Pedagogical architectures to support the process of teaching and learning of computer programming

Orivaldo de Lira Tavares, UFES, Brasil Credin Silva de Menezes, UFRGS, Brasil Rosane Aragn, UFRGS, Brasil

Presented by Thais H. Castro, UFAM, Brasil

The problem
Before the entry at university the students has a level of knowledge deficit:
Resoluo sistemtica de problemas de construo

de artefatos que satisfaam uma lista de requisitos; Avaliao da qualidade de produtos digitais; Resoluo cooperativa de problemas; Elementos de linguagens de programao; Ambientes computacionais para o desenvolvimento e avaliao de programas.

Current Practices in Introductory Computer Programming Disciplines

The teacher presents the methods and

elements of the programming language and model programs fully ready; Submit lists of exercises to be solved individually or in groups; The lists are corrected only with respect to the operation of the program code produced.

Weaknesses
This approach fail to consider the development of the following aspects: 1.domain of a method for solving problems especially directed to the construction of artifacts satisfying a set of requirements; 2.domain of a methodology for assessing the quality of programs produced; 3.easy to solve problems cooperatively; 4.use of syntax, semantics and pragmatics of a programming language; 5.domain of different computing resources to support the development and evaluation of programs.

Theoretical Support

In order to construct knowledge, an error corrected is more important than a success, since it requires the intervention of self-regulatory mechanisms that are responsible for reconstructions. These self-regulations allow individuals to achieve the ability to solve problems in a formal level [2]; The system of cooperative work (in teams) contributes to the development of the formalism since it encourages awareness of the student's own thinking, so he can get arguments to express it and defend it, as well as enhances learning by allowing exchanges of views on the object of learning [6]; More recent research [7] [4] have sought to emphasize the importance of the pedagogical approach when using digital resources to support learning through the application of the concept of architecture pedagogical. Thus, the use of any digital resource needs to be backed by an appropriate pedagogical approach, architecture pedagogical = pedagogical approach + Computacional resources.

Working Proposal : Principles

The pedagogical approach adopted in this initial class schedule was based on the following principles: 1.Authoring of solution: encourage students to develop solutions, reflect on the results and on the process of development of the solutions and create a custom method of building the programs; 2.Cooperation: cooperating with classmates to enhance learning and motivate students to participate more actively in the learning process; 3.Critical thinking: build many possible solutions for each proposed problem and compare them with each other and with the solutions built by other students.

Working Proposal : Pedagogical Approach

Each group chose a problem to which the

project should develop a program that solves the problem; Each group created a web space, shared it with the classroom, which included the description of the problem and reports on the solutions produced, according to the following model:

Working Proposal : The report model

1. Problem description (the context of the problem and a precise identification

of the passage chosen to be tackle the project); 2. Proposed solution (including data organization, the main algorithms used and how is the interaction between user and program); 3. Evidence of correction:
1. 2. 3.

a) explanation of the conviction that the critical parts of the program works; b) planning and carrying out the tests (with which data the program has been tested? what was expected, was it obtained?)

4. Program performance (brief consideration of the memory consumption and

computational effort); 5. Evaluation of the project by the group (managed to achieve the desired goals with the solution: What are the main difficulties? What were unable to be achieved and what were the reasons?) 6. Source code (with comments).

The proposal in action

The pedagogical architecture was used in a class of programming, on

the semester 2011/2, consisting of 16 students beginning courses in Computer Science or Computer Engineering at Federal University of Esprito Santo Brasil; The students was organized in groups of two or three members. The web spaces of each group were visited by classmates and received comments; Each group prepared a presentation of the results achieved, published it in the web, and presented it to the other groups and teacher; The comments posted on the classroom web space and those received during the presentation were used to produce new versions of the solution constructed by the group. Doubts could be raised in the classroom or shared with peers and teachers via digital resources.

The proposal in action : the site of each group

1. Apresentao (instituio, disciplina,prof essores, monitores, calendrio de aulas)
6. Grupos de projeto

2. Aulas (notas das aulas)

3. Listas de problemas (lista 1 ... lista n)

Pgina inicial do wiki da disciplina

4. Desafios de programao (desafio1,2,3)

6.1Wikis dos projetos dos grupos (um por grupo)

5. Lista de estudantes (Estudante 1 ... Estudante n)

5.1 Wikis individuais de cada estudante

Results
To raise the students' opinions about the

pedagogical architecture adopted, at the end of the semester (2011/2), to each student, was asked a report covering topics related to:

individual work, group work, the use of technology, the learning acquired versus his expectations.

we present in next slide a analyse of the

questions.

Analysis of the questions

Construction of autonomy: the challenges faced in searching for a solution to the problems were effective; The Grasp of Consciousness: the need to explain the solution to colleagues helped them understand more deeply their conceptions;

Analysis of the questions

Competency in problem solving: the need to consider different solutions to problems increases students' confidence about their skills; The cooperative work facilitate the learning: Students affirm that teamwork development contributed the construction of more refined knowledge; Adequacy of technological support: the students considered appropriate and sufficient the digital resources and the pedagogical architectures adopted in the discipline.

Final Considerations
This article presented the results of research on pedagogical

architectures to support the teaching-learning process in initial programming disciplines. The pedagogical architecture studied shows a constructivist pedagogical approach, emphasizing the learning to learn, the autonomy of students, the student as the author of the programs (solutions to problems), the doing as the predecessor of understanding, cooperative work, socialization of the results (programs), the search for generating several possible solutions, all of this, seeking greater awareness of problems and their solutions. The digital resources of the pedagogical architecture allowed the proper implementation of the pedagogical approach and were well accepted by students.