A STEM-based, Project-driven, Introductory Programming Class for Pre-service Teachers

Wesley G. Lawson; Jennifer Lee Kouo; Vaishnavi Murthy

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Conference: 2019 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition
Location: Tampa, Florida
Publication Date: June 15, 2019
Start Date: June 15, 2019
End Date: June 19, 2019
Conference Session: Professional Development for Pre-Service and In-Service Teachers
Tagged Division: Pre-College Engineering Education
Page Count: 8
DOI: 10.18260/1-2--32000
Permanent URL: https://peer.asee.org/32000
Download Count: 629

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Paper Authors

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Wesley G. Lawson University of Maryland, College Park

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Prof. Lawson has earned five degrees from the University of Maryland, including a Ph,D, in Electrical Engineering in 1985. In his professional career at College Park, where he has been a full professor since 1997, he has worked on high-power microwave devices, medical devices, and engineering and STEM education. He is an author or coauthor on 5 books and over 70 refereed journal articles and 200 conference presentations and publications.

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Jennifer Lee Kouo Towson University orcid.org/0000-0002-4609-8555

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Jennifer L. Kouo, is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Special Education at Towson University in Maryland. Dr. Kouo received her PhD in Special Education with an emphasis in severe disabilities and autism spectrum disorder (ASD) from the University of Maryland at College Park. She is passionate about both instructional and assistive technology, as well as Universal Design for Learning (UDL), and utilizing inclusive practices to support all students. Dr. Kouo is currently engaged in multiple research projects that involve multidisciplinary collaborations in the field of engineering, medicine, and education, as well as research on teacher preparation and the conducting of evidence-based interventions in school environments.

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Vaishnavi Murthy University of Maryland, College Park

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Vaishnavi is a senior undergraduate student at the University of Maryland, pursuing a degree in Electrical Engineering.

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Abstract

For the past several years, a novel introductory C programming course has been offered to electrical engineering students. This course included partner-based programming assignments emphasizing computer-controlled hardware-driven projects and a final multi-week group project utilizing Raspberry Pi (RPi) computers. Mixed research methods were used to evaluate the impact of this course on student beliefs about programming, the electrical engineering profession, and their own abilities. Preliminary findings suggested that students in the novel course had greater self-efficacy and identity gains, particularly regarding their qualifications as engineers, as compared to students in a traditional C programming course.

This paper will detail a new introductory programming course, which was specifically developed and delivered to pre-service teachers and motivated by the need for a larger STEM+C workforce. Although similar to previous efforts, this course purposely takes into account the limited programming experience with the Python Programming language of the pre-service teachers. The course has two 50-minute lectures with up to 30 students that introduce Python structure, syntax and keywords, standard and custom modules, best programming practices, etc. PowerPoint lectures are interspersed with active learning assignments. In the first class, for example, students download the Python compiler to their laptops and run a simple program in IDLE. In subsequent classes they run and slightly modify codes that demonstrate the concepts just presented in the lecture.

There is also one three-hour laboratory every week, with a maximum of 10 students per section. Each lab begins with a brief presentation of the engineering topics that are relevant for that week. For example, during the first lab, students are introduced to the RPi, watch a video of an RPi being assembled, and then assemble their own RPi. Each student is issued an RPi kit that they can take with them to use at home. Subsequent lectures discuss circuit concepts, sensor operation, communication protocols, etc. Except for the first lab, all labs are performed in groups and follow the PDL approach. During the final third of the semester, students work in somewhat larger groups on a final project. Students “take on the role” of the engineer and solicit STEM-based learning activities from in-service teachers. The students then design an RPi-based project to realize the learning activity, develop the software and hardware needed for the activity, then build, test, and evaluate their project.

In this paper, the details of this novel course are described, and the results from the first offering of the course are presented, which include survey summaries of the opinions, observations, and impressions of the pre-service teachers. Survey results from students from the College of Education who have not taken the course regarding the possible value and likelihood of taking a PDL programming course, along with potential obstacles, and what knowledge, skills, and abilities they expect they would gain from the course will also be summarized.

Citation
Format

Lawson, W. G., & Kouo, J. L., & Murthy, V. (2019, June), A STEM-based, Project-driven, Introductory Programming Class for Pre-service Teachers Paper presented at 2019 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition , Tampa, Florida. 10.18260/1-2--32000

TY - CPAPER
AB - For the past several years, a novel introductory C programming course has been offered to electrical engineering students. This course included partner-based programming assignments emphasizing computer-controlled hardware-driven projects and a final multi-week group project utilizing Raspberry Pi (RPi) computers. Mixed research methods were used to evaluate the impact of this course on student beliefs about programming, the electrical engineering profession, and their own abilities. Preliminary findings suggested that students in the novel course had greater self-efficacy and identity gains, particularly regarding their qualifications as engineers, as compared to students in a traditional C programming course.

This paper will detail a new introductory programming course, which was specifically developed and delivered to pre-service teachers and motivated by the need for a larger STEM+C workforce. Although similar to previous efforts, this course purposely takes into account the limited programming experience with the Python Programming language of the pre-service teachers. The course has two 50-minute lectures with up to 30 students that introduce Python structure, syntax and keywords, standard and custom modules, best programming practices, etc. PowerPoint lectures are interspersed with active learning assignments. In the first class, for example, students download the Python compiler to their laptops and run a simple program in IDLE. In subsequent classes they run and slightly modify codes that demonstrate the concepts just presented in the lecture.

There is also one three-hour laboratory every week, with a maximum of 10 students per section. Each lab begins with a brief presentation of the engineering topics that are relevant for that week. For example, during the first lab, students are introduced to the RPi, watch a video of an RPi being assembled, and then assemble their own RPi. Each student is issued an RPi kit that they can take with them to use at home. Subsequent lectures discuss circuit concepts, sensor operation, communication protocols, etc. Except for the first lab, all labs are performed in groups and follow the PDL approach. During the final third of the semester, students work in somewhat larger groups on a final project. Students “take on the role” of the engineer and solicit STEM-based learning activities from in-service teachers. The students then design an RPi-based project to realize the learning activity, develop the software and hardware needed for the activity, then build, test, and evaluate their project.

In this paper, the details of this novel course are described, and the results from the first offering of the course are presented, which include survey summaries of the opinions, observations, and impressions of the pre-service teachers. Survey results from students from the College of Education who have not taken the course regarding the possible value and likelihood of taking a PDL programming course, along with potential obstacles, and what knowledge, skills, and abilities they expect they would gain from the course will also be summarized.

AU - Wesley G. Lawson
AU - Jennifer Lee Kouo
AU - Vaishnavi Murthy
CY - Tampa, Florida
DA - 2019/06/15
PB - ASEE Conferences
TI - A STEM-based, Project-driven, Introductory Programming Class for Pre-service Teachers
UR - https://peer.asee.org/32000
DO - 10.18260/1-2--32000
ER -