"Python first"

Radenski, Atanas

doi:10.1145/1140124.1140177

Cited by 31 publications

(7 citation statements)

References 4 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…For example, while the Code Spells game teaches programming for female students, it does not include a narrative or story aspect; a narrative story can provide the structure to propel successive learning and drive interests. Also, the language choice of Java may be too difficult for beginners learning to program (Radenski, 2006). Scratch programming is effective but does not allow for practical programming as in SOS.…”

Section: Related Workmentioning

confidence: 99%

Developing Game-Based Learning Requirements to Increase Female Middle School Students Interest in Computer Science

Bonner

Dorneich

2016

Proceedings of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society Annual

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

This paper presents work on the development of a Game-Based Learning (GBL) application's requirements for female middle school students which teaches fundamental concepts of programming. Currently, there are not enough students who desire to pursue Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematic (STEM) career fields. Additionally, female are underrepresented in STEM fields, and increased female participation may help partially address this gap. GBL was used to encourage middle school student interest in STEM by allowing them to practice computer science concepts in engaging contexts outside the classroom. The game Sorceress of Seasons was built to teach fundamental programming concepts, and was based on six requirements specifically targeted at female middle school students. The game was tested with 15 middle school-aged students. Playing the game had a positive effect on students' attitudes towards programming, with female students reporting a larger increase in computer science interest than males when compared with their previous attitudes. The results suggest that the game may be successful in increasing interest in STEM in these students. The requirements developed to guide the design of the game played a role in the game's effectiveness, and may be useful when developing an educational tool targeting female STEM interest.

show abstract

Section: Related Workmentioning

confidence: 99%

Developing Game-Based Learning Requirements to Increase Female Middle School Students Interest in Computer Science

Bonner

Dorneich

2016

Proceedings of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society Annual

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Koulouri et al [13] report statistical findings that students better learned introductory programming concepts in Python (a "syntactically simple" language) than in Java, however Alzharani et al found that beginning students struggle with assignments in Python as much or more than in C++ [1]. Educators have argued that that Python is a good choice for a first programming language [14,22] because data typing, memory management, and object references are implicit, and that beginning programmers may find such concepts confusing. These concepts are usually important in a CS2 data structures course, though Enbody et al [9] found no statistical difference in a C++ CS2 data structures course between students who took CS1 in Python vs. C++.…”

Section: Related Workmentioning

confidence: 99%

Toward Predicting Success and Failure in CS2

Layman

Song

Guinn

2020

Proceedings of the 2020 ACM Southeast Conference

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Factors driving success and failure in CS1 are the subject of much study but less so for CS2. This paper investigates the transition from CS1 to CS2 in search of leading indicators of success in CS2. Both CS1 and CS2 at the University of North Carolina Wilmington (UNCW) are taught in Python with annual enrollments of 300 and 150 respectively. In this paper, we report on the following research questions:(1) Are CS1 grades indicators of CS2 grades?(2) Does a quantitative relationship exist between CS2 course grade and a modified version of the SCS1 concept inventory? (3) What are the most challenging aspects of CS2, and how well does CS1 prepare students for CS2 from the student's perspective?We provide a quantitative analysis of 2300 CS1 and CS2 course grades from 2013-2019. In Spring 2019, we administered a modified version of the SCS1 concept inventory to 44 students in the first week of CS2. Further, 69 students completed an exit questionnaire at the conclusion of CS2 to gain qualitative student feedback on their challenges in CS2 and on how well CS1 prepared them for CS2. We find that 56% of students' grades were lower in CS2 than CS1, 18% improved their grades, and 26% earned the same grade. Of the changes, 62% were within one grade point. We find a statistically significant correlation between the modified SCS1 score and CS2 grade points. Students identify linked lists and class/object concepts among the most challenging. Student feedback on CS2 challenges and the adequacy of their CS1 preparations identify possible avenues for improving the CS1-CS2 transition. CCS CONCEPTS• Social and professional topics → CS1; Student assessment. KEYWORDS CS1, CS2, student assessment

show abstract

“…Two of the more widely used languages are Java and C++. Python is a more suitable introductory language to learn than Java or C++ (Radenski, 2006) because Python is less syntax specific and needs fewer lines of code written in comparison than Java or C++. Other languages such as PHP and JavaScript also are easier for a beginner to use than Java and C++.…”

Section: Introduction To Programmingmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…However, they are more difficult for beginners to learn than Python. Although Python was originally designed for educational use (Lutz, 2008;Tollervey, 2015) CS practitioners quickly adopted it for professional use due to its simplicity (Radenski, 2006).…”

Section: Introduction To Programmingmentioning

confidence: 99%

A game-based learning approach to increase female participation in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics fields

Bonner

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The work presented in this Master's Thesis is dedicated to many people whom I have had the benefit of learning from. To those from Auburn University who helped me become a better version of myself. To my family. To my GDES 12 family. To my former professors Kelly Bryant and Samantha Lawrie. To John Powell for setting me on this path. To those who have seen me succeed, fail, and face palm fabulously. To those who have unintentionally inspired or encourage me. Most importantly, this thesis is dedicated to the kid who just may decide to pursue STEM despite initial reservations. Calculus is challenging, but I promise you'll get over it. And finally to you the reader "because reasons." iii

show abstract

"Python first"

Cited by 31 publications

References 4 publications

Developing Game-Based Learning Requirements to Increase Female Middle School Students Interest in Computer Science

Developing Game-Based Learning Requirements to Increase Female Middle School Students Interest in Computer Science

Toward Predicting Success and Failure in CS2

A game-based learning approach to increase female participation in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics fields

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About