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Explorations: structured labs for first-time programmers

Author:

Ray LischnerAuthors Info & Claims

SIGCSE '01: Proceedings of the thirty-second SIGCSE technical symposium on Computer Science Education

Pages 154 - 158

https://doi.org/10.1145/364447.364571

Published: 01 February 2001 Publication History

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Abstract

A style of homework assignment is presented, called explorations. An exploration is part of an introductory programming course, specifically designed to help first-time programmers overcome common hurdles, such as misconceptions about the nature of computers and programs. An exploration is a structured lab where the student makes predictions about a program's behavior, then runs the program to compare the actual result with the predicted result. The questions are deliberately designed to challenge common errors and preconceived notions of computers and programming languages. Guided questions help the students refine their mental models of computers. Successful explorations have resulted in significant gains in comprehension, retention, and student satisfaction. Several guidelines are presented to help teachers write effective explorations.

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Cited By

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Urness TDavoli RGoldweber MRößling GPolycarpou I(2017)A Hybrid Open/Closed Lab for CS 1Proceedings of the 2017 ACM Conference on Innovation and Technology in Computer Science Education10.1145/3059009.3059014(46-51)Online publication date: 28-Jun-2017
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3059009.3059014
Yang CLuo YChien YWen HZhang DLiu X(2016)Learning to prioritize GUI test cases for Android laboratory programsProceedings of the International Conference on Artificial Intelligence and Robotics and the International Conference on Automation, Control and Robotics Engineering10.1145/2952744.2952755(1-5)Online publication date: 13-Jul-2016
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/2952744.2952755
Gogoulou AGouli EGrigoriadou M(2010)e-ECLiPProceedings of the 2010 International Conference on Intelligent Networking and Collaborative Systems10.1109/INCOS.2010.35(302-309)Online publication date: 24-Nov-2010
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1109/INCOS.2010.35
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Index Terms

Explorations: structured labs for first-time programmers
1. Social and professional topics
  1. Professional topics
    1. Computing education
      1. Model curricula
2. Software and its engineering
  1. Software creation and management
    1. Software development techniques

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Information

Published In

SIGCSE '01: Proceedings of the thirty-second SIGCSE technical symposium on Computer Science Education

February 2001

456 pages

ISBN:1581133294

DOI:10.1145/364447

Chairmen:
Henry Walker
Grinnell College
,
Renée McCauley
College of Charleston
,
Judith Gersting
Univ. of Hawaii at Hilo
,
Ingrid Russell
Univ. of Hartford

ACM SIGCSE Bulletin Volume 33, Issue 1
March 2001
432 pages
ISSN:0097-8418
DOI:10.1145/366413
Editor:
John Impagliazzo
103 Hofstra Univ., Hempstead, NY
Issue’s Table of Contents

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. Copyrights for components of this work owned by others than ACM must be honored. Abstracting with credit is permitted. To copy otherwise, or republish, to post on servers or to redistribute to lists, requires prior specific permission and/or a fee. Request permissions from [email protected]

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Association for Computing Machinery

New York, NY, United States

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Published: 01 February 2001

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SIGCSE01: 32nd SIGCSE Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education

North Carolina, Charlotte, USA

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SIGCSE '01 Paper Acceptance Rate 78 of 225 submissions, 35%;

Overall Acceptance Rate 1,595 of 4,542 submissions, 35%

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Cited By

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Urness TDavoli RGoldweber MRößling GPolycarpou I(2017)A Hybrid Open/Closed Lab for CS 1Proceedings of the 2017 ACM Conference on Innovation and Technology in Computer Science Education10.1145/3059009.3059014(46-51)Online publication date: 28-Jun-2017
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3059009.3059014
Yang CLuo YChien YWen HZhang DLiu X(2016)Learning to prioritize GUI test cases for Android laboratory programsProceedings of the International Conference on Artificial Intelligence and Robotics and the International Conference on Automation, Control and Robotics Engineering10.1145/2952744.2952755(1-5)Online publication date: 13-Jul-2016
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/2952744.2952755
Gogoulou AGouli EGrigoriadou M(2010)e-ECLiPProceedings of the 2010 International Conference on Intelligent Networking and Collaborative Systems10.1109/INCOS.2010.35(302-309)Online publication date: 24-Nov-2010
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1109/INCOS.2010.35
Hunt GLarus J(2007)SingularityACM SIGOPS Operating Systems Review10.1145/1243418.124342441:2(37-49)Online publication date: 1-Apr-2007
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/1243418.1243424
Scott T(2006)In-class projects to enhance student understandingJournal of Computing Sciences in Colleges10.5555/1089182.108920221:3(147-155)Online publication date: 1-Feb-2006
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.5555/1089182.1089202
Alhargan F(2006)Algorithm 855ACM Transactions on Mathematical Software10.1145/1163641.116364632:3(472-484)Online publication date: 1-Sep-2006
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/1163641.1163646
Meshar OIrony DToledo S(2006)An out-of-core sparse symmetric-indefinite factorization methodACM Transactions on Mathematical Software10.1145/1163641.116364532:3(445-471)Online publication date: 1-Sep-2006
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/1163641.1163645
Kirby RLogg A(2006)A compiler for variational formsACM Transactions on Mathematical Software10.1145/1163641.116364432:3(417-444)Online publication date: 1-Sep-2006
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/1163641.1163644
Lang JNugent GSamal ASoh L(2006)Implementing CS1 with embedded instructional research design in laboratoriesIEEE Transactions on Education10.1109/TE.2005.86343549:1(157-165)Online publication date: 1-Sep-2006
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1109/TE.2005.863435
Grigoriadou MKanidis EGogoulou A(2006)A web-based educational environment for teaching the computer cache memoryIEEE Transactions on Education10.1109/TE.2005.86343149:1(147-156)Online publication date: 1-Sep-2006
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