Examinando por Autor "French, John"

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Computational Thinking Measurement of CS University Students
(MDPI, 2024-06-18) Hijón-Neira, Raquel; Pizarro, Celeste; French, John; Palacios-Alonso, Daniel; Çoban, Emre
The measurement of computational thinking ability among computer science (CS) university students is of paramount importance. This study introduces UniCTCheck, a novel method designed to assess the main components of computational thinking in CS students. Utilising two key instruments, namely, the web application CTScore and the psychometric scale CTProg, this research aims to precisely evaluate seven core components of computational thinking and six programming concepts skills essential for CS students. The study, conducted at Rey Juan Carlos University and Atlantic Technological University Galway, involved a diverse sample of students from different year levels and programme specialisations. Through a rigorous research design, including sampling strategies and data collection tools, this study seeks to address critical research questions related to the measurement of variations in students’ computational thinking and programming skills by gender, university level, and location. By shedding light on the significance of computational thinking and programming in the educational realm, this research contributes to the existing literature and underscores the essential role of computational skills in the modern era.
Improving CS1 Programming Learning with Visual Execution Environments
(MDPI, 2023-10-20) Hijón-Neira, Raquel; Pizarro, Celeste; French, John; Paredes-Barragán, Pedro; Duignan, Michael
Students in their first year of computer science (CS1) at universities typically struggle to grasp fundamental programming concepts. This paper discusses research carried out using a Java-based visual execution environment (VEE) to introduce fundamental programming concepts to CS1 students. The VEE guides beginner programmers through the fundamentals of programming, utilizing visual metaphors to explain and direct interactive tasks implemented in Java. The study’s goal was to determine if the use of the VEE in the instruction of a group of 63 CS1 students from four different groups enrolled in two academic institutions (based in Madrid, Spain and Galway, Ireland) results in an improvement in their grasp of fundamental programming concepts. The programming concepts covered included those typically found in an introductory programming course, e.g., input and output, conditionals, loops, functions, arrays, recursion, and files. A secondary goal of this research was to examine if the use of the VEE enhances students’ understanding of particular concepts more than others, i.e., whether there exists a topic-dependent benefit to the use of the VEE. The results of the study found that use of the VEE in the instruction of these students resulted in a significant improvement in their grasp of fundamental programming concepts compared with a control group who received instruction without the use of the VEE. The study also found a pronounced improvement in the students’ grasp of particular concepts (e.g., operators, conditionals, and loops), suggesting the presence of a topic-dependent benefit to the use of the VEE.