Structuring Topics of Philippine Universities' Introductory Programming Courses Using Semi-Supervised Pairwise-Constrained Clustering to Synthesize Alternative Course Topic Outlines

In course design, topic outline organization encompasses the structuring and sequencing of topics to be delivered in a learning environment. Recent studies in topic outline optimization revolve around massive open online courses (MOOCs) due to their abundance but not much has been studied on the traditional courses. This study investigates the organization of topic outlines in traditional introductory programming courses across Philippine higher education institutions (HEIs) and evaluates the viability of the synthesized alternative topic outlines. Course syllabi were collected from 16 HEIs. A topic precedence graph (TPG) model that provides a structured overview of the introductory programming was created via a semi-supervised pairwise constrained k-means (PCK-Means) clustering to structure the topics which produced 20 topic clusters with strong topic cohesion within the clusters. The TPG showed that HEIs tend to start the outline similarly, followed by core programming topics with varied sequences, and divergent ways of ending the outline. Two anomaly clusters were identified as having topic titles grouped that do not seem to have a unifying topic. Limitations of the clustering algorithm are identified where it cannot identify semantic meaning between words which may affect its applicability in situations where topic titles are named inconsistently. From the TPG, alternative optimal and comprehensive topic outlines were synthesized via greedy and DFS graph traversal algorithms. However, these alternative outlines performed very poorly when compared with the evaluators' (n=19) arrangement of topic outlines due to some prerequisite topics being discussed in the latter part already. Overall, this study introduces a method to incorporate computer science technologies in structuring topics across HEIs and aiding educators in topic outline design but more research is needed before it can be implemented in a real classroom setting.