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Contribution: This article features a systematic literature review with the objective of presenting a study that reflects the current scenario of research on the cognitive load theory (CLT) in the domain of teaching and learning computer programming. Background: Computer programming is a highly cognitive skill, requiring mastering multiple competencies, and recognized as being difficult to learn, for this reason, the cognitive load (CL) in the learner’s working memory emerged as an influential concept, making CLT one of the most common theories in computing education research. Research Questions: What are the approaches that relate CLT to teaching and learning computer programming? What CLT-related concepts are covered? What evidence is reported with respect to this context? Methodology: Following a formal protocol, a survey was performed for papers linking CLT to teaching and learning programming published between 2010 and 2020. The selection of papers was based on a set of criteria established to drive the selection process, including alignment with the research questions and paper quality assessment. Findings: The approaches applied in the papers are based on measuring the CL; through instructional design based on the development or use of resources or tools, a range of different pedagogy strategies and the CLT concepts. With respect to the concepts, the subjective measurement technique and worked example effect are the most commonly deployed. As far as the evidence reported, the better part is related to the worked example effect and measuring CLs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Contribution: This paper presents a model for educational robotics tools and a corresponding set of heuristics for their development and evaluation specifically adapted to the needs and expectations in formal education settings. Background: The increased use of educational robots in classrooms, and the steadily growing number of alternatives from which to choose, bring the requirement for appropriate methods to develop and evaluate these tools. Yet the current body of literature does not provide comprehensive frameworks that allow this question to be adequately addressed. Although previous research has studied the use of educational robotics in classrooms, there is still a lack of methods to support their development and evaluation. Intended Outcomes: An evaluation framework to support researchers, engineers, educators, and decision makers in taking informed decisions about educational robotics systems. Application Design: This paper proposes to consider activities involving educational robotics tools as a kind of “educational augmented tabletop game.” Within this framework, a set of fourteen heuristics was devised, based on literature on games and learning tools. The validity of these heuristics was examined with a heterogenous group of twelve school teachers, who tested five different educational robotics systems. Findings: The participating teachers had a high level of approval for the heuristics devised. A heuristic evaluation based on the framework proposed here appeared to more appropriately reflecting the teachers’ needs than did conventional methods, namely the isolated comparison of system characteristics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Contribution: Portable learning instrumentation has become common in university classrooms and laboratories, but few publications assess the effects of these technologies on student retention. This paper addresses this under-researched connection between the use of portable learning technologies, incorporated into an Introduction to Computer Engineering course, and student retention. Background: The desire for active learning experiences has promoted the use of portable, hands-on technologies in classrooms and laboratories. However, published results from such efforts do not often assess the impact of such tools on student retention. In Fall 2015, the Kansas State University Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering overhauled an introductory computer engineering course, incorporating portable learning tools with the aims to increase student retention, where a secondary focus related to helping students understand the limitations of portable hardware platforms. Intended Outcomes: The goal was to improve student confidence and the retention of first- and second-year students who took the course. Application Design: Laboratory exercises used portable technologies and focused on hardware limitations. Summative surveys helped to quantify the impact of the new course structure on student confidence. The retention of first- and second-year students who took the course was also investigated. Findings: Survey results indicated that the course transformation positively affected student confidence (measured directly and indirectly). Retention of second-year students who took the course improved to a two-year average of 51%, from a 40% average for the three prior years. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Contribution: This paper provides evidence that computational creativity exercises (CCEs) can increase engineering students’ learning in introductory computer science (CS1) courses. Its main contribution is its more rigorous treatment/control group research design that allows testing for causal influences of CCEs on student learning and performance. Background: Computer science (CS) courses are critical foundational courses for engineering students. CCEs that merge computational and creative thinking have been shown to increase achievement and learning of engineering and nonengineering students in CS1 courses, but previous research has used quasi- and non-experimental designs. Intended Outcomes: CCEs are intended to improve students’ learning of CS1 content and problem-solving ability by fostering computational creativity. Application Design: CCEs can improve student learning and can be used to supplement other evidence-based instructional practices. Findings: Propensity score matching was used to create equivalent treatment and control groups; results show that students in the CCE implementation section had higher scores on a CS knowledge test than students in the control section, but not higher self-efficacy for their CS knowledge. Focus group and open-ended survey questions indicated that students had mixed reactions to the CCEs, with about half the students seeing them as improving their learning, understanding, and ability to apply CS in their engineering field. Responses also reinforced the importance of fully incorporating CCEs in courses and aligning them with course topics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Contribution: Reflection is a critical skill because it involves thinking about and reviewing one’s work. It contributes to self-regulatory, metacognitive behaviors when practiced regularly. In this research, a unique approach to promote reflection via SPICE simulation after quizzes in a microelectronics course was studied. Background: This study aligns with recent calls from the engineering education community for increased use of systematic reflection. Intended Outcomes: Anticipating the lack of experience with reflection, the authors intended for students to gain experience and realize its benefits. Application Design: Repeated reflection occurred with the review of weekly quiz or exam results after submission via SPICE and question prompts. Reflections were analyzed by the authors for depth. Pre and postsurveys assessed student perspectives on reflection. Findings: When reflective depth levels after an initial quiz were associated with subsequent exam results, students who achieved significantly higher results unexpectedly reflected at the lowest level. This suggested the prompts were not designed to challenge all students to reflect. After a subsequent quiz, an overall lower average depth level and an increased number of reflections at the lowest depth level suggested potential fatigue with the reflective prompts. The presurvey had illustrated the lack of experience with reflection and hence, an opportunity. The postsurvey demonstrated highly positive views on reflection, including the development of metacognitive skills. Although the question prompts were likely not designed for optimal reflection, repeated reflection nonetheless made a positive impression on students in need of such experience. Applying these lessons learned may therefore lead to even greater outcomes with reflection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Contribution: Demonstrates how to use experiential learning (EL) to improve argumentative writing. Presents the design and development of a natural language processing (NLP) application for aiding instructors in providing feedback on student essays. Discusses how EL combined with automated support provides an analytical approach to improving written-communication skills. Background: High-quality, timely, feedback is an effective way to improve students’ writing. However, large class sizes and limited instructor backgrounds often make formative feedback impossible. Recent trends, including lowering entry requirements, have added to these challenges. Assistive technologies for implementing inclusive education provide viable solutions. Research Questions: 1) How and why can EL be used to develop argumentative writing skills in university STEM students? 2) How can technologies be developed to support using EL in teaching writing? and 3) How might the holistic impact of using such analytic techniques be evaluated? Methodology: Participants in an EL project were assigned two essays in sequence. They were given instructions on making good arguments and shown how to use an analytic rubric to maximize their scores. The essays were hand scored by tutors who provided scores for each dimension of the rubric. Subsequently, the content and argumentation of the essays were analyzed using NLP techniques to obtain independent scores. Qualitative data were also collected. Findings: The project produced transformative writing experiences for the participants. It showed how analytical techniques help improve writing skills and how relevant automated instructor assistance can be developed using NLP technologies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Contribution: This article explores the impact of the combination of various pedagogical approaches to deliver high-quality learning experiences for online-based engineering students. Though existing research extensively studied online education approaches, limited research has investigated how to bridge the gap between online cloud-based and campus-based students more effectively for obtaining hands-on engineering skills. Background: Given that engineers aim to solve real-world problems, engineering graduates need to obtain relevant experiences for employability. However, it is challenging to deliver such experiences in online education, which motivates innovative ways to integrate practical experiments in Web-based resources. Intended Outcomes: Practical and industry-relevant skills with flexibility in terms of time and pace of learning are intended to be achieved in the teaching framework which is expected to improve learning experiences for online students. Application Design: The adopted mixed pedagogical approach revolves around real-life problem-based learning delivered in the online mode using recorded experiments on energy-efficient design for three cohorts of the fourth-year engineering students, two of which are completely cloud-based students and the other one has a mix of on-campus and cloud-based students. Findings: The effectiveness of the adopted approach is measured through quantitative and qualitative evaluation tools. The evaluation demonstrated that cloud student engagement and motivation improved substantially by integrating explicit, analytical, as well as embodied learnings while enabling them to perform equally well as compared to the campus-based students. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Contribution: A technical course in a multidisciplinary university program has to provide high-level skills, with limited lecturing hours and student background. This article investigates the principles for its design and reports about a study case. Background: The overall course organization needs to address specific learning targets and teaching techniques, different from those used in traditional courses on the topic. Research Question: A stepwise strategy assists a principled design that allows dynamic, long-term improvements. Methodology: The evaluation of its applicability requires a years-long record of historical data. The article studies the evolution of a course over six years using simple monitoring techniques: surveys and rubric-based examinations. Findings: Monitoring emerges as an essential feature for course evolution: a focused examination provides the best results, while institutional, wide-spectrum surveys appear to be of little help. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Contribution: This article presents the design of in-game tools to support learning within an educational video game and investigates the impact of tool usage on engineering students’ performance in an introductory digital circuit design course. Background: Despite the level of appeal of video games to college students, there is a lack of empirical evidence of how to design effective games to address educational goals. One component of games that can serve as a support mechanism to help players be successful in the game is the in-game tools. This article investigates the impact of three types of instructional in-game tools on engineering students’ performance on digital circuit design tasks. Research Questions: To what extent do different types of in-game tools (content-specific instructional guidance tool, scaffold, and productivity tool) contribute to players’ performance on digital circuit design tasks? Methodology: This article presents the design of an educational video game to teach digital circuits design. It presents three discrete types of in-game tools and investigates their impact on students’ learning performance. For this investigation, multiple regression analysis was used to show the relations between the tools and learning performance (${N}=176$). Findings: The results show the player use of tools that provide content-specific instructional guidance and scaffolding for troubleshooting is correlated with their learning performance. The productivity tool did not significantly contribute to the learning performance of the students. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Contribution: This research presents a case study of an online peer assessment (PA) implementation in a random processes course. Students were required to submit simulation assignments, and then to evaluate their peers’ submissions. The research explored the students’ perception of the activity throughout the course using surveys, and their behavior and academic performance using data obtained in the course. Background: With decreased resources and larger class sizes, the obligatory theoretical random processes course in the electrical engineering program presents a challenge with regard to students’ motivation and assimilation of the academic material. Intended Outcomes: In preceding research, PA was found to provide benefits for students’ learning, without significantly burdening teaching staff resources. The implementation was directed at achieving these benefits. Application Design: Simulation exercises were designed to provide illustrations of relatively abstract material, and PA was instituted to facilitate better learning of the material without imposing greater resource requirements on the teaching staff. Findings: Results indicated that PA, although executed in accordance with the best practices presented in the literature, failed to achieve the benefits expected, and might even have contributed to lower grades in the course. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Contribution: A model of tiered in-lab, compulsory lab programming sessions suitable for use in flipped learning environments. This article also addresses the scarcity of research that explores the effects of in-class activity organization. Background: When facing a subject they perceive as dry or difficult, some students may feel discouraged from making an effort to learn. Previous research has shown that students have a positive attitude toward assignment tiering, as a form of scaffolding, in voluntary, take-home assignments. Related models either are designed for different settings or have obvious problems with applicability in flipped learning environments. Intended Outcomes: A lab environment that motivates students to learn and consequently to perform better on in-class evaluations and on exams. The approach should be positively received by students. Application Design: Drawing upon the previous teaching experience, the proposed approach is a modification of an assignment tiering model found in the academic literature. With two gated tiered assignments per class, the steepness of the learning curve is alleviated for struggling students, while the injection of deliberate errors, reflexive questions, and ad hoc modification requests keep experienced students engaged with challenging tasks. Findings: The results of the six-year study, performed on an assembly language programming subject, are encouraging: Test groups were better in terms of motivation and performance, and the great majority of students expressed a positive attitude toward the new model. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]