A Study of Computing in Education and Ways to Enhance Students’ Perceptions and Understanding of Computing
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SCHOOL OF DESIGN, ENGINEERING & COMPUTING MSc Enterprise Information Systems September 2013 Computing in Education: A study of computing in education and ways to enhance students’ perceptions and understanding of computing by Paul Albinson BSc (Hons), FdSc, MBCS Page 1 of 166 Abstract There is a huge demand for computing skills in industry due to computing becoming ubiquitous and essential for modern life. Yet despite this, industry struggles to find employees with suitable computing skills and similarly Further and Higher Education institutions have observed a lack of interest in their computing courses in recent years. This study looks at possible reasons for this lack of interest in computing, how computing is taught in education and ways to improve students’ perceptions and understanding of computing. It focuses around a case study of a university outreach event for secondary schools which investigated how interactive teaching methods can be used to enhance students’ perceptions and understanding of computing and to increase their computing knowledge. It includes the use of physical computing and was designed to make computing fun, motivational and relevant, and to provide examples of real-world applications. Surveys were used before and after the event to understand what students’ impressions and knowledge of computing is and to see if the event improved these. Observations were also used to see how well the students handled the event’s content and whether they appeared to enjoy and understand it. Results from the case study indicate that interactive teaching methods enhance computing education, and physical computing with electronics can enhance lessons and show the relevance of computing with examples of real-world applications, and can be fun and motivational. The case study provides teachers with example tasks and challenges they can use with their students and/or ideas around other interactive teaching methods including practical computing. Page 2 of 166 Acknowledgements The author would like to thank Dr Sheridan Jeary for the guidance, supervision and encouragement she provided during this project. The author is also grateful for St Edward’s School hosting the pilot event/case study and especially to Alastair Barker for his advice and dedication to the event as well as advice on the dissertation and insights into school computing teaching. The author also wishes to thank the students and staff involved in the event for their valuable contribution. Thanks also goes to Kane Lean for his advice on creating an outreach school event and details on school computing teaching. The author also thanks Stuart Wray for participating in the initial discussion which provided many ideas for the dissertation including the idea for the pilot event. Thanks also go to Jules Thompson for providing details on school computing teaching. Page 3 of 166 Contents Abstract .................................................................................................................................................... 1 Acknowledgements .................................................................................................................................. 3 Figures ...................................................................................................................................................... 9 Tables ..................................................................................................................................................... 11 Glossary ................................................................................................................................................. 13 1. Introduction ........................................................................................................................................ 15 2. Background to the project .................................................................................................................. 16 2.1. English university enrolments ..................................................................................................... 16 2.2. Computing in schools .................................................................................................................. 19 2.3. The new National Curriculum ..................................................................................................... 20 2.4. Implementing the new National Curriculum ............................................................................... 21 2.5. Teaching programming ............................................................................................................... 22 2.6. Teaching computer concepts ....................................................................................................... 23 3. Comparing programming languages/tools/environments .................................................................. 24 3.1. Visual programming languages/tools/environments ................................................................... 25 3.2. Text-based programming languages ........................................................................................... 25 3.2.1. Python .................................................................................................................................. 25 3.2.2. Logo ..................................................................................................................................... 26 3.2.3. C# and Visual C# ................................................................................................................. 26 3.2.4. Visual Basic .NET ................................................................................................................ 27 3.2.5. Microsoft Small Basic .......................................................................................................... 27 3.2.6. Java ....................................................................................................................................... 28 3.3. Summary ..................................................................................................................................... 29 4. Microcomputers and Microcontrollers ............................................................................................... 31 5. Methodology ...................................................................................................................................... 33 5.1. Summary of earlier sections ........................................................................................................ 33 5.2. Introduction ................................................................................................................................. 33 5.3. Research Question ....................................................................................................................... 34 5.4. Aims and objectives .................................................................................................................... 34 5.5. Research involving children ........................................................................................................ 34 5.6. Research methods and methodologies ........................................................................................ 36 5.7. This research ............................................................................................................................... 39 Page 4 of 166 5.7.1. Participants ........................................................................................................................... 39 5.7.2. Teams ................................................................................................................................... 39 5.7.3. Content ................................................................................................................................. 40 5.7.4. Tasks .................................................................................................................................... 40 5.7.5. Further details....................................................................................................................... 40 5.8. Data collection ............................................................................................................................ 41 5.8.1. Surveys ................................................................................................................................. 41 5.8.2. Observations ......................................................................................................................... 41 5.9. Ethics for surveys, observations, interviews and discussions ..................................................... 41 6. Case study .......................................................................................................................................... 43 6.1. Introduction ................................................................................................................................. 43 6.2. Analysis of the event ................................................................................................................... 43 6.2.1. Content ................................................................................................................................. 43 6.2.2. Students ................................................................................................................................ 44 6.2.3. Surveys