Programming for Teacher Training Students: Dr. Thiemo Leonhardt (#TL1)

Format

Lecture and practicals (95 % asynchronous and 5% synchronous)

Keywords

Active learning, introduction to programming, scaffolding, teacher training, Coding Dojo

Description

This course is for second-semester students who are training to become computer science teachers. During ‘Programming for Trainee Teachers’, they develop their knowledge of programming basics using Python.

The online course aimed to maximize active learning as much as possible while supporting the students with any difficulties. To this end, the course comprised three main components: Coding Dojo, an online independent study course and input videos on theoretical aspects of programming. 

The Coding Dojo took place weekly and incorporated a short educational video on a specific aspect of programming. The students used asynchronous demonstration videos as a basis for consolidating their knowledge and practicing programming themselves. At the end of each Dojo session, they then received exercises to work on independently. The participants could discuss questions at any time via the OPAL forum.  

Students are supported in completing this online independent study course, which relied on a visual approach to afford them a firm grasp of all areas covered in the Coding Dojo. This approach also translates very well to a school environment. There was a new quiz each week to check what the participants had learned so far. As the online course facilitated interactive programming without the need to download software, we were able to bypass some hurdles that can arise from online teaching. Each chapter concluded with a creative task where the students needed to apply the content they studied. To progress to the next chapter, the participants had to reach a certain number of points. That said, it was not necessary to work on all the content to advance to the next stage. The course is currently only available in English. However, we are working on a German translation for the next time we offer the course.

The input videos covered the theoretical content and were made available during the course of the module. In addition to the application level, they also delved into the theory concerning memory management and the functionality of programming languages based on Python.

The combination of these three components was designed to provide a broad approach for actively learning programming. Synchronous drop-in sessions on BigBlueButton were offered alongside these three components.

Links:

• OPAL course: https://bildungsportal.sachsen.de/opal/auth/RepositoryEntry/980254732/ (Please register as a guest)
• Online course: https://academy.cs.cmu.edu/new-student/PV14-SY65 (Registration mandatory)

Contact

 Dr. Thiemo Leonhardt
Jens Spröte and
David Voigt

Voting ID

#TL1