T-PIPE
Summary
This project will empirically investigate the complex interplay between learning of theory and learning of practice in computer programming through laboratory work. Computer science students need to learn both the theoretical foundations and the practical skills required to program a computer. The aim for the project is to gain insights about what is required in order that students´ learning of practice and learning of theory during lab sessions can support each other mutually. Previous research has shown that learning in the laboratory is problematic, in that neither the learning of theory nor the learning of practice during lab work is satisfactory. In the past, research about learning during lab sessions has mainly focused on either the learning of theory or the learning of practice, whereas our focus will be on the interplay between them. Specifically, we will study lab-based teaching and learning of computer programming at upper secondary schools and in higher education. The research framework used will be phenomenography and variation theory. Video recordings of laboratory work and audio recordings of subsequent stimulated recall interviews will be the primary data collection methods. The results will have a potential to inform teaching practice in lab-based programming education, with the objective to improve the learning outcome of lab sessions, with respect to both theoretical
knowledge and practical skills.
Project members
UpCERG
Anna Eckerdal
Anders Berglund
Michael Thuné
KTH:
Inga-Britt Skogh
Lennart Rolandsson
