2014). In this section, we present review several of
these approaches: active learning, peer instruction,
and other types of student-created artifacts.
Studies on active learning have demonstrated
their ability to enhance students’ performance,
motivation, and engagement (Gehringer & Miller,
2009; Kearney & Schuck, 2004). Within Computer
Science, studies have shown that active learning
activities are effective in helping students to learn CS
concepts (e.g., Frank-Bolton & Simba, 2018; Feijóo-
García & Ortíz-Buitrago, 2018). Gehringer & Miller
(2009) studied the use of active learning activities in
introductory CS courses, i.e., CS1 and CS2. Their
findings suggest that use of student designed games,
diagrams, props, and videos, working on topics like
debugging and sorting were effective techniques for
increasing students’ attention. In general, active
learning have been found to be effective in
introductory CS courses across institutions, diverse
demographics, and countries (e.g., Feijóo-García &
Ortíz-Buitrago, 2018; Kearney & Schuck, 2004;
Murray et al., 2017). They have also been shown
effective in upper division courses on algorithms
(Frank-Bolton & Simba, 2018).
Peer-instruction (i.e., peer-review and peer-
tutoring) is a commonly used active learning
technique in the CS ED community (Feijóo-García &
Ortíz-Buitrago, 2018; Porter et al., 2016; Cottam et
al., 2011). Peer-instruction positions the student as
both an instructor and learner allowing them to learn
from and with their peers (Porter et al., 2016). Within
CS1 and CS2 courses, peer-instruction has been
found to increase students’ understanding of topics,
their communication skills, and their motivation
(Feijóo-García & Ortíz-Buitrago, 2018; Porter et al.,
2016; Cottam et al., 2011).
A core feature of peer-instruction is the
requirement for students to explain their
understanding of a topic to a peer (Feijóo-García &
Ortíz-Buitrago, 2018). This is a feature that also
exists in active learning activities that involve
student-created artifacts (e.g. student-created
instructional videos). Studies of student-created
instructional videos in K-12, CS1, and an algorithms
analysis course, report that instructors and students
positively perceived using student-created artifacts to
promote learning (Gehringer & Miller, 2009;
Kearney & Schuck, 2004). Frank-Bolton & Sihma
(2018) reported that student-created videos can
promote students’ understanding of advanced CS
concepts. Additionally, they found that videos’
creators performed better compared to students who
simply watched the videos. In this paper, we refer to
student-created instructional videos as student-
created video tutorials as this is the name we are
accustomed to calling them.
3 THEORETICAL FOUNDATION
The student-created video tutorials described in this
paper were designed to promote significant student
learning and engagement using a learner-centered
design approach built on constructivist notions of
learning and Fink’s Taxonomy on Significant
Learning (Fink, 2013).
Constructivism defines learning as a process in
which knowledge is constructed and adapted by the
learner based on the learner’s assimilation and
accommodation of new knowledge gained in from
new experiences or reinterpreted past experiences
(Bain, 2014). Both, constructivism and learner-
centered design approaches, describe the learner as a
dynamic individual, who learns through active
engagement in their learning process (Guzdial, 2016;
Bain, 2014). As Freire stated, the art of teaching
implies the need for continuous learning (Freire,
2012).
Similarly, Fink’s Taxonomy for significant
learning (Fink, 2013) is based on constructivism and
identifies six interconnected dimensions (Fink,
2013). Coding requires skills from two of these
dimensions. The first is Foundational Knowledge,
which refers to the individual’s understanding of how
a computer or system works according to its
capacities and limitations. The second is the
Application Dimension, which considers the coding
skills needed to use the computer as a medium
(Guzdial, 2016; Fink, 2013). We used these two
dimensions of Fink’s Taxonomy to help us focus
what students focused on in their video tutorials.
Considering knowledge as something not
transferable but constructed, we designed the student-
created video tutorials to provide learners with an
opportunity to consciously reflect on what they
understood about foundational Functional
Programming (FP) concepts, while verbalizing their
understanding as they explained concepts for
someone else to learn.
4 OUR APPROACH
This section describes the FP course in which student-
created video tutorials were used to foster learning of
CS concepts. It explains the video tutorial