing laboratory student contact time from assessing correctness to providing guidance The self-paced nature of the automatic feedback provision supports a student-centred learning approach Students can re-submit their work repeatedly and iteratively improve their solution, and enjoy using the system We include an evaluation of the system from using it in a class of 425 students
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10 Aug 2021
TL;DR: In this article, an intelligent learning partner was designed and developed under the guidance of the framework of technological pedagogical content knowledge and peer-assisted learning strategy to improve teachers' computational thinking-related teaching ability.
Abstract: Developing effective learning strategies and tools to improve teachers’ computational thinking-related teaching ability is becoming an increasingly important issue in the digital age. In this study, an intelligent learning partner was designed and developed under the guidance of the framework of technological pedagogical content knowledge and peer-assisted learning strategy. Moreover, a quasi-experiment has been conducted in a blended learning community to evaluate the effect of the intelligent learning partner on improving teachers’ computational thinking-related technological pedagogical content knowledge. The participants were 32 pre-service teachers, comprising an experimental group (n = 16) and a control group (n = 16). The experimental results showed that the intelligent learning partner enabled the teachers to apply more knowledge of computational thinking-related technological pedagogical content knowledge into their lesson plans. Besides, it was found that the intelligent learning partner not only facilitated the teachers to think about students’ learning process, but also helped the teachers recognize the advantages of specific technology and pedagogy. Besides, participants’ feedback on improving the design of intelligent learning partners indicated that emotional interaction and explanations were needed.
08 Oct 2022
TL;DR: In this article , a literature mapping was conducted based on 119 articles published between 2017 and 2021 to answer the following research question (RQ): What does the literature tell us about the use of automatic feedback in teaching programming in undergraduate courses?
Abstract: Teaching programming in the early years of undergraduate courses has been a challenge for students, institutions, and professors. In view of this, Learning Management Systems (LMSs) and other teaching platforms have emerged to address some of the difficulties in this process. In this context, the present work intends to answer the following research question (RQ): What does the literature tell us about the use of automatic feedback in teaching programming in undergraduate courses? To answer this question, a literature mapping was conducted based on 119 articles published between 2017 and 2021. The mapping showed that the research area is expanding and has related studies from all over the world. The papers have different origins, and 37 countries are represented in this survey. The main programming languages used are Java, Python, C and C++. Another finding was that it is common practice to develop specific platforms for automatic feedback in programming courses. This paper presents the findings and results obtained.
TL;DR: In this article , the authors investigated the effect of Danmaku-based and synchronous peer feedback on L2 oral performance and the acceptance thereof among students, and found that the incorporation of peer feedback was generally favored by participants who were satisfied and motivated in the learning process but lacked confidence in their assessment literacy.
Abstract: Advancement of research in education has propelled the augmentation of theoretical and practical knowledge in learning-oriented feedback. In recent years, the channels, modes, and orientations of feedback became manifold. Copious empirical evidence from the body of literature supported the strength of feedback in enhancing learning outcomes and promoting the motivation of learners. However, compared to the popularity in implementation and fruitfulness of findings in other educational domains, the application of state-of-the-art technology-enhanced feedback in fostering students’ L2 oral abilities remain few and far between. To address the knowledge gap, the present study endeavored to investigate the effect of Danmaku-based and synchronous peer feedback on L2 oral performance and the acceptance thereof among students. Adopting a mixed-method design, the study recruited 74 (n = 74) undergraduate English majors from a Chinese university for a 16-week 2x2 experiment. The collected data were analyzed through statistical and thematic analysis respectively. The findings revealed that Danmaku-based and synchronous peer feed-back was impactful on students’ performance in L2 oral production. Furthermore, the impacts of peer feedback on subdomains of L2 competence were statistically analyzed. Regarding students’ perceptions, the incorporation of peer feedback was generally favored by participants who were satisfied and motivated in the learning process but lacked confidence in their assessment literacy. Furthermore, students expressed their agreement with the benefit of reflective learning and the subsequent enrichment in knowledge and horizon. The research was significant for its conceptual and practical contribution for follow-up researchers and educators in L2 education and learning-oriented feedback.
08 Oct 2022
TL;DR: In this paper , a literature mapping was conducted based on 119 articles published between 2017 and 2021 to answer the following research question (RQ): What does the literature tell us about the use of automatic feedback in teaching programming in undergraduate courses?
Abstract: Teaching programming in the early years of undergraduate courses has been a challenge for students, institutions, and professors. In view of this, Learning Management Systems (LMSs) and other teaching platforms have emerged to address some of the difficulties in this process. In this context, the present work intends to answer the following research question (RQ): What does the literature tell us about the use of automatic feedback in teaching programming in undergraduate courses? To answer this question, a literature mapping was conducted based on 119 articles published between 2017 and 2021. The mapping showed that the research area is expanding and has related studies from all over the world. The papers have different origins, and 37 countries are represented in this survey. The main programming languages used are Java, Python, C and C++. Another finding was that it is common practice to develop specific platforms for automatic feedback in programming courses. This paper presents the findings and results obtained.
References
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06 Jun 2004
TL;DR: It is argued that it is most important for the understanding of the students to perform the first step whereas the actual implementation in a programming language is of secondary importance for the learning of problem-solving techniques and to chose a well-structured teaching language that provides a clear and intuitive syntax and allows students to quickly express their algorithms.
Abstract: We describe and compare the programming languages C, MATLAB and Python as teaching languages for engineering students. We distinguish between two distinct phases in the process of converting a given problem into a computer program that can provide a solution: (i) finding an algorithmic solution and (ii) implementing this in a particular programming language. It is argued that it is most important for the understanding of the students to perform the first step whereas the actual implementation in a programming language is of secondary importance for the learning of problem-solving techniques. We therefore suggest to chose a well-structured teaching language that provides a clear and intuitive syntax and allows students to quickly express their algorithms. In our experience in engineering computing we find that MATLAB is much better suited than C for this task but the best choice in terms of clarity and functionality of the language is provided by Python.
93 citations
11 Jan 2018
TL;DR: A literature survey on software engineering practices in computational science identified 13 recurring key characteristics of scientific software development that are the result of the nature of scientific challenges, the limitations of computers, and the cultural environment of scientificSoftware development.
Abstract: Despite the increasing importance of in silico experiments to the scientific discovery process, state-of-the-art software engineering practices are rarely adopted in computational science. To understand the underlying causes for this situation and to identify ways to improve it, the authors conducted a literature survey on software engineering practices in computational science. They identified 13 recurring key characteristics of scientific software development that are the result of the nature of scientific challenges, the limitations of computers, and the cultural environment of scientific software development. Their findings allow them to point out shortcomings of existing approaches for bridging the gap between software engineering and computational science and to provide an outlook on promising research directions that could contribute to improving the current situation.
44 citations
"Automatic Feedback Provision in Tea..." refers background in this paper
...In particular for computational science where requirements can change rapidly and users (and readers) of code may not be fully trained computer scientists [4], the readability and documentation matter....
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TL;DR: This work conducted a literature survey on software engineering practices in computational science to point out shortcomings of existing approaches for bridging the gap between software engineering and computational science and to provide an outlook on promising research directions that could contribute to improving the current situation.
Abstract: Despite the increasing importance of in silico experiments to the scientific discovery process, state-of-the-art software engineering practices are rarely adopted in computational science. To understand the underlying causes for this situation and to identify ways to improve it, we conducted a literature survey on software engineering practices in computational science. We identified 13 recurring key characteristics of scientific software development that are the result of the nature of scientific challenges, the limitations of computers, and the cultural environment of scientific software development. Our findings allow us to point out shortcomings of existing approaches for bridging the gap between software engineering and computational science and to provide an outlook on promising research directions that could contribute to improving the current situation.
31 citations
Posted Content•
TL;DR: A method of automatic feedback provision for students learning programming and computational methods in Python that very significantly reduces the staff time required to establish whether a student's solution is correct, and shifts the emphasis of computing laboratory student contact time from assessing correctness to providing guidance.
Abstract: We describe a method of automatic feedback provision for students learning programming and computational methods in Python. We have implemented, used and refined this system since 2009 for growing student numbers, and summarise the design and experience of using it. The core idea is to use a unit testing framework: the teacher creates a set of unit tests, and the student code is tested by running these tests. With our implementation, students typically submit work for assessment, and receive feedback by email within a few minutes after submission. The choice of tests and the reporting back to the student is chosen to optimise the educational value for the students. The system very significantly reduces the staff time required to establish whether a student's solution is correct, and shifts the emphasis of computing laboratory student contact time from assessing correctness to providing guidance. The self-paced nature of the automatic feedback provision supports a student-centred learning approach. Students can re-submit their work repeatedly and iteratively improve their solution, and enjoy using the system. We include an evaluation of the system and data from using it in a class of 425 students.
8 citations
"Automatic Feedback Provision in Tea..." refers background in this paper
...More detailed discussion is available [3] with respect to the dependability and resilience of the system [3, Sect....
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...Data shown in this manuscript and [3] is available in Reference [11]....
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...Some of that material is made available as a technical report [3] and we make repeated reference to it in this manuscript....
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...Attempting to address some of the shortcomings of other literature in the field as perceived by a recent review article, we provided copious technical details of our implementation in the supplementary report [3]....
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