This article presents the architecture and evaluation of a novel environment for programming education. The design of this programming environment, and the way it is used in class, is based on the findings of constructivist and cognitivist learning paradigms. The environment is evaluated based on qualitative student and teacher evaluations and…

This study investigates whether a visual programming environment called Etoys could enable teachers to create software applications meeting their own instructional needs. Twenty-four teachers who participated in the study successfully developed their own educational computer programs in the educational technology course employing cognitive…

Constructionism places an emphasis on the process of constructing shareable artefacts. Many virtual worlds, such as "Second Life", provide learners with tools for the construction of objects and hence may facilitate in-world constructionist learning experiences. However, the construction tools available present learners with a significant barrier…

In this paper the influence of the learning context is considered when learning to program. For the purposes of this study, the lectures, study process, previous knowledge or teaching experience and tests comprised the learning context. The article argues that students' experiences of the learning context have important implications for teaching…

The unprecedented growth in numbers of children playing computer games has stimulated discussion and research regarding what, if any, educational value these games have for teaching and learning. The research on this topic has primarily focused on children as players of computer games rather than builders/constructors of computer games. Recently,…

This paper presents both the design and the pilot formative evaluation study of a computer-based problem-solving environment (named LECGO: Learning Environment for programming using C using Geometrical Objects) for the learning of computer programming using C by beginners. In its design, constructivist and social learning theories were taken into…

University courses about computer programming usually seek to provide students not only with technical knowledge, but also with the skills required to work in real-life software projects. Nowadays, the development of software applications requires the coordinated efforts of the members of one or more teams. Therefore, it is important for software…

Self-testing is a means to check learning effect. Besides time-space restriction, there are many deficiencies in traditional offline self-testing. With the development of information technology, learners can have self-testing on the Internet. Self-testing on Internet, namely, web-based self-testing, overcomes time-space limitation of traditional…