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Increasing the popularity and efficiency of distance education by old-new methods
211-228Views:36In our essay we aim to provide suggestions to develop distance education and we decisively focus on programmed education that is supported by e-learning environment. We both think that the shortage of programmed educational methods is causeless in Hungary's distance education. The widespread usage of info-communication devices and of the Internet makes the programmed educational methods (not as an exclusive method) possible to use in distance education together with e-learning environment. In our work we summarize the possible solutions and at the same time we also provide a case study, as an insight into our e-learning project (called Logical Programming) by Moodle. -
Better understanding mathematics by algorithmic thinking and computer programming
295-305Views:117Tamás Varga’s mathematics education experiment covered not just mathematics, but also other related topics. In many of his works he clearly stated that computer science can support the understanding of mathematics as much as mathematics supports informatics. On the other hand, not much later than the introduction of the new curriculum in 1978, personal computers started to spread, making it possible to teach informatics in classes and in extracurricular activities. Varga’s guided discovery approach has a didactic value for other age groups as well, not only in primary school. Its long-lasting effect can be observed even in present times. Having reviewed several educational results in the spirit of Tamás Varga, we have decided to present an extracurricular course. It is an open study group for age 12-18. Students solve problems by developing Python programs and, according to our experiences, this results in a deeper understanding of mathematical concepts.
Subject Classification: 97B10, 97B20, 97D50, 97N80, 97P20, 97P30, 97P40, 97P50, 97U70
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Algorithmics of the knapsack type tasks
37-71Views:27We propose a new kind of approach of the teaching of knapsack type problems in the classroom. We will remind you the context of the general knapsack-task and we will classify it, including the two most popular task variants: the discrete and the continuous one. Once we briefly present the solving algorithm of the continuous variant, we will focus on the solving of the discrete task, and we will determine the complexity of the algorithms, looking for different optimizing possibilities. All these issues are presented in a useful way for highschool teachers, who are preparing students in order to participate in different programming contests. -
Teaching XML
317-335Views:31The author has been teaching XML at the Faculty of Informatics, University of Debrecen since the end of the nineties. This paper gives an overview of XML technology from an educators viewpoint that is based on the experience that the author has gained teaching XML over the years. A detailed description of the XML course is provided. Methodological issues are also discussed. -
Teaching Java programming using case studies
245-256Views:7The paper deals with the technical background and the pedagogical issues of a specific implementation for the collection, assessment and archiving of the students' assignments written in Java. The implemented system automatically applies object-oriented metrics on the collected works in order to measure the characteristic features of the assignments. Tutors use these results for the detection of plagiarisms and for the selection of outstanding works. The paper interprets the measured values within a real Java course held in the 3rd term of the Informatics bachelor study programme at the technical university. Students have several case studies devoted to the simulation of the ATM (Automatic Teller Machine) at disposal. We conclude that the access to the analyzed pool of case studies, blended with the Sun Learning Connection license from the Sun Microsystems, Inc., is an effective way of teaching programming in Java. -
Let's learn database programming in an active way
213-228Views:22This paper introduces how I applied the "learning by doing" method in the education of advanced knowledge of database systems in Software Engineering BSc program. The first goal of my method is to enable the students to use the PL/SQL and SQL as a skill, namely they get a practical competence which can be immediately used in business. In the laboratory the students independently practise the material learnt on the lecture. They get feedback for all their activities from the teacher. A software system helps administer the solutions, automatically verifies the syntax of them and helps the teacher to evaluate them. The paper summarises the results of three semesters. In the last year I compared the active learning method with the traditional method. I asked the students in a voluntary survey about the active learning method. -
Combinatorics – competition – Excel
427-435Views:31In 2001 the Informatics Points Competition of the Mathematics Journal for Secondary School Students (KÖMAL) was restarted [1]. The editors set themselves an aim to make the formerly mere programming competition a bit more varied. Therefore, every month there has been published a spreadsheet problem, a part of which was related to combinatorics. This article is intended to discuss the above mentioned problems and the solutions given to them at competitions. We will prove that traditional mathematical and programming tasks can be solved with a system developed for application purposes when applying a different way of thinking. -
Teaching graph algorithms with Visage
35-50Views:27Combinatorial optimization is a substantial pool for teaching authentic mathematics. Studying topics in combinatorial optimization practice different mathematical skills, and because of this have been integrated into the new Berlin curriculum for secondary schools. In addition, teachers are encouraged to use adequate teaching software. The presented software package "Visage" is a visualization tool for graph algorithms. Using the intuitive user interface of an interactive geometry system (Cinderella), graphs and networks can be drawn very easily and different textbook algorithms can be visualized on the graphs. An authoring tool for interactive worksheets and the usage of the build-in programming interface offer new ways for teaching graphs and algorithms in a classroom. -
Fibonacci beyond binary recursion
173-185Views:27The Fibonacci series is a classical algorithm taught in computer science, usually implemented in some programming language. It is hard to find a programming textbook which doesn't touch on Fibonacci, and it's most common use is in the illustration of binary recursion. There are also many ways of tailoring the basic algorithm in order to implement it. This paper discusses some novel algorithms, which help address some of the limitations of binary recursion, but also illustrate how differing algorithms can be pedagogically beneficial. We introduce a simple algorithm for accurately calculating any Fibonacci number. -
A didactic analysis of merge sort
195-210Views:22Due to technical difficulties, educators teaching merge sort often avoid the analysis of the cost in the general and average cases. Using basic discrete mathematics, elementary real analysis and mathematical induction, we propose a self-contained derivation of bounds αn log_2 n + βn + γ in all cases. Independent of any programming language or pseudo-code, supported by intuitive figures, it is suitable for informatics students interested in the analysis of algorithms. It is also a good exercise in showing that induction allows us to actually discover constants, instead of simply checking them a posteriori. -
An interactive animation for learning sorting algorithms: How students reduced the number of comparisons in a sorting algorithm by playing a didactic game
45-62Views:36Learning programming and understanding algorithms is one of the hardest tasks for novice computer science students. One of the basic algorithms they learn during the introductory programming and algorithms courses are the sorting algorithms. Students like learning these and other algorithms by animations and didactic games, however, these animations are not educationally useful in every case. In this article, we present our educational sorting game, which can be used to introduce the topic of sorting algorithms. The didactic game can be used later too, as a demonstrative tool for explaining the more efficient, quicksort algorithm. We conducted a pedagogical experiment, in which we examined the process of development of sorting algorithms by students while they used the mentioned didactic game. The results showed that students were able to create an algorithm to solve the sorting problem, and they improved its effectiveness by reducing the number of comparisons in the algorithm. They were also able to understand the importance of the efficiency of algorithms when we demonstrated them the quicksort algorithm using the same tool after the experiment. -
"Upperview" algorithm design in teaching computer science in high schools
221-240Views:39In this paper we are going to present a teaching/learning method and suggest a syllabus that help the high school students look at the algorithm design strategies from a so called "upperview": greedy, backtracking, divide and conquer, dynamic programming. The goal of the suggested syllabus is, beyond the presentation of the techniques, to offer the students a view that reveals them the basic and even the slight principal differences and similarities between the strategies. In consensus with the Comenius principle this is essential, if we want to master this field of programming ("To teach means scarcely anything more than to show how things differ from one another in their different purposes, forms, and origins. ... Therefore, he who differentiates well teaches well."). -
Decision based examination of object-oriented programming and Design Patterns
83-109Views:28On the basis of our examination experience of Design Patterns the existing interpretations and descriptions of Design Patterns do not realise a clear and understandable answer for their aims. The reason for this is that the existing interpretation of the object-oriented paradigms is used for their description and formulation. In order that clear answers could be found for the aims of using Design Patterns, a new conception of their interpretation has to be established. In order to create a new conception, we have to analyze object-oriented paradigms.
According to our new conception the object-oriented methodology is based on the elimination of decision repetition, thus sorting the decisions to class hierarchy, with the help of which the data structure and methodology of decision options can be determined by the subclasses of the given class. Sorting the decisions and decision options to a class and its subclasses only the first decision case will be executed, which will be archived and enclosed by instantiation of one of the subclasses. For the following decision cases the archived decision result can be used without knowledge of which decision option was used, so to say which subclass was instantiated, because it is enclosed by using the type of the parent class.
The aim of the object-oriented technology is the elimination of decision repetition, which can be realized by sorting the decisions. The derivations are the abstract definitions of decisions, so the derivations can be interpreted as decision abstractions. The Design Patterns offer recipes for sorting the decisions. With the help of the decision concept the aim of Design Patterns can be cleared and a more natural classification of Design Patterns can be realized. -
Teaching integral transforms in secondary schools
241-260Views:33Today, Hungarian students in the secondary schools do not know the idea of complex numbers, and they can not integrate except those ones who learn mathematics in advance level. Without this knowledge we can teach Fourier transform for students. Why should we teach Fourier transform (FT) or Wavelet transform (WT) for them? To teach image file formats like JPEG, (JPEG2000) we need to talk about integral transforms. For students who are good in computer programming, writing the program of 1D FT or 2D FT is a nice task. In this article we demonstrate how we can teach Fourier and Wavelet transform for students in secondary school. -
Modelling and simulation in education and the NetLogo simulation environment
229-240Views:33Just like real experimentation, computer simulation is a method for understanding the world. In the present paper I will demonstrate its possible didactic advantages and application potentials. The displayed simulations, which will be analyzed in a separate section, were all made in the NetLogo environment, one of them by the author himself. -
Game theory for managers and mechanical manager students
73-91Views:25In this article we describe the second part of a case study, in which 48 Mechanical Management students were involved. The participants of the case study were MSc level students at Szent István University, Gödöllő.
In the case study we looked for methods by which we can support the most important components of competence motivation and the development of mathematical and other key competences during the mathematics lessons and individual learning.
Another goal of our research was to get reliable information about students learning methods and their awareness of self-efficiency, furthermore their achievement in the subject of Engineering and Economic Mathematics.
Detailed assistance was provided for the students in the e-learning portal. Knowledge tests, questionnaire and personal interviews with the students were also used.
During the semester four topics have been discussed: linear programming, graph theory, game theory and differential equations. In this article I will describe the lesson preparations, the help for examinations and the students' achievement on game theory. -
Difference lists in Prolog
73-87Views:26Prolog is taught at Bradford University within the two-semester module Symbolic and Declarative Computing/Artificial Intelligence. Second year undergraduate students are taught here the basics of the functional and the logic programming paradigms, the latter by using the Linux implementation of SWI Prolog [6]. The topic 'Difference lists' is mentioned in traditional textbooks such as [2] and [5] but it was felt that the available texts do not quite serve our purposes. We present here a lecture handout and a laboratory sheet for the teaching sessions on Difference lists. It is believed that the lectures and lab sessions together with the handouts shown here are a gentle, self-contained and reasoned introduction into the topic. The figures here shown to illustrate the concepts are considered a special feature of the handouts which in this form do not seem to be well known. -
Simple Variations on The Tower of Hanoi: A Study of Recurrences and Proofs by Induction
131-158Views:127The Tower of Hanoi problem was formulated in 1883 by mathematician Edouard Lucas. For over a century, this problem has become familiar to many of us in disciplines such as computer programming, algorithms, and discrete mathematics. Several variations to Lucas' original problem exist today, and interestingly some remain unsolved and continue to ignite research questions. Nevertheless, simple variations can still lead to interesting recurrences, which in turn are associated with exemplary proofs by induction. We explore this richness of the Tower of Hanoi beyond its classical setting to compliment the study of recurrences and proofs by induction, and clarify their pitfalls. Both topics are essential components of any typical introduction to algorithms or discrete mathematics.
Subject Classification: A20, C30, D40, D50, E50, M10, N70, P20, Q30, R20
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Shall we use one more representation? Suggestions about establishing the notion of recursion in teaching informatics in primary schools
209-229Views:27Among the most prominent developmental tasks of primary school education one finds increasing pupils' cognitive capacity with especial regard to observing, interpreting, coding and proving skills, which form an integral part of information and communication culture.
Info-technology (problem solving with the tools and methods of informatics), a subject matter within informatics, provides outstanding opportunities to reach the aims outlined above.
This study presents methodological ideas related to the subfield Algorithmization and data modelling of Info-technology. More specifically, it presents teaching methods to be applied while establishing the notion of recursion in grades 3–8 of primary education, and at the same time it also focuses on various realization possibilities of the prominent developmental tasks mentioned above. -
Aspects théoriques de la classification à base de treillis
125-135Views:28La classification est une notion cruciale dans les systémes orientés objets et se fait de plus en plus présente en représentation de connaissances. Elle permet principalement de trouver des regularités dans un grand tableau de nombres. Dans ce sens général, il s'agit donc d'une méthode qui joue un role important dans différents domaines scientifiques oú les connaissances sont á organiser selon certaines hiérarchies (biologie, chimie, etc.). En informatique nous parlons aussi de langages de classes sans mentionner es aspects mathématiques de la classification. Dans cet article l'auteur a pour but de proposer une introduction á la classification á travers la notion de treillis. Nous sommes persuadés que l'étude de la classification permet aux étudiants de familiariser leurs connaissances sur la modélisation et la programmation orientée objet.
The classification is a crucial notion in the object oriented systems and more and more appears in the knowledge representation. It allows us to find the regularities in a huge table of numbers. In this general sense the classification plays an important role in various domains of science, where knowledge has to be organized into hierarchy (biology, chemistry, etc.) In the computer science the languages of classes are often studied without mathematical aspects of the classification. In this paper the author has the goal to propose an introduction to the classification through the notion of lattices.We are convinced that the study of classification allows students to enlarge their knowledge on the object oriented modelling and programming. -
Engineering and Economic Mathematics for Engineering Management Students
35-50Views:34In this article we describe the first part of a case study, which was made with 48 Engineering Management students. The participants of the case study were MSc level students at the Szent István University, Gödöllő. We looked for methods by which we can support the most important components of competence motivation and the development of mathematical and other key competences during the mathematics lessons and individual learning. Another goal of our research was to get reliable information about students learning methods and their awareness of self-efficacy, furthermore their achievement in the subject of Engineering and Economic Mathematics. Detailed assistance was provided for the students in the e-learning portal. Knowledge tests, questionnaire and personal interviews with the students were also used. As an example we introduce one of the knowledge tests connected with the first half of the course about linear programming and graph theory. We detail its didactical background and show the results of the students. -
New style in teaching word processing
417-426Views:31Teaching word processing is confined to looking through some menus and showing some functions of a word processor program, although technology presents just a small part of forming layouts. This fact causes that people who are writing documents spend a lot of time by trying to form, e.g., title pages or inner pages.
The present paper deals with a design of an online course on word processing that fits better the needs of many users. The online course is designed for teaching (LA)TEX by leading the students to the technical issues of the typesetting system through layout and grammar rules: demonstrates the most important basic recommendations of typography and grammar rules through samples, and shows how to program the currently displayed layout in the (LA)TEX programming languages. This methodology suits better the common working habit, and can be a useful help in word processing documents. -
Facilitating class attendance to improve student achievements
77-90Views:29Many studies have revealed that attendance is strongly associated with students' achievements, and have proposed different strategies to improve students' attendance. However, there are few studies investigating how to efficiently take students' attendance – the key component to improve students' attendance. Taking attendance manually is inefficient since it will consume part of the limited class time. This paper describes the design and the implementation of an online attendance system that is currently used in classes at West Virginia University and California University of Pennsylvania. Examples of the system are provided online. Implementation codes of the system are shared, which can be used to teach computer science courses such as Web Programming or Client-Server Script Languages. -
Young women's barriers to choose IT and methods to overcome them - A case study from Hungary
77-101Views:175Women's scarcity in the STEM, especially in the IT sector is pronouncedly evident. Young women are obstructed from entering and remaining in IT by a broad range of social, educational, and labor market factors. In our paper, we would like to analyze the main barriers girls face in choosing IT, while also proposing potential methods to help them overcome these obstacles. In the second part of the paper, we will present a case study to illustrate in detail how the combination of the above methods can be put into practice to address and tackle the complex set of barriers girls face. We will first introduce a Hungarian annual program, Girls' Day ("Lányok napja"), specifically aimed to promote STEM to girls, then we will present two specific events organized for the 2020 edition of the program and designed with the above principles in mind. The interactive presentation, exposing girls to female role models of the field in a gamified way, and a game development exercise, building Scratch programming skills, have attempted to provide young women both with positive perspectives and experiences in IT, which are instrumental in helping them to surmount entrenched obstacles and raise their interest in the field.
Subject Classification: 97P10, 97U30