The use of block-based languages and elementary patterns in teaching programming to children
Speaker
Kashif Amanullah
Institute
University of Canterbury
Time & Place
Mon, 12 Oct 2020 15:00:49 NZDT in E16 - Engineering Core
Abstract
Teaching programming to school children is a challenging task, and this research contributes in two dimensions. First, it explores issues around "code smells" in relation to block-based languages. Second, the suitability of "elementary patterns" as a possible solution is investigated at a large scale. Elementary patterns are used as a benchmark in each of the studies reported in the thesis: finding code smells in students' work, analysing the frequency of patterns in users' projects, measuring progression in skills of Scratch users, the impact of remixing on learning, and evaluation of a selection of resources used for teaching programming.
Biography
Kashif is working for the Computer Science Education Research Group. He recently submitted his thesis, and currently preparing for defense and journal publication.