| CODE | TEM5005 | ||||||||
| TITLE | The Pedagogy of Programming and Computational Thinking | ||||||||
| UM LEVEL | 05 - Postgraduate Modular Diploma or Degree Course | ||||||||
| MQF LEVEL | 7 | ||||||||
| ECTS CREDITS | 5 | ||||||||
| DEPARTMENT | Technology and Entrepreneurship Education | ||||||||
| DESCRIPTION | This study-unit discusses the role of programming first as a cognitive tool, and secondly as a discipline. The objectives behind teaching computer programming, what to teach and when to teach it, are discussed, and relevant methodologies for teaching of different programming languages are developed. Case studies involving block based programming languages, such as Scratch and MIT App inventor, Object Oriented Programming languages such as Java are discussed in order to develop courses and courseware for the teaching of programming. The unit encourages comparison between different languages, and discusses issues such as language ergonomics, design, and pedagogy. Study-Unit Aims: This study-unit aims to reflect on the process of programming a device and discuss different approaches to the teaching and assessing programming. This unit analyses the role of the IDE in the teaching of programming by comparing block based, text-based and hybrid approaches to programming languages aimed at novice programmers. Learning Outcomes: 1. Knowledge & Understanding: By the end of the study-unit the student will be able to: - Demonstrate knowledge of different approaches that can be used to introduce programming to students. - Compare different IDEs and list the advantages and disadvantages of using these IDEs as a pedagogical tool. - Review the debugging capabilities of different IDEs and assess their use from a pedagogic point of view. - Differentiate between different approaches that can be used to assess programming competence. 2. Skills: By the end of the study-unit the student will be able to: - Design pedagogically sound activities that introduce students to designing and implementing a project in a programming language of choice. - Plan a series of lessons aimed at introducing programming to a group of students based on the age and ability of students. - Create pedagogically sound activities aimed at assessing the programming competence of students. Main Text/s and any supplementary readings: - Caspersen, J., Bennedsen, M., & Kölling, M. (Eds.). (2008). Reflections on the teaching of programming. Germany: Springer. - Kölling, M. (2009). Introduction to programming with greenfoot Pearson Education, Upper Saddle River, New Jersey, USA. - Utting, I., Cooper, S., Kölling, M., Maloney, J., & Resnick, M. (2010). Alice, greenfoot, and scratch--a discussion. ACM Transactions on Computing Education (TOCE), 10(4), 17. - Wolber, D. (2011). App inventor and real-world motivation. Proceedings of the 42nd ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education, 601-606. - Wolber, D., Abelson, H., Spertus, E., & Looney, L. (2011). App inventor, O'Reilly Media, Inc. An updated set of online readings and resources will be provided at the start of the study-unit. |
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| ADDITIONAL NOTES | Pre-requisite Qualifications: Course Entry Requirments Pre-requisite Study-unit: TEM5002 |
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| STUDY-UNIT TYPE | Lecture | ||||||||
| METHOD OF ASSESSMENT |
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| LECTURER/S | Lara Maria Attard Josmar Borg |
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The University makes every effort to ensure that the published Courses Plans, Programmes of Study and Study-Unit information are complete and up-to-date at the time of publication. The University reserves the right to make changes in case errors are detected after publication.
The availability of optional units may be subject to timetabling constraints. Units not attracting a sufficient number of registrations may be withdrawn without notice. It should be noted that all the information in the description above applies to study-units available during the academic year 2024/5. It may be subject to change in subsequent years. |
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