Authors:
Corinna Kröhn
and
Barbara Sabitzer
Affiliation:
School Of Education, Johannes Kepler University Linz, Altenbergerstraße 69, Linz, Austria
Keyword(s):
STEM, Programming, Peer-learning, Talents Exchange, COOL, Neurodidactics.
Abstract:
“Programming is difficult” society tells us. However, this is only partly due to the subject itself. Very often, the tasks in software development are related to mathematical problems, which themselves are considered as difficult because they have no relation to the student’s world of experience. Programming exams contribute to high drop-out rates and often students choose a different subject or even stop their university education. A possible gap could be closed by supporting beginners with the help of the COOL (cooperative open learning) concept that has already found its way into one course in the Business Informatics bachelor program at our university. In addition to this mandatory class, a peer-teaching course has been establishes. Students meet on a weekly basis to work together on the problems of software development based on the COOL concept. Two PhD candidates supervise the students, although they only act as tutors and do not provide any solutions. The approach described ab
ove is now being carried out for the third semester in a row and the drop-out rate has been reduced. Of course, further observation must be done to be able to draw concrete conclusions.
(More)