Knowledge components (KCs) have many applications. In computing education, knowing the demonstration of specific KCs has been challenging. This paper introduces an entirely data-driven approach for: (1) discovering KCs; and (2) demonstrating KCs, using students' actual code submissions. Our system is based on two expected properties of KCs: (1)…

Teaching an introductory programming course to an average of 40 students while monitoring their performance can be a challenge for instructors. Preparing coding exercises with test cases and checking students' programs can prove to be time consuming at times. Moreover, programming has been known to be quite difficult for students to learn. To…

An aspect of an undergraduate psychology course on adult development was the preparation of case records on adults who consented to be studied. Participants (1) developed their abilities to observe and accurately record adult behavior across a variety of ages and contexts; (2) withheld judgments about behavior when evidence was lacking; (3)…

The purpose of this study was to identify the effect of scripted roles on students' level of cognitive presence in asynchronous online threaded discussions. A quantitative content analysis was used to investigate: (1) what level of cognitive presence is achieved by students' assigned roles in asynchronous online discussions; (2) differences…

The role of the body, particularly gesture, in supporting mathematical reasoning is an emerging area of research in mathematics education. In the present study, we examine undergraduate students providing a justification for a task about a system of alternating gears, which involves concepts of number relating to even/odd patterns. Some…

We report on an empirical study grounded in our sustained implementation over ten years of a sequence of three-term undergraduate core mathematics courses centred on microworlds. The survey study investigates students' views on 15 competencies potentially developed as they, individually or in pairs, create 12 Exploratory Objects, i.e.,…

We report on our development of an educational social machine based on the concept that feedback in communities is an effective means to support the development of communities of learning and practice. Key challenges faced by this work are how best to support educational and social interactions, how to deliver personalised tuition, and how to…

Innovative thinking skills are among the top characteristics that employers look for when hiring engineers. Universities are therefore charged with investigating and providing the type of learning environments that will foster the development of innovative thinking especially in large classes. This involves considering multiple factors such as the…

Over the past few years, the virtual landscape of South African higher education institutions has changed as a result of ubiquitous and ever-present technological initiatives that can potentially provide students with a flexible learning space. Within these learning spaces, Web 2.0 tools have transformed educators' pedagogical approaches to…

Results from a study involving 34 undergraduates supported the prediction from Paivo's dual coding theory (1986) that imaginal elaborations during lectures assist students' recall of both episodic and declarative information. The prediction that episodic memories would mediate retention of declarative information from the lecture was not…