Evaluation of parallel programming teaching methodologies: On‐campus versus online methodologies

Abstract

Contribution This study reveals that the programming paradigm is relevant to obtain advanced programming skills. Background Parallel computing has become mandatory for computer science students. The increasing amount of computational resources required by emerging applications need experienced programmers that fully exploit hardware resources. However, the hardware platforms and programming languages to leverage them evolve at a dizzying pace, making very challenging for students the successful learning of the continuously changing high‐performance computing concepts. Research Questions (a) Is the learning curve of the programming language too steep to begin learning parallel programming fundamentals? (b) Are emergent learning methodologies making even more difficult to learn parallel programming in general? Methodology It is analyzed the main challenges for succeeding in parallel programming courses at the undergraduate level in two different learning modalities, namely on‐campus and online. It is analyzed the main tools available within a learning management system, showing their impact on online studies. Findings Our results reveal that the steep learning curve for parallel programming is one of the main barriers to student success, leading to an early drop out of the subject. On‐campus studies mitigate this problem through a close relationship between students and educators. Online studies, however, do not have this tight relationship by its definition.

The Effect of Google Classroom-Assisted Learning on the Academic Achievement of Students

“…Based on the tested learning strategy, the researcher's analysis revealed no significant difference (p>0.05) in student accomplishment. The study's results supported past comparisons of the impacts of learning management system-assisted learning, which did not discover any appreciable distinctions between the experimental group and the traditional method (Adams & Dove, 2017;Al-Qahtani & Higgins, 2012;Bulut Ozek, 2018;Cantabella et al, 2019;Davis & Frederick, 2020;Jazayeri & Li, 2020;Vercellotti, 2017;Yorganci, 2020). Three schools made up the modest sample size of study participants in this investigation.…”

The Effectiveness of Online-Based Learning in Java Programming Language: Student Perceptions and Performance

“…Typically, in traditional-based learning, students are able to interact directly with the lecturers and other students which allows prompt answers. It was also found that the number of students failing and dropping out of the course is higher in the online environment especially in the advanced programming course (Cantabella, 2020;Chimanga, 2021). Students preferred and felt that traditional lectures have better educational values than online-based as many showed disinterest and lack of motivation in commencing online-based learning because of the social isolation in the virtual lectures.…”

“…In addition, studies conducted by Cantabella (2020) and Maltby (2020) found that in online-based learning, there are limited interactions between the students and lecturers. This can be difficult and frustrating for the students in acquiring the programming language knowledge (Yagci, 2017) as there are delays in getting replies to their queries.…”

Systematic Review on Virtual Pedagogical Models in University Contexts, Years 2011 to 2021

“…Finally, it is necessary to indicate that interaction is highly complex (Duart Montoliu & Osorio Gómez, 2011) or a weakness in virtual education. In Spain, research was conducted on the evaluation of both faceto-face and online methodologies at university, concluding that interaction is the main problem between faculty and students in the virtual modality (Cantabella et al, 2020). Likewise, it is necessary that strategies are developed as part of the virtual methodology, in this way the teaching staff reaches an innovative level contributing to their professional work (Martínez-Garcés & Garcés-Fuenmayor, 2020).…”