Whereas hackathons are widespread within and outside academia and have been argued to be a valid pedagogical method for teaching interdisciplinarity, no detailed frameworks or methods are available for conceptualizing and organizing educational hackathons, i.e., hackathons dedicated to best achieving pedagogic objectives. This paper is dedicated…

Learning computer programming for students of the age of 14-18 is difficult and requires endurance and engagement. Being familiar with the syntax of a computer language and writing programs in it are challenges for youngsters, not to mention that understanding algorithms is also a big challenge. To help students in the learning process, teachers…

Computational chemistry instructional activities are often based around students running chemical simulations via a graphical user interface (GUI). GUI-based activities offer many advantages, as they enable students to run chemical simulations with a few mouse clicks. Although these activities are excellent for introducing students to the…

Baking a cake and programming have many attributes in common. Both baking and programming rely on a specific process to produce an expected outcome. A cake needs the right amount of each ingredient mixed in at the right time, the oven to be set at a specific temperature, and the cake to be baked for a specific length of time. Programs need to be…

To provide personalized help to students who are working on code-writing problems, we introduce a data-driven tutoring system, ITAP (Intelligent Teaching Assistant for Programming). ITAP uses state abstraction, path construction, and state reification to automatically generate personalized hints for students, even when given states that have not…

The BBC Micro:bit is a great device to encourage students to get involved in Computer Science and to create their own digital projects. However, the design of the single-board computer (including the built-in sensors) makes it possible to use it in Physics lessons or in Physics related activities, too. Those students who are keen to take up…

This article covers the basic principles of responsive web design for those interested in creating their own responsive sites from scratch, as well as noting a few frameworks that can be used to speed up development time. The author favors the Foundation CSS framework for responsive development because of its syntax, diverse selection of…

Despite the educational benefits, computer programming has not been adopted in the current K-12 education as much as it could have been. One of the reasons for the low adoption of computer programming in K-12 education is the time it takes for (especially young) students to learn computer programming using a text-based programming language, which…

Gary S. Stager is the coauthor of "Invent To Learn--Making, Tinkering, and Engineering in the Classroom," founder of "Constructing Modern Knowledge," special assistant to the head of school for innovation at the Willows Community School (California), and a teacher educator. In this article he begins by describing and debunking…

This paper presents a Simulation-based interactive Virtual ClassRoom web system (SVCR: www.vclasie.com) powered by the state-of-the-art cloud computing technology from Google SVCR integrates popular free open-source math, science and engineering simulations and provides functions such as secure user access control and management of courses,…

Computer networks courses are hard to teach as there are many details in the protocols and techniques involved that are difficult to grasp. Employing programming assignments as part of the course helps students to obtain a better understanding and gain further insight into the theoretical lectures. In this paper, the Partov simulation engine and…

Important as training the sales force is, mobile training apps are being used for much more. Visual Eyes Inc., for example, has developed training apps for the U.S. military's combat medical teams that detail specific medical procedures, such as controlling hemorrhaging. Other apps, developed for corporations and government agencies, pass along…

As embedded systems are becoming prevalent in everyday life, many universities are incorporating embedded systems-related courses in their undergraduate curricula. However, it is not easy to motivate students in such courses since they conceive of embedded systems as bizarre computing elements, different from the personal computers with which they…

This paper presents a new laboratory-based module for embedded systems teaching, which addresses the current lack of consideration for the link between hardware development, software implementation, course content and student evaluation in a laboratory environment. The course introduces second year undergraduate students to the interface between…

The activities described in this article give students excellent experience with both computer programming and basic electronics. During the activities, students will work in small groups, using a BASIC Stamp development board to fabricate digital circuits and PBASIC to write program code that will control the circuits they have built. The…