Maria Knobelsdorf, University of Dortmund, Germany - Didaktik der ...

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clude difficulties from different subjects. All activity-oriented methods can be used. That concept may cost time in the beginning, but one part of the concept is to teach in teams, so teachers from different disciplines can share the workload and support each other. Concepts of interdisciplinary collaborative teaching and learning can be found in different scenarios of vocational training and education, e. g. in mechatronics [8] or in computer engineering education in Egypt [7]. In the area of IT the definition of the learning fields has not always succeeded. Most learning fields seem to be identical to the former subject [5]; it is tempting for IT teachers to work with the familiar subjects without thinking further about the specifics of the learning field. It appears that especially in IT-centered vocational schools the concept is hardly implemented by the teachers; we tried to find the problems teachers meet when translating the described competencies from several learning fields into adequate learning situations. The question was: why would vocational school teachers refrain from using the leeway given to them by the curriculum? Therefore we conducted an online survey with several vocational IT teachers 1 . In this paper we present the first part of the results of this elicitation study. It is part of a larger project with the purpose to convince vocational IT teachers to devise their classes according to the learning field concept by developing exemplary learning situations or helpful tools for several learning fields. 2. METHODOLOGY We asked all vocational IT teachers in Bavaria (Federal State in Germany) to participate in the online survey. 28 teachers answered (a response rate around 30 %). The online questionnaire consisted of three sections. First, all participants were asked for their age, sex, vocational discipline and their years of teaching (as range). The second section contained 16 closed questions about the IT teachers’ knowledge of and attitudes towards the concept of learning fields. We used a 5-point scale answer format with options from “does not apply at all” (1) to “fully applies” (5). The third part consisted of open questions, which explored the teachers’ attitudes toward the concept of learning fields following the theory of planned behaviour by Aizen and Fishbein [1] and the situation at different schools. 3. RESULTS We got replies from 21 men and seven women with the average age of M = 47 years. The median of the years of teaching is within the range of 11 to 15 years. 16 teachers are basically educated for teaching IT. The answers of the second part of the questionnaire were summarised following the theory of planned behaviour by Aizen and Fishbein [1]. Only the first question about familiarity with the concept of learning fields does not represent this theory, but shows an individual estimate of the personal skills on this topic. The participants reported a very high familiarity with the concept (M = 4.21). The results of the items about the teachers’s attitudes (M = 3.36), their self-effiacy (M = 3.21) and their subjective norms (M = 3.25) indicate that the teachers are principally open-minded to the concept of learning fields. Only the factor control belief (M = 2.83) shows a lower value, which could mean that the teachers see some difficulties to implement the concept. These results were 1 IT teachers include also teachers for computer science 162 verified by a content analysis of the answers on the open questions. The responses to the first four questions were paraphrased and categorized [1]. We produced N = 151 statements. The statements about the teachers’ attitudes (n = 47, 31.1 %) specified the information of the closed questions; the teachers described the advantages and difficulties they see in dealing with the concept. The statements about the teachers’ control belief (n = 102; 67.6 %) dealt with the school equipment, the strong heterogenity of the classes or the teaching staff composition. Only two statements about the subjective norm were found, which praise the colleagues’ and the headmaste’s support. The examples of organization and learning situations are not analysed yet. 4. DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION The question of this study was: Why would vocational school teachers refrain from putting the concept of learning fields into practice? The results of this study show different aspects of the problems teachers have. The answers show that the teachers are motivated to implement learning fields into suitable learning situations, but it also seems that they need support to do that. In our opinion it seems to be helpful for the IT teachers to support them by developing guidelines with examples for learning situations and the related teaching material. It is also important to train the teachers on how to develop learning situations themselves, also in difficult environments, and how to evaluate criteria for appropriate learning situations. 5. REFERENCES [1] M. Ajzen and I. Fishbein. Belief, attitude, intention, and behavior: An introduction to theory and research. Addison-Wesley, Reading, MA, 1975. [2] R. Bader. Das Lernfeld-Konzept in den Rahmenlehrplänen (in German). Die berufsbildende Schule, 50(7–8):211–213, 1998. [3] A. Kluge, S. Ritzmann, D. Burkolter, and J. Sauer. The interaction of drill and practice and error training with individual differences. Cognition, Technology and Work, 13(2):103–120, 2011. [4] C. Liang. The development research on higher vocational education curriculum based on the working process, volume 155 LNEE of Lecture Notes in Electrical Engineering. Springer, Berlin Heidelberg, 2012. [5] S. Opel. Lernfelder in der Praxis des IT-Unterrichts (in German). vlb-akzente Berufliche Bildung in Bayern, 19(07):19–20, 2010. [6] Y. Ren and L. Zhao. Research and practice of ’teaching, learning, practice integration teaching model’ in higher vocational and technical education, volume 137 AISC of Advances in Intelligent and Soft Computing. Springer, Berlin Heidelberg, 2012. [7] M. Salama and T. Thabet. A curricular reform proposal for egyptian computer engineering education ECEE. In 2010 IEEE Transforming Engineering Education: Creating Interdisciplinary Skills for Complex Global Environments, 2010. [8] S. Shooter and M. Mcneill. Interdisciplinary collaborative learning in mechatronics at bucknell university. Journal of Engineering Education, 91(3):339–344, 2002.
ABSTRACT This study examines the potential for rethinking dated educational technologies. The mechanised Turtle Robot is taken as a test case to examine whether dated educational technologies can be renewed as a means of maximizing the tools and research of the past towards the new wave of interest in computing education. This paper will present research in progress and explore the Turtle Robot and other educational tools in the context of Technocamps, a Wales-based project aimed at inspiring young people 11-19 years in computing. General Terms Experimentation, Human Factors, Languages Keywords Turtle Robot, Logo, Papert, Learning Tools, Programming, Electronics, Out-of-the-box, Teachers, Educators, Learners, Renew, Reuse, Recycle, Technocamps 1. INTRODUCTION Keen not to contribute to the computing wasteland, this paper presents the findings of examining alternative approaches to learning from past educational tools. Using the Turtle Robot as a test case, the Turtle Robot is explored as a potential for contemporary educational engagement. A recent report reviewing the BBC’s Computer Literacy Programme examines the climate that led to the development of the BBC Micro [1] as a way of identifying the various influencing factors which bring about radical change in computing education. This study examines another seminal educational tool, the Turtle Robot, and specifically focuses on the mechanism of the robot as a potential contemporary teaching aid rather than the approach behind the robot. In exploring this outdated but very prevalent technology still available in classrooms today, the study examines whether the Permission to make digital or hard copies of all or part of this work for personal or classroom use is granted without fee provided that copies are not made or distributed for profit or commercial advantage and that copies bear this notice and the full citation on the first page. To copy otherwise, or republish, to post on servers or to redistribute to lists, requires prior specific permission and/or a fee. Conference’04, Month 1–2, 2004, City, State, Country. Copyright 2004 ACM 1-58113-000-0/00/0004…$5.00. Save Our Turtle Robots? Emma Posey Technocamps Computer Science College of Science Swansea University Singleton Park, Swansea emma.posey@technocamps.com 163 robot mechanism has any relevancy, potentially through modification, as a learning tool. Comparisons are made with other robot simulators and their connection to real robots, especially through Technocamps, a project engaging young people in computing. 2. TURTLE ROBOTS As part of the drive to encourage learning using computers, the Turtle Robot was developed using Logo, a computer language developed as a learning tool by Wally Feurzeig and Seymour Papert. Papert was a keen early advocate of learning via computers and he believed computers, and specifically Logo, could help young people plan, problem-solve, as well as develop critical thinking and logic. Papert initiated the Turtle Robots, a 3D robot in the form of a turtle. The turtle, Papert claimed, was useful as it was an object and therefore could be understood in real terms. Critically, Logo as a computer language, allows the user/programmer to introduce new words to the program – effectively developing a personalised vocabulary to define new procedures and commands. Papert identified the benefits of computational thinking [3] [4], a literacy which helps young people’s thinking to be ‘step-by-step, literal, mechanical’. An agreed definition for computation thinking and ways in which it can be taught continue to be a challenge [5]. The ‘Turtle Graphics’ project [6] used in the educational tool Scratch [7] from MIT Media Lab and others such as RoboMind [8] use a simulated robot to engage young people in programming, one using a graphical drag and drop, the other syntax. AberBots, modified by Technocamps Aberystwyth, is a robot simulator whose program runs on real research robots, the Pioneer and IDRIS. The AberBots program is scripted and as with the Turtle Robot, there is a direct relationship between program, its simulation and a real robot. The study compares these various programs and other programmable toys and draws on findings to analyse their ability to engage young people in programming using simulated and real robots. With the ability these days to build and program one’s own creative machines using products such as LEGO/Logo and more recently Lego Mindstorms, the ready-made object of the Turtle Robot may seem too restrictive or prescriptive in today’s terms.
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Fakultät für Mathematik, Informat
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Program Committee Michal Armoni Wei
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Challenge and Creativity: Students
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Challenges in Computer Science Educ
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These echo a 2008 report from the N
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examples, and in practice teachers
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Figure 3: A trace of bubble sort fr
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either their own program or another
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ital system used a variety of inter
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computer science, and with the less
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effect of different factors on the
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(GE) and freshmen CS and Lyceum (GR
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Performance Expectancy (PE) Satisfa
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for active CS teachers. Furthermore
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participants change between the roo
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Altogether 830 participants visited
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7. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS The initial equi
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• self-concept in science • ins
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mean at t0 mean at t2 mean at t0 me
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survey at the time t0 time of surve
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characteristics mean m (regarding t
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technology subjects in senior secon
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aim to react on these topics, exper
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the educational programs and ration
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y choice of handset, choice of netw
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8. REFERENCES [1] Bell, T. et al. 2
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Agile Projects in High School Compu
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ited time, heterogeneous student ab
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the target audience. This phase is
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longer than one to two weeks (which
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e.g. assessing individual achieveme
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Conceptual Change and Epistemologic
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einterpreted, or excluded, for exam
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How Teachers in Different Education
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attended by about a 33-40 % of all
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The assumption of sphericity was no
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[23] Huynh, H. and Feldt, L. S. 197
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Ways of Planning Lessons on the Top
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other topic. The reasons given vari
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Promoting Computational Thinking wi
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algorithm or a product is viewed as
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Preparing Teachers for Teaching Inf
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However, even when such learning th
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Grand challenges for the UK: Upskil
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first two questions. We maintain th
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(Some) Grand Challenges of Computer
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ecoming more student-centered. Inde
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[13] OECD. (2006). Are students rea
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in the world, for example, as descr
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The aims of the case study were to
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Figure 8: Acquisition of programmin
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The focus group girls were more con
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tool for teachers and students in t
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eledSQL - A New Web-Based Learning
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create and manage teacher accounts.
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Page 159 and 160: Turi: Chatbot software for schools
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