Interactive story authoring: A viable form of creative expression for the classroom

The unprecedented growth in numbers of children playing computer games has stimulated discussion and research regarding what, if any, educational value these games have for teaching and learning. The research on this topic has primarily focused on children as players of computer games rather than builders/constructors of computer games. Recently, several game companies, such as BioWare Corp. and Bethesda Softworks, have released game story creation tools to the public, along with their games. However, a major obstacle to using these commercial tools is the level of programming experience required to create interactive game stories. In this paper, we demonstrate that a commercial game story construction tool, BioWare Corp.’s Aurora Toolset, can be augmented by our new tool, ScriptEase, to enable students in two grade ten English classes to successfully construct interactive game stories. We present evidence that describes the relationship between interactive story authoring and traditional story authoring, along with a series of factors that can potentially affect success at these activities: gender, creativity, intellectual ability, previous experiences with programming, time playing computer games, and time spent online. Results indicate that students can successfully construct sophisticated interactive stories with very little training. The results also show no gender differences in the quality of these interactive stories, regardless of programming experience or the amount of time per week playing computer games or participating in general online activities, although a subset of female students did show a slightly higher level of performance on interactive story authoring. In the educational context of this study, we show that ScriptEase provides an easy-to-use tool for interactive story authoring in a constructionist learning environment.     

The design and the formative evaluation of a web-based course for simulation analysis experiences

Simulation output analysis has received little attention comparing to modeling and programming in real-world simulation applications. This is further evidenced by our observation that students and beginners acquire neither adequate details of knowledge nor relevant experience of simulation output analysis in traditional classroom learning. With the advances in the Internet learning environment, web-based computer-based training (CBT) can efficiently and effectively enhance the traditional classroom learning. This research addresses the issue of designing a web-based CBT course to assist the classroom instruction in helping students learn better simulation problem solving. The goal is to provide an effective way to learn the implicit experience of simulation output analysis via an efficient interactive environment. A prototype asynchronous web CBT system with simulation analysis guidelines was built to verify our design through a three-stage formative usability evaluation. The results showed that the simulation analysis guidelines organized by this research significantly improved the test scores and the interactive CBT system maintained students’ interests longer than the written format.     

Case-based teaching using the Laboratory Animal System for learning C/C++ programming

Teachers and students often consider learning programming a difficult pursuit. Face-to-face learning alone cannot provide effective teaching or efficient solutions for learning. A case teaching model can make students active in programming courses, even as it relies on solid learning theory and pedagogical strategies. This paper reports a study based on a case teaching model in C/C++ programming. The Laboratory Animal System (LAS) is a standalone case for management of laboratory animals. This paper includes an overview of LAS architectural design and user interface by C/C++ and presents the design, implementation, and evaluation of the model, as well as its implications for learning computer programming. The case method provides an interactive learning environment for students. Based on a survey of student feedback, students can learn C/C++ programming and gain knowledge more quickly and effectively using the case teaching model than through some traditional methods of teaching.     

Enhancing the learning experience of undergraduate technology students with LabVIEW™ software

Many universities and colleges, throughout the world, that deliver undergraduate programmes in science and engineering are currently incorporating virtual instruments as teaching, measurement and analysis tools for student learning. The aim of this study is to enhance the learning experience of undergraduate engineering students and stimulate their research interests by incorporating hands-on, hardware linked programming. The framework for the current research consisted of, initially, observing and recording the interest students showed in a graphical-based computer language for programming control and data acquisitions. Secondly, in the software laboratory sessions, the students were introduced to the concept of research activity and the use of computer software in such activity. LabVIEW™, an easy-to-use, interactive, graphical programming language that can be used to build virtual instruments was used in the current study. This software allows creation of sophisticated programs and applications in a shorter amount of time without needing an in-depth knowledge of computers or indeed programming languages. The methodology consisted of an introductory learning period for the LabVIEW™ programming language, followed by hands-on programming with a specific set of laboratory exercises aimed at solving typical industrial automation type problems. Finally the results of a detailed student questionnaire and created programs were analysed to establish the learning experiences. It was established that student experiences in designing and developing LabVIEW™ programs with associated hardware has hugely stimulated their interest and enthusiasm in the subject of industrial automation. Students acquired knowledge by direct experience, explored phenomena, visualized expected outcomes and experimented with possible solutions. Critically, the LabVIEW programming laboratory sessions undertaken during the course of this research has stimulate students interest in pursing further research at post-graduate level.     

A drawing and multi-representational computer environment for beginners’ learning of programming using C: Design and pilot formative evaluation

This paper presents both the design and the pilot formative evaluation study of a computer-based problem-solving environment (named LECGO: Learning Environment for programming using C using Geometrical Objects) for the learning of computer programming using C by beginners. In its design, constructivist and social learning theories were taken into account. The general design has taken into consideration models of the learning process and subject matter as well as potential learner behaviour in dealing with fundamental tasks. The main emphasis has been placed on the role of: (a) multiple external representations in student learning, (b) motivation, through performing problem-solving activities taken from the familiar and meaningful context of drawing, using simple geometrical objects, (c) the active participation of students in their own learning by using hands-on experience, (d) appropriate feedback on the actions taken by students, to aid their self-correction, and (e) holistic, activity-based, multi-media, multi-representational and multi-layered content for the learning of basic concepts of programming using C. LECGO was pilot evaluated in the field through a qualitative and comparative study where nine 12th grade (18-year-old) students participated. In fact, students faced three similar yet not identical sets of four tasks across three learning environments, namely; paper and pencil (p–p), Turbo C and LECGO. The data emerging from this field evaluation study indicates that students gain better results within LECGO than in both the p–p environment and the typical programming environment of Turbo C, while performing similar activities.     

Specifying control and data in the design of educational software

When using the computer as a tool for learning, it is useful to distinguish between the contents and the realization aspects of an interactive session. We describe an approach which makes this distinction explicit to the author by viewing the programming process as one of giving independent specifications of: (a) data. i.e. what is to be learned, and (b) control, i.e. the particulars of the dialogue.A system. MEDICS, for training medical students in clinical decision making is presented as an illustration of the approach. We stress the importance of providing an interactive environment supporting powerful editing operations as the primary tool for the author. The paper specifically describes the MEDICS environment for construction of medical simulations and how control of execution is specified.     

Multi-media instructional approach to teaching linear programming

This paper describes different strategies employed in converting a lecture-oriented mathematical programming course to a Personalized Self-Paced Instructional (PSI) format. This is an elective course for students in science, engineering and management. A multi media instructional approach is used in the PSI system which combines traditional lectures, self-paced and individualized learning assisted by interactive computer programs and video taped instructional materials. This unique PSI system for mathematical programming provides maximum learning opportunity and flexibility to students. The author's experiences with the PSI system and the students' evaluation of the self-paced system are also discussed.     

The water videodisc: A problem-solving environment

This paper describes the design of an interactive videodisc for Open University physics students and its educational evaluation. The evaluation was aimed at finding out whether students appreciated the interactive presentation and whether they found the videodisc medium a feasible, enjoyable and useful method of learning. The Water videodisc explores the complex physical nature of water, ice and steam. The videodisc creates a problem-solving environment based around four problems, two mostly practical and two largely theoretical. They range from a study of the cost-effectiveness of obtaining fresh water by towing an iceberg to Australia from the Antarctic, to consideration of why it is that ice floats on water. The associated computer software controls the videodisc player and, by accepting commands from the keyboard, allows the students freely to explore the data on the disc or to obtain their own data by carrying out simulated experiments. The software provides the basic route and guidance on how to approach the various problems, but students are always free to move around the information/simulated laboratory environments at will. The software was coded using the C language and is presented in the Open University context on IBM-PC-compatible micros using the MIC-2000 interface. A detailed evaluation was carried out by questionnaires to both students and tutors. One area investigated was the effect of varying the size of the student group working on a single keyboard and player. Another part of the evaluation concerned students' reaction to the novel, flexible problem-solving environment presented by the videodisc, their perception of the disc's usefulness as a learning tool and their assessment of its relevance to the rest of their coursework. On the whole, the videodisc was received enthusiastically by both students and tutors. 95% of students had found the physics problems involving, more than 96% said they had enjoyed the sessions and 94% considered that the videodisc medium was useful and a good way to learn.     

Automatic assessment of elementary Standard ML programs using Ceilidh

Ceilidh is an interactive environment which supports computer programming course organisation, practical work and assessment. This paper describes its use to support a first level programming course for the functional language Standard ML . Automated program assessment systems are surveyed and the general Ceilidh approach to automatic assessment is discussed. Extensions to Ceilidh to assess Standard ML programs are considered and an evaluation is made of the effects of its use on student learning. The main conclusion is that Ceilidh use significantly reduces the burden of marking on the lecturer, while not affecting the overall level of achievement of the students.     

A study to explore the effects of self‐regulated learning environment for hearing‐impaired students

Although computer‐ and Internet‐aided learning for hearing‐impaired students has been a trend in the modern days, a few studies were done to examine their effectiveness in strengthening learning motivation and, in turn, enhancing learning efficiency. This study attempts to establish an interactive self‐regulated learning environment and employs Attention, Relevance, Confidence, Satisfaction motivation model, hyperlink technology, modular concepts and online learning community to design teaching contents and presentation of teaching materials. An empirical study was conducted to examine the effects of hearing‐impaired students learning motivation and cognitive attitude of learning environment. The results showed that interactive and self‐regulated learning environment could effectively strengthen learning motivation and promote positive learning behaviour in hearing‐impaired students.     

Slice of Life Stakauthor: A Second Generation Hypercard Authoring Tool

HyperCard, by Apple Computer Inc., provides a powerful programming environment to anyone with a Macintosh computer. This hypertext development environment allows novice and intermediate level programmers to create applications that would otherwise, be beyond their normal capability. Unfortunately, very few educators have the time, the programming knowledge, or can obtain enough profesional credit to entice them into becoming HyperTalk programmers. If hypertext systems are to have a significant effect on education, the need to become a programmer must be removed from the lesson development process. The Slice of Life STAKAuthor is a second generation NoteCard-based authoring application. STAKAuthor isa tool that allows anyone with the Slice of Life videodisc to create an interactive, computer-assisted lesson without the need to write a single line of Hyper Talk code.     

A distributed system for learning programming on-line

Several Web-based on-line judges or on-line programming trainers have been developed in order to allow students to train their programming skills. However, their pedagogical functionalities in the learning of programming have not been clearly defined. EduJudge is a project which aims to integrate the “UVA On-line Judge”, an existing on-line programming trainer with an important number of problems and users, into an effective educational environment consisting of the e-learning platform Moodle and the competitive learning tool QUESTOURnament. The result is the EduJudge system which allows teachers to apply different pedagogical approaches using a proven e-learning platform, makes problems easy to search through an effective search engine, and provides an automated evaluation of the solutions submitted to these problems. The final objective is to provide new learning strategies to motivate students and present programming as an easy and attractive challenge. EduJudge has been tried and tested in three algorithms and programming courses in three different Engineering degrees. The students’ motivation and satisfaction levels were analysed alongside the effects of the EduJudge system on students’ academic outcomes. Results indicate that both students and teachers found that among other multiple benefits the EduJudge system facilitates the learning process. Furthermore, the experiment also showed an improvement in students’ academic outcomes. It must be noted that the students’ level of satisfaction did not depend on their computer skills or their gender.     

An innovative improvement of engineering learning system using computational fluid dynamics concept

An innovative concept of an electronic learning system has been established in an attempt to achieve a technology that provides engineering students with an instructive and affordable framework for learning engineering-related courses. This system utilizes an existing Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) package, Active Server Pages programming, Hyper Text Markup Language web page, and a database in the development of a user-friendly interface for the e-learning system. The structure of this learning system includes three components: a pre-processor which creates and defines the problems, a control program which links CFD package; searches for the identical problem with previously executed results or creates a new CFD execution and then saves the results in the database, and a post-processor which yields a graphic presentation of the computational results. This system would provide engineering students with a solid comprehension of the physical phenomena by changing the input parameters of a specific problem.     

Visual Zero: A persistent and interactive object-oriented programming environment

In this article, an ongoing research project held in the Computer Science department of the University of Vigo is described. Its main objective is to develop an interactive object-oriented environment, serving as a vehicle for learning object-oriented programming. It currently consists of a virtual machine, an assembler, compilers for two high-level programming languages, and an educational visual programming environment. Its main characteristics are (a) the support of prototype-based object orientation, which is a model of object orientation that actually wraps the class-based model; (b) the support for object persistence, which simplifies all input/output issues to the minimum, and (c) the availability of a new visual programming environment is an invaluable help. We the authors think that the combination of all of these possibilities, will lead to an interesting, useful tool that would be recommended for object-oriented teaching. The whole system has been successfully employed in a number of different courses, allowing students to concentrate on objects and their relationships from the very beginning, and thus helping them to achieve a high degree of knowledge about the object-oriented programming paradigm.     

基于VC＋＋2005可视化开发环境的图形算法开发模板的研究

计算机图形学是计算机技术与电视技术、图形图像处理技术相互融合的结果,使用主流的可视化编程平台VC＋＋2005日所开发的图形,与使用Turbo C语言开发的图形相比,不仅可以显示真彩色,而且可以实现交互式绘图,它又突破了传统计算机图形学的教学模式（理论文本加静态图片）的枯燥性、抽像性的限制。基于此,开发出了一种模板把CG中各种图形生成的算法以可视化的方法、动态交互式展现出来,实践证明,通过此模板,学生能容易理解图形生成的算法原理过程,激发了学习CG的兴趣,从而极大地提高教学质量。     

Design Principles-Based Interactive Learning Tool for Solving Nonlinear Equations

Interactive learning tools can facilitate the learning process and increase student engagement, especially tools such as computer programs that are designed for human-computer interaction. Thus, this paper aims to help students learn five different methods for solving nonlinear equations using an interactive learning tool designed with common principles such as feedback, visibility, affordance, consistency, and constraints. It also compares these methods by the number of iterations and time required to display the result. This study helps students learn these methods using interactive learning tools instead of relying on traditional teaching methods. The tool is implemented using the MATLAB app and is evaluated through usability testing with two groups of users that are categorized by their level of experience with root-finding. Users with no knowledge in root-finding confirmed that they understood the root-finding concept when interacting with the designed tool. The positive results of the user evaluation showed that the tool can be recommended to other users.     

Assessment of programming language learning based on peer code review model: Implementation and experience report

The traditional assessment approach, in which one single written examination counts toward a student’s total score, no longer meets new demands of programming language education. Based on a peer code review process model, we developed an online assessment system called EduPCR and used a novel approach to assess the learning of computer programming languages. Using this approach, students peer review programs written by other students, share ideas and make suggestions to achieve an objective of collaborative and interactive learning. Teachers assess and give scores to students based on their performance in writing, reviewing and revising programs and their abidance to a peer code review process. After using this approach in two courses in two consecutive semesters, we observed significant improvements of student learning in various aspects. We also conducted two questionnaire surveys and two interviews. The survey data and the interview report indicated that this assessment approach demonstrates high practical values in assessing student learning outcomes in programming languages. Additionally, this approach leads to several interesting research topics for future research in this field.     

The interplay between cognitive and motivational variables in a supportive online learning system for secondary physical education

A path model was used to test the unique and interactive effects of cognitive and motivational variables when learning in a supportive online learning system, Collaborative Inquiry System (CIS). In this student-centered learning environment, students interact with computer simulations and are assisted by online scaffolds intended to help them learn complex scientific concepts. The present study also explored the relationships between students’ motivational, cognitive, and metacognitive strategy use and online performance. In total, 178 tenth-grade students participated in the study. The statistical analyses revealed that students’ learning goals and cognitive preferences predicted metacognitive strategy use and later influenced their performance. Prior knowledge is a predictor of neither metacognitive strategy use nor learning goals and need for cognition, but is nevertheless an important determinant of online performance. Discussions on how to accommodate the different needs of students with varying levels of prior knowledge, goal orientation, and cognitive preference in a supportive learning system are provided based on the results.     

Discovering the campus together: A mobile and computer-based learning experience

One of the most relevant difficulties faced by first-year undergraduate students is to settle into the educational environment of universities. This paper presents a case study that proposes a computer-assisted collaborative experience designed to help students in their transition from high school to university. This is done by facilitating their first contact with the campus and its services, the university community, methodologies and activities. The experience combines individual and collaborative activities, conducted in and out of the classroom, structured following the Jigsaw Collaborative Learning Flow Pattern. A specific environment including portable technologies with network and computer applications has been developed to support and facilitate the orchestration of a flow of learning activities into a single integrated learning setting. The result is a Computer Supported Collaborative Blended Learning scenario that has been evaluated with first-year university students of the degrees of Software and Audiovisual Engineering within the subject Introduction to Information and Communications Technologies. The findings reveal that the scenario improves significantly students’ interest in their studies and their understanding about the campus and services provided. The environment is also an innovative approach to successfully support the heterogeneous activities conducted by both teachers and students during the scenario. This paper introduces the goals and context of the case study, describes how the technology was employed to conduct the learning scenario, the evaluation methods and the main results of the experience.     

基于学习风格的自适应式虚拟交互方法的研究

新工科教育的改革推进了自适应学习的发展,以往的自适应方式对学习者的主观能动性的重视不足,且大部分已有研究无法提供个性化程度较高的交互体验.针对这些问题,该研究基于学习风格模型提出了一种自适应式虚拟现实交互的新方法.该方法设计了适用于虚拟交互环境的学习风格判断方式,通过分析学习者的主客观数据来判断其学习风格,由此对交互环...