I UNIVERSITY of KWAZULU-NATAL an Exploration of the Teaching And
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UNIVERSITY OF KWAZULU-NATAL An exploration of the teaching and learning of Information Technology (IT) programming in a higher education institution in KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) by Thamotharan Prinavin Govender Student no. 891288849 A thesis submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the School of Science, Mathematics and Technology Education (SSMTE), University of KwaZulu-Natal, Edgewood Campus. Supervisor Professor V. Mudaly December 2019 i Preface Three conference papers emanated from this study: Paper 1 entitled Teaching and Learning Computer Programming to first-year Information Technology (IT) students at a University of Technology in KZN: a grounded theory of its academic was presented at the Global Trends and Challenges in Research and Innovation Conference, hosted by DUT from 17 to 20 September 2019 at the Hilton, Durban, South Africa. Paper 2 entitled Software Tools used by an IT educator to collaborate & stay organized in an Introductory Programming Course at a University of Technology was presented at the 4th Annual International Conference on Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL) in Higher Education, hosted the Central University of Technology, Bloemfontein, Free State, South Africa from the 24 to 25 October 2018. Paper 3 was presented at the 4th Teaching and Learning Conference, which was hosted by the Teaching and Learning Centre University of Zululand at the Tusk Umfolozi Casino Hotel from 9 to 11 October 2019. The paper was entitled: Teaching and Learning Computer Programming to First-year Information Technology (IT) Students at a University of Technology in KZN: The role of visual programming in introducing programming concepts to first-year students. i Declaration I, Thamotharan Prinavin Govender, declare that the research reported in this thesis, except where otherwise indicated, is my original work, and has not been submitted for any degree or examination at any other university. T.P Govender Date Supervisor Date ii Ethical Clearance – UKZN iii Dedication To the Supreme Lord for His guidance and blessing To my family for their love and support My IT students my inspiration to improve my IT Teaching practice & My Supervisor Prof Vimolan Mudaly iv Acknowledgements I am deeply indebted to the following people who inspired and helped me throughout this research: • This thesis could not have been written without the teaching experiences and ideas of the hundreds of students in the IT programming courses which I have taught at the Durban University of Technology and secondary schools for over 20 years. • The participants, for their valuable contribution to this study. • Prof Vimolan Mudaly, my supervisor, for his guidance and support throughout this study. • I wish to thank the University of KwaZulu-Natal (Faculty of Education-Edgewood campus). • I am extremely grateful to my statistician, Dr Sachin Suknunan, for all his assistance. • My editors, Ms Sury Bisetty, Mr Trevor French and Dr Nereshnee Govender who has been most supportive of my work and has provided useful insights and encouraged me throughout the process. • I also wish to thank the DUT Research Department for funding which enabled me to do the necessary fieldwork for this study and to fund my conference presentations. • My wife, Vaneshree Govender – thank you for your love, patience and understanding. • Klareesa, and Shivar Govender, for being my inspiration. • My sister, mother and late dad, for their unconditional love and support. • Finally, I thank God for granting me the strength, courage and perseverance to complete this thesis. v Turnitin Report vi Abstract In this study, classic grounded theory, threshold concepts, self-study and practitioner research capture the processes of Information Technology (IT) academics who teach computer programming to first-year IT students at a university of technology in Kwa-Zulu Natal. The qualitative data analysis revealed the basic pedagogy of teaching and learning computer programming, and described how IT academics perceived their vocation and their decisions to take action to ultimately improve the quality of teaching and learning of IT programming. From the data, the following four themes emerged in the process of teaching and learning computer programming: 1) Teaching IT; 2) Learning IT and its impact; 3) Challenges in teaching IT; 4) Recommendations for teaching IT programming. This study will assist first-year IT programming academics to understand their pedagogical impact at an institution of higher learning. This study will further potentially serve as a path for future research and aid in understanding the pedagogical impact of the teaching and learning of IT on first-year IT students. KEYWORDS: Teaching and Learning, Information Technology, Programming, Pedagogy, Practitioner research vii Glossary of Terms In the context of this study, I attached broad meanings to the core concepts as follows: Educator Includes a teacher at a high school and a lecturer and/or academic at a tertiary institution. Grounded Theory Using guidelines for the organisation of data, theory is developed that provides relevant interpretations, applications, predictions and explanations. Higher Education A post-secondary school education that occurs at a college or university. Information technology Includes programming/coding, networking, human-computer interaction, databases and web systems. Learners Includes learners from high school and first-year tertiary students. Learning Environment Includes both a high school class room and a university lecture theatre. Object Contains both data and operations in the same entity. Object-oriented A computer programming paradigm based on the object- programming oriented approach, whereby objects have the responsibility of carrying out specific operations to solve a problem. Peer-to-peer Learners studying programming in the same classroom/grade/programming course. Programming The practice of writing computer programs in a specific computer programming language viii List of Abbreviations API Application Program Interface AppDev Applications Development BRICS Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa CBL Competency Based Learning CS Computer Science DHET Department of Higher Education and Training FET Further Education and Training GTM Grounded Theory Methods IDE Integrated Development Environment IS Information Systems IT Information Technology ICT Information and Communication Technology IoT Internet of Things IS Information Systems LCT Learner Centred Teaching MCU Microcontroller Unit ix MIT Massachusetts Institute of Technology MOOCS Massive Open Online Course MSDN Microsoft Developer Network MVC Model-View-Controller ND National Diploma NSFAS National Student Financial Aid Scheme OO Object Oriented OOP Object-Oriented Programming (concepts of classes, objects, events, inheritance, encapsulation) PBL Problem Based Learning PHP Hypertext Preprocessor POP Procedural Oriented Programming includes PPA PP Pair Programming PPA Procedural Programming Approach (Concepts of sequence, selection and iteration) SCL Student Centred Learning SoTL Scholarship of Teaching and Learning SQL Structured Query Language x TCT Teacher-Centred Teaching TCT Teacher-Centred Teaching TLA Teaching Learning and Assessment ToT Technology of Turings UoT University of Technology xi Table of Contents Preface ..................................................................................................................................... i Declaration .............................................................................................................................. ii Ethical Clearance – UKZN .................................................................................................... iii Dedication .............................................................................................................................. iv Acknowledgements .................................................................................................................. v Turnitin Report ....................................................................................................................... vi Abstract ................................................................................................................................. vii Glossary of Terms ................................................................................................................. viii List of Abbreviations ............................................................................................................... ix CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION ........................................................................................ 1 1.1 Introduction – Setting the scene .................................................................................. 1 1.2 Rationale for the study ....................................................................................................... 3 1.2.1 Personal imperative ............................................................................................................................. 3 1.2.2 Research imperative ............................................................................................................................ 3 1.3 Problem statement............................................................................................................. 4 1.4 Bounding the study ............................................................................................................ 5 1.4.1 The institution .....................................................................................................................................