“Basics of Programming” module as a convergence programme

Not yet all Gymnasien run an introductory programming course which conveys general program-ming concepts in such a way that a later degree course can be built upon them. In addition, many ETH Master’s degree programmes (e.g. Bioinformatics) lack a suitable, recognised additional re-quirements course in programming, especially for students with a non-technical background. Re-alisation of this project will improve the foreknowledge of students attending informatics courses during their ETH studies, independent of their school backgrounds. The project is designed as a convergence programme for the following target groups: freshmen with no foreknowledge of programming in Computer Science and Bioinformatics; students and instructors in secondary education and universities of applied sciences; and new computer science instructors. The creation of a viable distance-learning convergence course (additional requirements course) in programming is also planned for the Master’s degree level. In this project, learning modules in programming already proven in the past and deployed successfully to teach hundreds of school students at various levels in existing contexts will be supplemented and extended to address a wider target group. The learning modules will be collected in a central pool and made available to various target groups. An accompanying evaluation will investigate and document the effectiveness of the learning materials in building competences, and how far teaching and examination are aligned.

• High transfer potential: first, in a tutorial, students willpractise basic programming concepts in small, manageable contexts and prepare themselves for later independent activities in larger pro-gramming projects. In this way, more can be elicited from one programming course.
• Flexible, diverse applications: using simple, long-term technologies makes possible flexible, wide-ranging deployment in teaching for various target groups and school levels. The program-ming laboratory can be run both online and offline, as a distance learning or classroom course.
• Assessment elements are integrated into teaching, and have proven themselves to be very motivating for the learners. The result: the students keep at it for the whole course.

The learning module is not linked to one particular course. By making available learning materials to different target groups (secondary schools, universities of applied sciences and universities) lecturers and instructors in Switzerland and abroad participate as network members in building up a pool of teaching materials. This pool also serves as a basis for continuing and further educa-tion of informatics instructors.

So far only learning modules for procedural programming exist. In the future they will be extend-ed to include object-oriented programming.

Students appreciate being able acquire knowledge at their own rate in an independent, problem-based manner, and like the instant feedback provided by self-checking in tutorials and via instruc-tors. Students make progress with increasing independence.

• Lecturers/faculty assume the role of a coach.
• Experience has shown that personal contact between teacher and learner is essential from time to time (ca. evary 4-8 hours).
• Instructors can integrate their own programming projects into the independent part

• Schlussbericht_-_final_report.pdf