The Combined Use of Lego Mindstorms NXT and App Inventor for Teaching Novice Programmers

Papadakis, Stamatios; Orfanakis, Vasileios

doi:10.1007/978-3-319-55553-9_15

Cited by 37 publications

(36 citation statements)

References 19 publications

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“…With the rapidly increasing popularity of the Internet in recent years, the delivery of learning programs has gradually shifted from local desktop to online-based applications [5]. Consequently, the role of e-learning has transformed completely as recent advances in Information Technology (IT) and the advent of Web 2.0 technologies enabled the creation of learning content that is no longer based on textbooks and learning guides [32,33,34,35]. E-learning is electronic learning, meaning that it is not traditional learning in a classroom with a teacher and students, plus the board.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Evaluating Moodle use via Smart Mobile Phones. A case study in a Greek University

Papadakis¹,

Kalogiannakis²,

Sifaki³

et al. 2018

EAI Endorsed Transactions on Creative Technologies

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The use of learning management systems (LMS) has grown considerably in universities around the world. LMSs can offer a great variety of channels and workspaces to facilitate information sharing and communication among participants in a course. One of the most commonly used is Moodle, a free learning management system enabling the creation of powerful, flexible and engaging online courses and experiences. A course can consist of a number of lessons. Each lesson consists of reading materials; activities such as quizzes, tests, surveys, and projects; and social elements that encourage interaction and group work among students. This study investigated how often students used a mobile phone to access various activities on Moodle. The students' point of view is important since they are the main users of the offered teaching technique and can cooperate in implementing and improving an e-course as a very important stakeholder in the e-learning process. A survey on self-reported usage was filled by 122 university students in a course offered by the faculty of Preschool Education at the University of Crete. Follow-up interviews were conducted to solicit students' perceptions on mobile access to Moodle and the underlying reasons. The results show significant differences in students' usage of various Moodle activities via mobile phones. Students' responses also suggest that Moodle is used merely as an electronic document repository and not as an effective learning tool due to the limitations of mobile access on usability and reliability.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Evaluating Moodle use via Smart Mobile Phones. A case study in a Greek University

Papadakis¹,

Kalogiannakis²,

Sifaki³

et al. 2018

EAI Endorsed Transactions on Creative Technologies

Self Cite

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“…According to Freudenthal et al (2010), the teaching of algorithmisation and programing should be made so as to minimise the cognitive load while maximising the pedagogical value. Student involvement is often the catalyst for educational improvements and is often successful when the 'classroom context' is consistent with student interests and goals, and encourage students to assess what they learn (Gray et al, 2012;Papadakis et al, 2014;Papadakis and Orfanakis, 2017). Margulieux et al (2012) point out that the difficulties facing students in learning computer programing skills can be successfully addressed by transforming an introductory programing course from a simple lecture into an easy and fun experience, and there are several strategies for achieving those goals.…”

Section: Novice Programing Environmentsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Researchers state that although novice programmers are often interested in programing due to their previous experience with video games and multimedia applications (Orfanakis and Papadakis, 2016), they get easily discouraged because they find it extremely difficult and time-consuming to create their own applications (Cooper et al, 2003). By contrast, other studies show that school-aged students show increased interest and ability in programing only if they deal with it in an attractive way (Hylton and Otoupal, 2005;Papadakis and Orfanakis, 2017).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…For these reasons, the subject of teaching programing is constantly at the heart of the research community (Guzdial, 2004;Kelleher and Pausch, 2005;Xinogalos et al, 2015). In an attempt to increase students' interest and participation in computer science, much effort has been made during the last decades in the development of tools and activities to facilitate learning programing for novices in schools and universities (Hsu and Ching, 2013;Papadakis and Orfanakis, 2017;Storey, 2005). These efforts include the implementation of kinaesthetic learning activities such as computer science unplugged, the unplugged hour of code and the development of programing environments suitable for beginners.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Comparing novice programing environments for use in secondary education: App Inventor for Android vs. Alice

Papadakis

Orfanakis

2018

IJTEL

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Coding is part of logical thinking and is one of the basic skills which are known as '21st-century skills'. Coding acquisition is necessary as it is used in a wide range of occupations. However, computer programing is difficult to learn and programing courses often have high drop-out rates. Novice programmers suffer from a wide range of difficulties and deficits. Research in teaching and learning programing across different countries and educational contexts reveal that novice programmers face the same challenges in their efficiency of writing, debugging and running programs. These difficulties have led those involved in the teaching of programing to further consider the most effective ways that can facilitate novice programmers in learning the basic programing concepts. Visual programing environments which support the construction of programs through a drag-and-drop interface are among the most popular coding tools for teaching novice programmers. In this paper, we investigate the use of Alice and App Inventor for Android, with regard to their effectiveness for teaching and learning programing in secondary education students.

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“…In this sense, we can find several proposals for programming and CT teaching in a way that engages students with educational software or visual block-based programming environments [5,6]. For example, in [7], an analysis on the use of visual block-based programming for teaching introductory programming is presented using Scratch and App Inventor environments, and in [8], the combination of Lego Mindstorms and App Inventor is used for teaching novice programmers. In this line, in [9], a comparison between programming environments is carried out with the focus on secondary education.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Computational Thinking and Robotics: A Teaching Experience in Compulsory Secondary Education with Students with High Degree of Apathy and Demotivation

Díaz-Lauzurica

Moreno-Salinas

2019

Sustainability

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In present and future society, all individuals must be able to face the problems, risks, advantages and opportunities that will arrive with new paradigms in the labour market, social relations and technology. To reach this goal, a quality and inclusive education together with a proper and complete formation in technology (communications, robotics, programming, computational thinking (CT), etc.) must be imparted at all educational levels. Moreover, all individuals should have the same opportunities to develop their skills and knowledge, as stated in Goal 4 of the Sustainable Development Goals, Sustainable Education. Following this trend, in the present work, a practical experience about how to teach CT using robotics is developed, showing the results and evaluation of the lessons on robotics taught to students in their 4th year of compulsory secondary education, and where the students showed a high degree of apathy and demotivation. The teaching unit was based on an action research approach that includes a careful selection of pedagogical techniques and instruments to attract and keep the attention and interest of the students. In addition to the robotics lessons, a previous computational thinking training with Blockly Games was carried out, which contributed to noticeably increase the students motivation and to introduce them to the programming of robots. Moreover, gamification was used to motivate and evaluate the individual knowledge, and the students were required to present the work performed through a final project. The individual needs of the students were fulfilled with a daily monitoring. The results show that the pedagogical techniques, instruments and evaluation were adequate to increase the motivation of the students and to obtain a significant learning, showing how the teaching of CT may attract students that have lost interest and motivation, while providing them with abilities that will be essential for the learning throughout life.

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The Combined Use of Lego Mindstorms NXT and App Inventor for Teaching Novice Programmers

Cited by 37 publications

References 19 publications

Evaluating Moodle use via Smart Mobile Phones. A case study in a Greek University

Evaluating Moodle use via Smart Mobile Phones. A case study in a Greek University

Comparing novice programing environments for use in secondary education: App Inventor for Android vs. Alice

Computational Thinking and Robotics: A Teaching Experience in Compulsory Secondary Education with Students with High Degree of Apathy and Demotivation

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