Python in a week: Conceptual tests for learning and course development
2023 (Engelska)Ingår i: Proceedings of the International CDIO Conference / [ed] Reidar Lyng; Jens Bennedsen; Lamjed Bettaieb; Nils Rune Bodsberg; Kristina Edström; María Sigríður Guðjónsdóttir; Janne Roslöf; Ole K. Solbjørg; Geir Øien, NTNU SEED , 2023, s. 470-480Konferensbidrag, Publicerat paper (Refereegranskat)
Abstract [en]
Programming has gradually become an essential skill for engineers and scientists across disciplines and is an important part of the CDIO Syllabus covering fundamental knowledge and reasoning. Recently, there has been a shift away from introductory programming languages like C and Java towards Python, especially in programs where the focus lies on handling and analysing large quantities of data, such as energy technology, biotechnology, and bioinformatics. This paper illustrates the successful setup of a one-week-long introductory Python programming course with a hands-on approach. Given the limited time, a challenge is how to effectively teach students a meaningful set of skills that enables them to self-guide their future learning. Moreover, since the course does not include any summative assessment, we need other means of measuring students’ learning and guiding course development. We address these challenges by coupling short lectures with short quizzes for formative assessment, adding another learning activity to the course. We find that, in the absence of summative assessment, short, frequent quizzes with immediate feedback are an excellent tool to track the learning of a class as a whole. Students report that the quizzes, albeit challenging, improved their understanding of programming concepts, made them aware of potential mistakes, and were a fun learning experience. Furthermore, the results from this paper illustrate how a new programming language can be taught to students without prior programming skills in a short period of time. We summarise our lessons learnt for designing and integrating quizzes in short-format programming courses.
Ort, förlag, år, upplaga, sidor
NTNU SEED , 2023. s. 470-480
Serie
Proceedings of the International CDIO Conference, ISSN 2002-1593
Nyckelord [en]
conceptual test, formative assessment, Python programming, Standards: 2, 4, 7, 8, 10, 11
Nationell ämneskategori
Lärande
Identifikatorer
URN: urn:nbn:se:umu:diva-217266Scopus ID: 2-s2.0-85177077800ISBN: 9788230361863 (digital)OAI: oai:DiVA.org:umu-217266DiVA, id: diva2:1816006
Konferens
19th CDIO International Conference, CDIO 2023, Trondheim, Norway, June 26-29, 2023
2023-11-302023-11-302023-12-04Bibliografiskt granskad