An online learning platform for teaching, learning, and assessment of programming
- Robinson, Philip E., Carroll, Johnson
- Authors: Robinson, Philip E. , Carroll, Johnson
- Date: 2017
- Subjects: Online learning platform , Automated assessment , Programming
- Language: English
- Type: Conference proceedings
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10210/236077 , uj:24151 , Citation: Robinson, P.E. & Carroll, J. 2017. An online learning platform for teaching, learning, and assessment of programming.
- Description: Abstract: In this paper the use of an open-source online learning platform to aid in teaching and assessment of computer programming in large classes is discussed. The pedagogical philosophy of how the subject of computer programming is taught is presented. Based on the skills and learning processes that are identified for effective teaching of computer programming, a strategy for employing modern web technology coupled with an automated assessment capability to meet these goals is discussed. The paper describes the technology and implementation of the learning platform and new methods for automated assessment of programming assignments and exams. Finally, the application of the system to achieve the pedagogical goals and the benefits of using the system for teaching large classes is reported.
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- Authors: Robinson, Philip E. , Carroll, Johnson
- Date: 2017
- Subjects: Online learning platform , Automated assessment , Programming
- Language: English
- Type: Conference proceedings
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10210/236077 , uj:24151 , Citation: Robinson, P.E. & Carroll, J. 2017. An online learning platform for teaching, learning, and assessment of programming.
- Description: Abstract: In this paper the use of an open-source online learning platform to aid in teaching and assessment of computer programming in large classes is discussed. The pedagogical philosophy of how the subject of computer programming is taught is presented. Based on the skills and learning processes that are identified for effective teaching of computer programming, a strategy for employing modern web technology coupled with an automated assessment capability to meet these goals is discussed. The paper describes the technology and implementation of the learning platform and new methods for automated assessment of programming assignments and exams. Finally, the application of the system to achieve the pedagogical goals and the benefits of using the system for teaching large classes is reported.
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An online system for monitoring and assessing the programming process
- Robinson, Philip E., Carroll, Johnson
- Authors: Robinson, Philip E. , Carroll, Johnson
- Date: 2016
- Subjects: Computer Science Education , Learning Management System (LMS) , Online Assessment
- Language: English
- Type: Article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10210/224393 , uj:22603 , Citation: Robinson, P.E. & Carroll, J. 2016. An online system for monitoring and assessing the programming process.
- Description: Abstract: Traditional assessment of programming ability, as well as more recent automated assessment systems, consider only the completed program submitted by the student. We present a system which automatically monitors and assesses the codeproduction process as well as the final product, allowing adaptive feedback and assessment of programming competency. Our assessment system is based on open-source components which provide a full online programming environment and allows for a flexible scripting interface to the assessment process, which can monitor student actions during the programming task. The system was implemented for an introductory programming class of nearly 400 students, and an example of the automated assessment is presented.
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- Authors: Robinson, Philip E. , Carroll, Johnson
- Date: 2016
- Subjects: Computer Science Education , Learning Management System (LMS) , Online Assessment
- Language: English
- Type: Article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10210/224393 , uj:22603 , Citation: Robinson, P.E. & Carroll, J. 2016. An online system for monitoring and assessing the programming process.
- Description: Abstract: Traditional assessment of programming ability, as well as more recent automated assessment systems, consider only the completed program submitted by the student. We present a system which automatically monitors and assesses the codeproduction process as well as the final product, allowing adaptive feedback and assessment of programming competency. Our assessment system is based on open-source components which provide a full online programming environment and allows for a flexible scripting interface to the assessment process, which can monitor student actions during the programming task. The system was implemented for an introductory programming class of nearly 400 students, and an example of the automated assessment is presented.
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Ethics assessment via game play?
- Nel, A. L., Carroll, Johnson
- Authors: Nel, A. L. , Carroll, Johnson
- Date: 2017
- Subjects: Ethics research , Role playing games , Gamification
- Language: English
- Type: Conference proceedings
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10210/236085 , uj:24152 , Citation: Nel, A.L. & Carroll, J. 2017. Ethics assessment via game play?
- Description: Abstract: In a previous paper the ethical nature of academic staff at the University of Johannesburg (UJ) was evaluated. Since engineering education research is flourishing world-wide a serious question was raised about staff adherence to basic ethical standards. An internal research programme was launched to evaluate staff’s ethical orientation using a survey based methodology. The results indicated that a significant percentage acted in ethically problematic ways. As a consequence the idea of using a role playing game (RPG) was mooted to further investigate academic staff’s situational ethics. This paper discusses the proposed game playing device that was designed as a manner of investigating the staff’s understanding of engineering education research ethics. This paper reviews basic material on nature of play and in particular ethical role play in RPGs and analyses the manner in which an RPG would have to be designed to ensure reliable data collection of the staff’s ethical standards when applied to educational research. From the basic review of game playing ethics and the necessary design elements it was clear that it would not be possible to develop such a measurement device. It is an open question whether any form of situated ethics can be evaluated or taught using a closed form RPG.
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- Authors: Nel, A. L. , Carroll, Johnson
- Date: 2017
- Subjects: Ethics research , Role playing games , Gamification
- Language: English
- Type: Conference proceedings
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10210/236085 , uj:24152 , Citation: Nel, A.L. & Carroll, J. 2017. Ethics assessment via game play?
- Description: Abstract: In a previous paper the ethical nature of academic staff at the University of Johannesburg (UJ) was evaluated. Since engineering education research is flourishing world-wide a serious question was raised about staff adherence to basic ethical standards. An internal research programme was launched to evaluate staff’s ethical orientation using a survey based methodology. The results indicated that a significant percentage acted in ethically problematic ways. As a consequence the idea of using a role playing game (RPG) was mooted to further investigate academic staff’s situational ethics. This paper discusses the proposed game playing device that was designed as a manner of investigating the staff’s understanding of engineering education research ethics. This paper reviews basic material on nature of play and in particular ethical role play in RPGs and analyses the manner in which an RPG would have to be designed to ensure reliable data collection of the staff’s ethical standards when applied to educational research. From the basic review of game playing ethics and the necessary design elements it was clear that it would not be possible to develop such a measurement device. It is an open question whether any form of situated ethics can be evaluated or taught using a closed form RPG.
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Implementation of specifications grading for assessment of programming using an online learning platform
- Robinson, Philip E., Carroll, Johnson
- Authors: Robinson, Philip E. , Carroll, Johnson
- Date: 2017
- Subjects: Computer science education , Specifications grading , Online learning platform
- Language: English
- Type: Conference proceedings
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/${Handle} , uj:24937 , Citation: Robinson, P.E. & Carroll, J. 2017. Implementation of specifications grading for assessment of programming using an online learning platform.
- Description: Abstract: Computer programming is inherently ill-suited to traditional assessment with partial credit, as real-world programming tasks have a binary evaluation scheme (works or does not work) allowing multiple attempts. In this study, the specifications grading paradigm is presented as an alternative method of assessing computer programming in a more authentic manner. The authors propose a specifications grading scheme for an introductory programming course, and describe the implementation of this scheme using a custom online learning platform with automated grading capabilities. A set of criteria are defined for assessing the quality of a grading system and these criteria are used to discuss the merits of the proposed grading system. The authors argue that the proposed system is superior to the traditional assessment models in terms of fostering authentic learning, providing more accurate and reliable assessment, and saving the instructor time.
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- Authors: Robinson, Philip E. , Carroll, Johnson
- Date: 2017
- Subjects: Computer science education , Specifications grading , Online learning platform
- Language: English
- Type: Conference proceedings
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/${Handle} , uj:24937 , Citation: Robinson, P.E. & Carroll, J. 2017. Implementation of specifications grading for assessment of programming using an online learning platform.
- Description: Abstract: Computer programming is inherently ill-suited to traditional assessment with partial credit, as real-world programming tasks have a binary evaluation scheme (works or does not work) allowing multiple attempts. In this study, the specifications grading paradigm is presented as an alternative method of assessing computer programming in a more authentic manner. The authors propose a specifications grading scheme for an introductory programming course, and describe the implementation of this scheme using a custom online learning platform with automated grading capabilities. A set of criteria are defined for assessing the quality of a grading system and these criteria are used to discuss the merits of the proposed grading system. The authors argue that the proposed system is superior to the traditional assessment models in terms of fostering authentic learning, providing more accurate and reliable assessment, and saving the instructor time.
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Predicting engineering student success using machine learning
- Taodzera, Tatenda, Twala, Bhekisipho, Carroll, Johnson
- Authors: Taodzera, Tatenda , Twala, Bhekisipho , Carroll, Johnson
- Date: 2017
- Language: English
- Type: Conference proceedings
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10210/236143 , uj:24160 , Citation: Taodzera, T., Twala, B. & Carroll, J. 2017. Predicting engineering student success using machine learning.
- Description: Abstract: Recent years have seen an increase in the number of students from diverse backgrounds enrolling into South African universities, presenting many challenges. Some students struggle with their academic choices, and universities struggle to understand and address the individual needs of such a diverse student base. Fortunately, vast amounts of student information have been collected and stored, giving an opportunity for researchers in educational data mining to derive some useful insights from this data to help both the universities and students. This research aims to identify factors that contribute to the success and or failure of a student, then predict the future performance of the student at enrolment. By using data pre-processing techniques, the experiments identify the most significant success factors from the data at enrolment time. The most significant factors can then be used to identify students who may need extra support, and the nature of those factors can help determine the manner of support needed. This study implemented and evaluated the effectiveness of the most commonly used and new machine learning algorithms in predicting student performance on a sample of 1366 engineering students. The results show various degrees of success in predicting student performance, and it is hoped that these findings will guide the selection of machine learning algorithms for future studies.
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- Authors: Taodzera, Tatenda , Twala, Bhekisipho , Carroll, Johnson
- Date: 2017
- Language: English
- Type: Conference proceedings
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10210/236143 , uj:24160 , Citation: Taodzera, T., Twala, B. & Carroll, J. 2017. Predicting engineering student success using machine learning.
- Description: Abstract: Recent years have seen an increase in the number of students from diverse backgrounds enrolling into South African universities, presenting many challenges. Some students struggle with their academic choices, and universities struggle to understand and address the individual needs of such a diverse student base. Fortunately, vast amounts of student information have been collected and stored, giving an opportunity for researchers in educational data mining to derive some useful insights from this data to help both the universities and students. This research aims to identify factors that contribute to the success and or failure of a student, then predict the future performance of the student at enrolment. By using data pre-processing techniques, the experiments identify the most significant success factors from the data at enrolment time. The most significant factors can then be used to identify students who may need extra support, and the nature of those factors can help determine the manner of support needed. This study implemented and evaluated the effectiveness of the most commonly used and new machine learning algorithms in predicting student performance on a sample of 1366 engineering students. The results show various degrees of success in predicting student performance, and it is hoped that these findings will guide the selection of machine learning algorithms for future studies.
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Replacing the hierarchy of engineering qualifications and roles
- Authors: Carroll, Johnson
- Date: 2017
- Subjects: Engineer , Washington Accord , Technologist
- Language: English
- Type: Conference proceedings
- Identifier: http://ujcontent.uj.ac.za8080/10210/364443 , http://hdl.handle.net/10210/236069 , uj:24150 , Citation: Carroll, J. 2017. Replacing the hierarchy of engineering qualifications and roles.
- Description: Abstract: There are generally three types of engineering qualification offered around the world, corresponding to the three commonly recognized engineering roles: engineer, technologist, and technician. This paper examines how the definitions and standards applied to the different engineering roles and qualifications implicitly (and sometimes explicitly) suggest a hierarchy, with engineer identified as superior to the other two roles. This hierarchical thinking undervalues the technologist and technician roles, and gives the false impression that the engineering role (and the corresponding qualification) incorporates the knowledge and abilities of the technologist, which in turn simply builds on the technician. In fact, as explored here, the roles are complementary and should be considered equally important and valuable in an engineering endeavor. A new model based on the CDIO framework is presented which highlights the superiority of each engineering role in a different aspect of an engineering process. This framework will guide the development of the corresponding qualifications in preparing students appropriately, and will hopefully help discredit the hierarchy of engineering roles.
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- Authors: Carroll, Johnson
- Date: 2017
- Subjects: Engineer , Washington Accord , Technologist
- Language: English
- Type: Conference proceedings
- Identifier: http://ujcontent.uj.ac.za8080/10210/364443 , http://hdl.handle.net/10210/236069 , uj:24150 , Citation: Carroll, J. 2017. Replacing the hierarchy of engineering qualifications and roles.
- Description: Abstract: There are generally three types of engineering qualification offered around the world, corresponding to the three commonly recognized engineering roles: engineer, technologist, and technician. This paper examines how the definitions and standards applied to the different engineering roles and qualifications implicitly (and sometimes explicitly) suggest a hierarchy, with engineer identified as superior to the other two roles. This hierarchical thinking undervalues the technologist and technician roles, and gives the false impression that the engineering role (and the corresponding qualification) incorporates the knowledge and abilities of the technologist, which in turn simply builds on the technician. In fact, as explored here, the roles are complementary and should be considered equally important and valuable in an engineering endeavor. A new model based on the CDIO framework is presented which highlights the superiority of each engineering role in a different aspect of an engineering process. This framework will guide the development of the corresponding qualifications in preparing students appropriately, and will hopefully help discredit the hierarchy of engineering roles.
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Vision-based adaptive cruise control using pattern matching
- Kanjee, Ritesh, Bachoo, Asheer K., Carroll, Johnson
- Authors: Kanjee, Ritesh , Bachoo, Asheer K. , Carroll, Johnson
- Date: 2013
- Subjects: Vision-based adaptive cruise control , Adaptive image cropping , Pattern matching , Adaptive cruise control
- Type: Article
- Identifier: uj:4844 , http://hdl.handle.net/10210/12511
- Description: Adaptive Cruise Control (ACC) is a relatively new system designed to assist automobile drivers in maintaining a safe following distance. This paper proposes and validates a vision-based ACC system which uses a single camera to obtain the clearance distance between the preceding vehicle and the ACC vehicle. Pattern matching, with the aid of lane detection, is used for vehicle detection. The vehicle and range detection algorithms are validated using real-world data, and then the resulting system performance is shown to be sufficient using a simulation of a basic vehicle model.
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- Authors: Kanjee, Ritesh , Bachoo, Asheer K. , Carroll, Johnson
- Date: 2013
- Subjects: Vision-based adaptive cruise control , Adaptive image cropping , Pattern matching , Adaptive cruise control
- Type: Article
- Identifier: uj:4844 , http://hdl.handle.net/10210/12511
- Description: Adaptive Cruise Control (ACC) is a relatively new system designed to assist automobile drivers in maintaining a safe following distance. This paper proposes and validates a vision-based ACC system which uses a single camera to obtain the clearance distance between the preceding vehicle and the ACC vehicle. Pattern matching, with the aid of lane detection, is used for vehicle detection. The vehicle and range detection algorithms are validated using real-world data, and then the resulting system performance is shown to be sufficient using a simulation of a basic vehicle model.
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