An educational methodology for promoting active learning through a dynamic content classroom

• Grant number: 14/07502-4
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Post-Doctoral
• Start date: March 01, 2015
• End date: February 29, 2020
• Field of knowledge: Physical Sciences and Mathematics - Computer Science
• Agreement: Coordination of Improvement of Higher Education Personnel (CAPES)
• Principal Investigator: Rodolfo Jardim de Azevedo
• Grantee: Ricardo Edgard Caceffo
• Host Institution: Instituto de Computação (IC). Universidade Estadual de Campinas (UNICAMP). Campinas , SP, Brazil
• Associated research grant: 13/08293-7 - CCES - Center for Computational Engineering and Sciences, AP.CEPID
• Associated scholarship(s): 15/08668-6 - Study, development and assessment of novel Clickers approaches to support active learning, BE.EP.PD

Abstract

There is a deficiency related to the methodologies which supports Active Learning, such as Peer Instruction (PI) - originally created for the context of teaching physics -within the introductory programming topics in Computer Science (CS1). Still, the area lacks a Conceptual Inventory (CI), which is an evaluation questionnaire usually applied in order to analyze students' understanding in relation to the main themes and concepts related to certain subject. Because of the great effort required to create and validate CIs, the few CIs existing in Computer Science are limited to specific topics, not satisfactorily covering CS1. Thus, on this research project is proposed the Computer Science Peer Instruction (CSPI) methodology, an adaptation of the PI to the environment, needs and characteristics of CS1. The CSPI has been designed in order to support a question's workflow, where the questions are classified as Pre-Class, Concept Testing and CI Questions. The CI Questions will compose a specific CI for Computer Science, defined as CSCI. A mobile software will be developed to support the CSPI. This software will be applied in the introductory programming discipline (MC102) of the University, being validated through qualitative and quantitative analysis. We plan to make this experiment with four MC102 classes, during one semester. Apart from validating the CSPI, this experiment will support the CSCI generation, consisting of 32 questions. The CSCI will be validated using statistical methods to check its internal consistency, as well as through the Think Aloud method, checking if the problems of understanding originally associated by the teacher correspond to the actual problems found students. Finally, the CSCI will be applied to classes of MC102 in order to measure the impact of several educational methodologies to promote Active Learning. At this stage each class will be oriented to apply a different methodology of Active Learning during one semester. The CSCI will be applied in each class at the beginning and the end of the semester, so measuring the student's understanding gains and enabling the evaluation and comparison of these educational methodologies, including the CSPI. (AU)

Scientific publications

(4)

(References retrieved automatically from Web of Science and SciELO through information on FAPESP grants and their corresponding numbers as mentioned in the publications by the authors)

VALENTE, JOSE ARMANDO; CACEFFO, RICARDO; BONACIN, RODRIGO; DOS REIS, JULIO CESAR; GONCALVES, DIEGO ADDAN; BARANAUSKAS, MARIA CECILIA CALANI. Embodied-based environment for kindergarten children: Revisiting constructionist ideas. BRITISH JOURNAL OF EDUCATIONAL TECHNOLOGY, v. 52, n. 3, p. 986-1003, MAY 2021. (15/24300-9, 18/06416-8, 14/07502-4, 15/16528-0)

CACEFFO, RICARDO; GAMA, GUILHERME; AZEVEDO, RODOLFO; ASSOC COMP MACHINERY. Exploring Active Learning Approaches to Computer Science Classes. SIGCSE'18: PROCEEDINGS OF THE 49TH ACM TECHNICAL SYMPOSIUM ON COMPUTER SCIENCE EDUCATION, v. N/A, p. 6-pg., 2018-01-01. (13/08293-7, 14/07502-4)

BESHAI, PETER; CACEFFO, RICARDO; BOOTH, KELLOGG S.. Providing Semi-private Feedback on a Shared Public Screen by Controlling Presentation Onset. ACM Transactions on Applied Perception (TAP), v. 17, n. 3, NOV 2020. (15/08668-6, 14/07502-4)

CACEFFO, RICARDO; FRANK-BOLTON, PABLO; SOUZA, RENAN; AZEVEDO, RODOLFO; ACM. Identifying and Validating Java Misconceptions Toward a CS1 Concept Inventory. PROCEEDINGS OF THE 2019 ACM CONFERENCE ON INNOVATION AND TECHNOLOGY IN COMPUTER SCIENCE EDUCATION (ITICSE '19), v. N/A, p. 7-pg., 2019-01-01. (13/08293-7, 14/07502-4)