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Refinement of an experimental approach tocomputer-based, active learning of greedy algorithms

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J. Ángel Velázquez-IturbideAuthors Info & Claims

ITiCSE '12: Proceedings of the 17th ACM annual conference on Innovation and technology in computer science education

Pages 46 - 51

https://doi.org/10.1145/2325296.2325311

Published: 03 July 2012 Publication History

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Abstract

Some years ago we presented a novel approach to the active learning of greedy algorithms. The approach was two-fold: an experimental method and the interactive assistant GreedEx that supports it. In this paper we present a refinement of the different elements of our approach, based on our experience of 5 years using and evaluating it in a course on algorithms. Firstly, usability evaluations were conducted to check the adequacy of GreedEx to its intended aims, so they guided the evolution of GreedEx. Secondly, the analysis of students' reports allowed us to identify unexpected misconceptions, which convinced us of the necessity of several didactic interventions. Our findings suggest that we succeeded both in obtaining an attractive and effective tool and in removing severe students' misconceptions. We consider that the paper is interesting to CS education researchers because of its specific contributions to the teaching of algorithms, and also as an example of a multifaceted, medium-term CS education research.

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Cited By

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Phan VHicks EPolycarpou IRead JAndreou PArmoni M(2018)Code4Brownies: an active learning solution for teaching programming and problem solving in the classroomProceedings of the 23rd Annual ACM Conference on Innovation and Technology in Computer Science Education10.1145/3197091.3197128(153-158)Online publication date: 2-Jul-2018
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3197091.3197128
Brusilovsky PEdwards SKumar AMalmi LBenotti LBuck DIhantola PPrince RSirkiä TSosnovsky SUrquiza JVihavainen AWollowski M(2014)Increasing Adoption of Smart Learning Content for Computer Science EducationProceedings of the Working Group Reports of the 2014 on Innovation & Technology in Computer Science Education Conference10.1145/2713609.2713611(31-57)Online publication date: 23-Jun-2014
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/2713609.2713611
Buchanan SLaviola J(2014)CSTutorACM Transactions on Computing Education10.1145/253590914:1(1-28)Online publication date: 1-Mar-2014
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/2535909
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Index Terms

Refinement of an experimental approach tocomputer-based, active learning of greedy algorithms
1. Applied computing
  1. Education
2. Social and professional topics
  1. Professional topics
    1. Computing education
      1. Computing education programs
        Computer science education
        Information science education

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Published In

ITiCSE '12: Proceedings of the 17th ACM annual conference on Innovation and technology in computer science education

July 2012

424 pages

ISBN:9781450312462

DOI:10.1145/2325296

Conference Chairs:
Tami Lapidot
Technion, Israel
,
Judith Gal-Ezer
The Open University, Israel
,
Program Chairs:
Michael E. Caspersen
Aarhus University, Denmark
,
Orit Hazzan
Technion, Israel

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

Publication History

Published: 03 July 2012

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Bilkent University
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ITiCSE '12: Annual Conference on Innovation and Technology in Computer Science Education

July 3 - 5, 2012

Haifa, Israel

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Phan VHicks EPolycarpou IRead JAndreou PArmoni M(2018)Code4Brownies: an active learning solution for teaching programming and problem solving in the classroomProceedings of the 23rd Annual ACM Conference on Innovation and Technology in Computer Science Education10.1145/3197091.3197128(153-158)Online publication date: 2-Jul-2018
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3197091.3197128
Brusilovsky PEdwards SKumar AMalmi LBenotti LBuck DIhantola PPrince RSirkiä TSosnovsky SUrquiza JVihavainen AWollowski M(2014)Increasing Adoption of Smart Learning Content for Computer Science EducationProceedings of the Working Group Reports of the 2014 on Innovation & Technology in Computer Science Education Conference10.1145/2713609.2713611(31-57)Online publication date: 23-Jun-2014
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/2713609.2713611
Buchanan SLaviola J(2014)CSTutorACM Transactions on Computing Education10.1145/253590914:1(1-28)Online publication date: 1-Mar-2014
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/2535909
Esteban-Sanchez NPizarro CVelazquez-Iturbide J(2014)Evaluation of a Didactic Method for the Active Learning of Greedy AlgorithmsIEEE Transactions on Education10.1109/TE.2013.227515457:2(83-91)Online publication date: 1-May-2014
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1109/TE.2013.2275154
Velázquez-Iturbide J(2013)An Experimental Method for the Active Learning of Greedy AlgorithmsACM Transactions on Computing Education10.1145/253497213:4(1-23)Online publication date: 1-Nov-2013
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/2534972

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An Experimental Method for the Active Learning of Greedy Algorithms

GreedEx: A Visualization Tool for Experimentation and Discovery Learning of Greedy Algorithms

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