This paper describes the use and benefits of Microsoft's Adventure Works (AW) database to teach advanced database skills in a hands-on, realistic environment. Database management and querying skills are a key element of a robust information systems curriculum, and active learning is an important way to develop these skills. To facilitate active…

In this paper, we investigate whether and how mathematics factors into students' performance in IT learning. The involved cognitive levels of students learning mathematics and hence problem solving, are correlated to how well they are able to transpose their knowledge and apply it to problem solving in the IT field(s). Our hypothesis is that if…

This study discusses and presents various strategies employed by novice programmers concerning exception handling. The main contributions of this paper are as follows: we provide an analysis tool to measure the level of assimilation of exception handling mechanism; we present and analyse strategies to handle exceptions; we present and analyse…

The goal of this article is to contribute fragments of concrete understanding to the on-going search for meaning in ideas associated with the learning sciences (Sawyer, 2006b) by adding to the repertoire of domain specific studies pertaining to this relatively new field. The learning sciences are first characterized as a system of learning…

The most important thing for learners in Programming Language subject is problem solving. During the practical programming project, various problems may occur and learners usually need consultation from the senior programmers (i.e. the experts) to assist them in solving the problems. Thus, the inquiry-based learning with learning forum is applied…

From the point of view of functional programming, a computational process to solve a problem is described as a mathematical function taking some arguments (corresponding to the data of the problem) and returning as a result its solution. Turtle Graphics can be used to describe the movements of a virtual turtle, which leaves a trail along his path…

"Scratch" is a media-rich digital environment that utilises a building block command structure to manipulate graphic, audio, and video aspects. It incorporates elements of Logo including "tinkerability" in the programming process. In "Scratch" students use geometric and measurement concepts such as coordinates, angle,…

This study integrated object-oriented programming instruction with transfer training activities in everyday tasks, which might provide a mechanism that can be used for efficient problem solving. Specifically, a Visual BASIC embedded with everyday tasks group was compared to another group exposed to Visual BASIC instruction only. Subjects were 40…

This study examines the specificity of information provided by structural assessment of knowledge (SAK). SAK is a technique which uses the Pathfinder scaling algorithm to transform ratings of concept relatedness into network representations (PFnets) of individuals' knowledge. Inferences about individuals' overall domain knowledge based on the…

A quasi-experiment was conducted at an elementary school to investigate if guided collaboration would facilitate programming learning of 6 graders. Sixty-six students of two intact classes learned to program in KPL (kid's programming language) for 18 weeks during the experiment. One class was randomly assigned to the control group (i.e.,…

Formal mathematical methods remain, for most high school students, mysterious, artificial and not a part of their regular intuitive thinking. The authors develop some themes that could lead to a radically new approach. According to this thesis, the teaching of programming languages as a regular part of academic progress can contribute effectively…

Problems requiring numerical solutions of differential equations or the use of agent-based modeling are presented for use in a course on mass transfer. These problems were solved using the popular technical computing language MATLABTM. Students were introduced to MATLAB via a problem with an analytical solution. A more complex problem to which no…

Problem-based learning (PBL) is a student-centered instructional strategy in which students solve problems and reflect on their experiences. Different domains need different approaches in the design of PBL systems. Therefore, we present one case study in this article: A Java Programming PBL. The application is developed as an additional module for…

With the current curriculum focus on correlating classroom problem solving lessons to real-world contexts, are LEGO robotics an effective problem solving tool? This present study was designed to investigate this question and to ascertain what problem solving strategies primary students engaged with when working with LEGO robotics and whether the…

Object-oriented analysis and design (OOAD) is not an easy subject to learn. There are many challenges confronting students when studying OOAD. Students have particular difficulty abstracting real-world problems within the context of OOAD. They are unable to effectively build object-oriented (OO) models from the problem domain because they…