skip to main content
10.1145/1734263.1734431acmconferencesArticle/Chapter ViewAbstractPublication PagessigcseConference Proceedingsconference-collections
research-article

Evaluating the impact of PBL and tablet PCs in an algorithms and computer programming course

Published: 10 March 2010 Publication History

Abstract

The introductory undergraduate course on Algorithms and Computer Programming, commonly known as CS1, has always presented a challenge when considering student failure and drop out rates. Despite this, it is acknowledged that this is a foundational course for a large part of the CS curriculum. In this paper we present the results of a project that combines the use of mobile, pen-based, computing technology and Problem-Based Learning in the redesign of an introductory computer programming course. The course redesign focused on the integrated use of tablet PCs to assist in the several activities involved in the use of the PBL method in the classroom. The results show a promising future for the methodology, also pointing to the need for some important adaptations in order to make its use more effective to teach and learn this particular discipline.

References

[1]
C. G. Almeida, A. P. L. Ambrósio, and F. M. Costa. Digital Ink Wiki. In 7th International Information and Telecommunication Technologies Symposium, 2008.
[2]
R. Anderson, R. Anderson, P. Davis, N. Linnell, C. Prince, V. Razmov, and F. Videon. Classroom Presenter: Enhancing interactive education with digital ink. Computer, 40(9):56--61, 2007.
[3]
M. Conway, S. Audia, T. Burnette, D. Cosgrove, and K. Christiansen. Alice: lessons learned from building a 3D system for novices. In CHI'00: Proceedings of the SIGCHI conference on Human factors in computing systems, pages 486--493, New York, NY, USA, 2000. ACM.
[4]
B. J. Duch. What is problem-based learning? About Teaching, 1995(47), January 1995.
[5]
M. Feldgen and O. Clua. New motivations are required for freshman introductory programming. ASEE/IEEE Frontiers in Education Conference, 1:T3C--T24, 2003.
[6]
H. Fuks, A. B. Raposo, M. A. Gerosa, and C. J. P. de Lucena. Applying the 3C model to groupware development. Intl. J. Cooperative Inf. Syst., 14(2-3):299--328, 2005.
[7]
M. Guzdial and K. Carroll. Exploring the lack of dialogue in computer-supported collaborative learning. In Proceedings of the Computer Supported Collaborative Learning 2002. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, pages 418--424, 2002.
[8]
J. Kramer. Is abstraction the key to computing? Commun. ACM, 50(4):36--42, 2007.
[9]
D. K. Levine, G. Teege and G. Hagerer. Jarnal home page - Java notetaker and PDF annotator. Project website: http://www.dklevine.com/general/software/tc1000/jarnal.htm, 2007 (access: Dec/2009).
[10]
L. Ma, J. D. Ferguson, M. Roper, M. Wood, and J. Wilson. A collaborative approach to learning programming: A hybrid learning model. In 6th Annual Higher Education Academy Subject Network for Information Computer Science conference, 2005.
[11]
G. R. Norman and H. G. Schmidt. The psychological basis of problem-based learning: A review of the evidence. Academic Medicine, 67(9):557--565, 1992.
[12]
C. Norris and E. Soloway. Envisioning the handheld-centric classroom. Journal of Educational Computing Research, 30(4):281--294, 2004.
[13]
E. Nuutila, S. Törmä, and L. Malmi. PBL and Computer Programming - The Seven Steps Method with Adaptations. Computer Science Education, 15(2):123--142, June 2005.
[14]
K. Powers, S. Ecott, and L. M. Hirshfield. Through the looking glass: teaching CS0 with Alice. In SIGCSE '07: Proceedings of the 38th Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education, pages 213--217, New York, NY, USA, 2007. ACM.
[15]
J. Roschelle, D. Tatar, S. R. Chaudhury, Y. Dimitriadis, C. Patton, and C. DiGiano. Ink, improvisation, and interactive engagement: Learning with tablets. Computer, 40(9):42--48, 2007.
[16]
H. G. Schmidt. Problem-based learning: Rational and description. Medical Education, 17:11--16, 1983.
[17]
S. Turner, K. Kim, M. A. Perez-Quinones, and S. H. Edwards. Note taking and the tablet PC. In First Workshop on the Impact of Pen-based Technology on Education, April 2006.
[18]
L. S. Vygotsky. Mind in Society: The Development of Higher Psychological Processes. Harvard University Press, November 1980.
[19]
U. Wolz, H. H. Leitner, D. J. Malan, and J. Maloney. Starting with scratch in CS1. In SIGCSE'09: Proceedings of the 40th ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education, pages 2--3, New York, NY, USA, 2009. ACM.

Cited By

View all
  • (2023)The Effectiveness of Online Problem-Based Learning Tasks on Riyadh’s Secondary School Students’ Problem-Solving Ability and Programming SkillsOpen Education Studies10.1515/edu-2022-02085:1Online publication date: 11-Dec-2023
  • (2021)Two Decades of PBL in Teaching Computing: A Systematic Mapping StudyIEEE Transactions on Education10.1109/TE.2020.303341664:3(233-244)Online publication date: Aug-2021
  • (2021)Student Assessment in PBL-Based Teaching Computing: Proposals and Results2021 IEEE Frontiers in Education Conference (FIE)10.1109/FIE49875.2021.9637056(1-9)Online publication date: 13-Oct-2021
  • Show More Cited By

Index Terms

  1. Evaluating the impact of PBL and tablet PCs in an algorithms and computer programming course

    Recommendations

    Comments

    Information & Contributors

    Information

    Published In

    cover image ACM Conferences
    SIGCSE '10: Proceedings of the 41st ACM technical symposium on Computer science education
    March 2010
    618 pages
    ISBN:9781450300063
    DOI:10.1145/1734263
    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]

    Sponsors

    Publisher

    Association for Computing Machinery

    New York, NY, United States

    Publication History

    Published: 10 March 2010

    Permissions

    Request permissions for this article.

    Check for updates

    Author Tags

    1. algorithm teaching
    2. pen-based computing
    3. problem-based learning

    Qualifiers

    • Research-article

    Conference

    SIGCSE10
    Sponsor:

    Acceptance Rates

    Overall Acceptance Rate 1,787 of 5,146 submissions, 35%

    Upcoming Conference

    SIGCSE TS 2025
    The 56th ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education
    February 26 - March 1, 2025
    Pittsburgh , PA , USA

    Contributors

    Other Metrics

    Bibliometrics & Citations

    Bibliometrics

    Article Metrics

    • Downloads (Last 12 months)18
    • Downloads (Last 6 weeks)1
    Reflects downloads up to 17 Feb 2025

    Other Metrics

    Citations

    Cited By

    View all
    • (2023)The Effectiveness of Online Problem-Based Learning Tasks on Riyadh’s Secondary School Students’ Problem-Solving Ability and Programming SkillsOpen Education Studies10.1515/edu-2022-02085:1Online publication date: 11-Dec-2023
    • (2021)Two Decades of PBL in Teaching Computing: A Systematic Mapping StudyIEEE Transactions on Education10.1109/TE.2020.303341664:3(233-244)Online publication date: Aug-2021
    • (2021)Student Assessment in PBL-Based Teaching Computing: Proposals and Results2021 IEEE Frontiers in Education Conference (FIE)10.1109/FIE49875.2021.9637056(1-9)Online publication date: 13-Oct-2021
    • (2021)Sentiments and Performance in an Introductory Programming Course Based on PBL2021 IEEE Global Engineering Education Conference (EDUCON)10.1109/EDUCON46332.2021.9453963(831-840)Online publication date: 21-Apr-2021
    • (2021)SMAC (Social, Mobile, Analytics, Cloud)-Based Learning Intervention for Introductory Programming – The Trend in the Past 15 YearsComputational Intelligence in Information Systems10.1007/978-3-030-68133-3_7(63-74)Online publication date: 19-Jan-2021
    • (2020)Sala de aula 4.0 – Uma Proposta de Ensino Remoto Baseado em Sala de Aula Invertida, Gamification e PBLRevista Brasileira de Informática na Educação10.5753/rbie.2020.28.0.90928(909-933)Online publication date: 14-Dec-2020
    • (2020)Moving to Project-Based Learning at the Program Level: an Experience Report2020 IEEE Global Engineering Education Conference (EDUCON)10.1109/EDUCON45650.2020.9125297(1614-1621)Online publication date: Apr-2020
    • (2020)Report of a CS1 Course for Computer Engineering Majors Based on PBL2020 IEEE Global Engineering Education Conference (EDUCON)10.1109/EDUCON45650.2020.9125121(837-846)Online publication date: Apr-2020
    • (2018)Introductory programming: a systematic literature reviewProceedings Companion of the 23rd Annual ACM Conference on Innovation and Technology in Computer Science Education10.1145/3293881.3295779(55-106)Online publication date: 2-Jul-2018
    • (2016)Teaching programming as application development from the ground up2016 IEEE Frontiers in Education Conference (FIE)10.1109/FIE.2016.7757738(1-9)Online publication date: Oct-2016
    • Show More Cited By

    View Options

    Login options

    View options

    PDF

    View or Download as a PDF file.

    PDF

    eReader

    View online with eReader.

    eReader

    Figures

    Tables

    Media

    Share

    Share

    Share this Publication link

    Share on social media