michal armoni | Weizmann Institute of Science (original) (raw)
Papers by michal armoni
Proceedings of the 27th ACM Conference on on Innovation and Technology in Computer Science Education Vol. 2
Proceedings of the 11th Workshop in Primary and Secondary Computing Education, 2016
Abstraction is one of the most fundamental ideas in computer science (CS), and as such it is high... more Abstraction is one of the most fundamental ideas in computer science (CS), and as such it is highly important to start teaching it as early as possible. However, teaching this soft concept to novices is a very complicated task, as has been emphasized by many CS and mathematics education experts. In this paper, we describe the first year of a study that aims to improve students' abstraction skills in algorithmic problem solving. We implement a new teaching method introduced in [2] that was designed to improve CS abstraction skills and to teach them more explicitly. We studied the effects of this teaching method in the context of an introductory CS course for 7th graders. In this course, Scratch is used as the programming language in which the solutions are implemented. We describe part of the first year's results.
Journal of Computers in Mathematics and Science Teaching, Jul 1, 2013
Proceedings of the Workshop in Primary and Secondary Computing Education, 2015
This work investigates students' attitudes towards and motivation for learning robotics and S... more This work investigates students' attitudes towards and motivation for learning robotics and STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics). The population consisted of middle-school students (ages 13-15 years) who participated in the FIRST® LEGO® League competition. The methodology used both qualitative and quantitative instruments: questionnaires, observations and interviews during the school year 2012--2013. Research continued with one group during 2013--2014. Four categories were investigated: intrinsic and extrinsic motivation, self-determination and self-efficacy, as well as other environmental factors (gender, peers, parents and teachers). The results showed no significant difference between the beginning and end of the activities on all the categories. We consider this as a positive indicator, since most of the students demonstrated high and positive attitudes toward and motivation for learning robotics at the beginning of the activities and maintained the results after the activities. The environmental factors played an important role in positively influencing students' attitudes and motivation. In particular, females showed more positive attitudes and motivation at the end of the activities.
Proceedings of the 2014 conference on Innovation & technology in computer science education - ITiCSE '14, 2014
ABSTRACT Computational science is a growing scientific field that involves the design of computat... more ABSTRACT Computational science is a growing scientific field that involves the design of computational models of scientific phenomena. This field combines science, computer-science (CS), and applied mathematics in order to solve complex scientific problems. In the past few years computational science is being taught in secondary schools, leading researchers to wonder about the effect of combining disciplines on students' learning. The current research is conducted in the context of a high school computational science course and investigates: the physics conceptual learning that the students achieve; the learning processes the students undergo and the effect of CS on those; the problem-solving abilities they acquire and the effect of CS on those. Findings indicate that students' conceptual understanding of physics and their problem solving abilities were enhanced and significantly influenced by CS, which served as a reflective tool representing the students' physics knowledge.
Computers & Education, 2015
ACM Inroads, 2014
INCREASINGLY, MORE COUNTRIES have come to recognize the importance of pre-college computing educa... more INCREASINGLY, MORE COUNTRIES have come to recognize the importance of pre-college computing education, and K–12 computing curricula are currently being developed throughout the world. It is really encouraging, even heartwarming , to read reports from the best computer science (CS) educators from various countries , who are involved in K–12 computing curricular development. International conferences (e.g., the Workshop in Primary and Secondary Computing Education, WiPSCE, and Informatics in Schools: Situation , Evolution and Perspective, ISSEP) focus on K–12 computing education, and offer opportunities for CS educators to engage in lively discussions on various issues concerning K–12 computing education. As part of these ongoing discussions taking place through various media, I heard several arguments about the knowledge components of K–12 CS curricula. For example, some argue that K–12 CS cur-ricula should not contain specific components of undergraduate CS curricula, since otherwise, the students who have studied CS in high school will be bored when they take undergraduate introductory courses. Or, in an example having a more concrete nature, others argue that a K–12 CS curriculum should only deal with very basic data structures, such as built-in types and one-dimensional arrays. Two-dimensional arrays, and certainly lists or stacks are beyond the understanding of high-school students. And, another argument offered is that there is no need to teach more than one programming paradigm in high school, a second paradigm is too much. These three statements, given here as examples, are of different natures and stem from different justifications. The second and the third statements indicate a belief in the limited capabilities of high-school students—students can only handle so much, and we should not overload them with too many concepts or concepts that are too difficult. The first statement calls for variability—avoiding repetition or overlap when moving from a K–12 CS curriculum to an undergraduate CS curriculum. The first argument is concerned about the potential negative effects of K–12 CS education on undergraduate CS education. The other two arguments are concerned about the potential negative effects of CS undergraduate education on K–12 CS education, specifically, the effects of transferring knowledge units from the undergraduate curriculum. However, these three (and similar) arguments can be addressed by adopting the ideas of the world-renowned psychologist Jerome Bruner, whose educational theories had, and still have, enormous effect on educational practice, specifically on cur-ricular development. Bruner thought that nothing is too complex for a child, as long it is …
ACM SIGCSE Bulletin, 2008
The research described in this paper continues a previous, qualitative (mostly interview-based) s... more The research described in this paper continues a previous, qualitative (mostly interview-based) study that examined the ways undergraduate computer science students perceive, experience, and use reduction as a problem-solving strategy. The current study examines the same issue, but in the context of a larger population, using quantitative analysis methods, and focusing on algorithmic problems.
ACM Inroads, 2014
who may not be familiar with theoretical frameworks we use. Thus, it is important to distill the ... more who may not be familiar with theoretical frameworks we use. Thus, it is important to distill the practical implications of our findings for CS teachers. Pais et al. [4] argues interestingly that there are two types of theories. Howtheories concentrate on methods to solve given practical problems. For computer scientists such theories provide practical guidance. Actually, much research in CER can be associated with this: we develop a new teaching method or learning tool and present how it can be used to improve students’ learning. While we may be able to show positive results supporting our claims in empirical studies, often we are not able to reason deeply what actually happened and why. Pais et al. call theories reaching this level Why-theories. They seek to explain student behavior – why something works or does not work. Such information would obviously be valuable in designing how to improve our teaching, but it is also considerably more difficult to acquire. CER as a field is not yet well-versed in using theories from social sciences and there is a lot to learn for us as a research community. This effort is, however, worthwhile, as we can gain many valuable tools to better tackle our goals in improving computing education. Ir
ACM Inroads, 2011
ABSTRACT People have falsely regarded the computing working environment as dedicated to the confi... more ABSTRACT People have falsely regarded the computing working environment as dedicated to the confines of a building with availability of electricity, high-speed info-structure, and the latest computer technology. In reality, there are many computing have-nots ...
ACM Transactions on Computing Education, 2011
Teaching computer science (CS) in high schools, rather than just programming or even computer lit... more Teaching computer science (CS) in high schools, rather than just programming or even computer literacy, is important as a means of introducing students to the true nature of CS, and enhancing their problem-solving skills. Since teachers are the key to the success of any high school educational initiative, any discussion of high school programs must consider the teachers, and specifically the teacher preparation needed to make the implementation of such programs possible. However, there is scant research on CS teacher education, probably because CS is a relatively young discipline. Very few of the publications in the area of CS teacher preparation are research-based. Most are descriptive papers, including recommendations for specific programs or courses. The purpose of this survey is to import from what is already known in other disciplines in this context. We therefore examine the body of research on teacher education in other disciplines, especially in mathematics and science, to s...
ACM Inroads, 2015
of fundamental ideas, which was often mentioned in this column. That is, they looked for fundamen... more of fundamental ideas, which was often mentioned in this column. That is, they looked for fundamental CS ideas—that by their fundamental nature, are relevant in many contexts across the CS secondary curriculum—which are relevant to data management as well. Through this prism, an updated data management course does not only play the role of covering upto-date topics of data management, but also offers an opportunity to demonstrate such big, fundamental ideas in the specific context of current data management. This IN THIS COLUMN I would like to share with you my impressions from a very interesting conference—the 9th Workshop in Primary and Secondary Computing Education (WiPSCE)—which took place at the Freie University in Berlin last November. As its name indicates, WiPSCE focuses only on K–12 CS education. It is a European conference, originally a German one, which became international in 2012, and appears to be a great meeting and discussion venue for those with deep interest in K–12 CS education. Like other conferences of similar size (such as ICER or Koli Calling), it enjoys the benefits of a small conference with no parallel sessions, enabling lively and contributing discussions. What I liked most was the current nature of K–12 computing education research, as depicted by the papers and posters presented at this conference (all available through the ACM digital library). Most (though not all) of the attendees and presenters were from different European countries, some of which have long experience with teaching CS in schools, and also long experience with K–12 CSE research. I saw high-level views of computing education, or better said—forest views, as opposed to tree views. For example, Andreas Grillenberger and Ralf Romeike [2] investigated teaching data management in secondary schools. Their rationale was that this area has deview echoes Bruner’s recommendation regarding fundamental ideas—revisiting them throughout the curriculum, in every context that lends itself to their use, demonstrating the two sides of the coin— their generality, the characteristics that are common to all of their appearances; and their expression in the specific context at hand. The same holistic curricular view was taken in the interesting poster by Michael Rücker and Niels Pinkwart [5], who described how Petri nets can be used as an expressive tool throughout the CS secondary school curriculum. Alexander Ruf, Andreas Mühling, and Peter Hubwieser [6] have also taken a high-level approach when comparing the environments of Scratch and Karel the Robot, in terms of their effect on learning outcomes and motivation. They did not consider the two environments as being interesting by themselves, but rather, as representing two types of environments intended for young novices. This view alleviates their study from a concrete study that applies to the two specific environments of Scratch and Karel the Robot, to a
ACM Transactions on Computing Education, Apr 27, 2015
Aiming to collect various concepts, approaches, and strategies for improving computer science edu... more Aiming to collect various concepts, approaches, and strategies for improving computer science education in K-12 schools, we edited this second special issue of the ACM TOCE journal. Our intention was to collect a set of case studies from different countries that would describe all relevant aspects of specific implementations of Computer Science Education in K-12 schools. By this, we want to deliver well-founded arguments and rich material to the critical discussion about the state and the goals of K-12 computer science education, and also provide visions for the future of this research area. In this editorial, we explain our intention and report some details about the genesis of these special issues. Following, we give a short summary of the Darmstadt Model, which was suggested to serve as a structuring principle of the case studies. The next part of the editorial presents a short description of the five extended case studies from India, Korea, NRW/Germany, Finland, and USA that are selected to be included in this second issue. In order to give some perspectives for the future, we propose a set of open research questions of the field, partly derived from the Darmstadt Model, partly stimulated by a look on large-scale investigations like PISA.
ACM Transactions on Computing Education, Jun 1, 2014
In view of the recent developments in many countries, for example in the USA or in the UK, it see... more In view of the recent developments in many countries, for example in the USA or in the UK, it seems that computer science education (CSE) in primary or secondary schools (shortly K-12) would have reached a significant turning point, shifting its focus from ICT-oriented to rigorous computer science concepts. The goal of this special issue is to offer a publication platform for soundly based in-depth experiences that have been made around the world with concepts, approaches or initiatives that aim at supporting this shift. For this purpose, the paper format was kept as large as possible, enabling the authors to explain many facets of their concepts and experiences in detail. Regarding the structure of the papers, we had encouraged the authors to lean on the Darmstadt Model, a category system that was developed to support the development, improvement, and investigation of K-12 CSE across regional or national boundaries. This model could serve as a unifying framework that might provide a proper structure for a well-founded critical discussion about the future of K-12 CSE. Curriculum designers or policy stakeholders, who have to decide, which approach an upcoming national initiative should follow, could benefit from this discussion as well as researchers who are investigating K12 CSE in any regard. With this goal in mind, we have selected six extensive and two short case-studies from the UK,
Proceedings of the 27th ACM Conference on on Innovation and Technology in Computer Science Education Vol. 2
Proceedings of the 11th Workshop in Primary and Secondary Computing Education, 2016
Abstraction is one of the most fundamental ideas in computer science (CS), and as such it is high... more Abstraction is one of the most fundamental ideas in computer science (CS), and as such it is highly important to start teaching it as early as possible. However, teaching this soft concept to novices is a very complicated task, as has been emphasized by many CS and mathematics education experts. In this paper, we describe the first year of a study that aims to improve students' abstraction skills in algorithmic problem solving. We implement a new teaching method introduced in [2] that was designed to improve CS abstraction skills and to teach them more explicitly. We studied the effects of this teaching method in the context of an introductory CS course for 7th graders. In this course, Scratch is used as the programming language in which the solutions are implemented. We describe part of the first year's results.
Journal of Computers in Mathematics and Science Teaching, Jul 1, 2013
Proceedings of the Workshop in Primary and Secondary Computing Education, 2015
This work investigates students' attitudes towards and motivation for learning robotics and S... more This work investigates students' attitudes towards and motivation for learning robotics and STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics). The population consisted of middle-school students (ages 13-15 years) who participated in the FIRST® LEGO® League competition. The methodology used both qualitative and quantitative instruments: questionnaires, observations and interviews during the school year 2012--2013. Research continued with one group during 2013--2014. Four categories were investigated: intrinsic and extrinsic motivation, self-determination and self-efficacy, as well as other environmental factors (gender, peers, parents and teachers). The results showed no significant difference between the beginning and end of the activities on all the categories. We consider this as a positive indicator, since most of the students demonstrated high and positive attitudes toward and motivation for learning robotics at the beginning of the activities and maintained the results after the activities. The environmental factors played an important role in positively influencing students' attitudes and motivation. In particular, females showed more positive attitudes and motivation at the end of the activities.
Proceedings of the 2014 conference on Innovation & technology in computer science education - ITiCSE '14, 2014
ABSTRACT Computational science is a growing scientific field that involves the design of computat... more ABSTRACT Computational science is a growing scientific field that involves the design of computational models of scientific phenomena. This field combines science, computer-science (CS), and applied mathematics in order to solve complex scientific problems. In the past few years computational science is being taught in secondary schools, leading researchers to wonder about the effect of combining disciplines on students' learning. The current research is conducted in the context of a high school computational science course and investigates: the physics conceptual learning that the students achieve; the learning processes the students undergo and the effect of CS on those; the problem-solving abilities they acquire and the effect of CS on those. Findings indicate that students' conceptual understanding of physics and their problem solving abilities were enhanced and significantly influenced by CS, which served as a reflective tool representing the students' physics knowledge.
Computers & Education, 2015
ACM Inroads, 2014
INCREASINGLY, MORE COUNTRIES have come to recognize the importance of pre-college computing educa... more INCREASINGLY, MORE COUNTRIES have come to recognize the importance of pre-college computing education, and K–12 computing curricula are currently being developed throughout the world. It is really encouraging, even heartwarming , to read reports from the best computer science (CS) educators from various countries , who are involved in K–12 computing curricular development. International conferences (e.g., the Workshop in Primary and Secondary Computing Education, WiPSCE, and Informatics in Schools: Situation , Evolution and Perspective, ISSEP) focus on K–12 computing education, and offer opportunities for CS educators to engage in lively discussions on various issues concerning K–12 computing education. As part of these ongoing discussions taking place through various media, I heard several arguments about the knowledge components of K–12 CS curricula. For example, some argue that K–12 CS cur-ricula should not contain specific components of undergraduate CS curricula, since otherwise, the students who have studied CS in high school will be bored when they take undergraduate introductory courses. Or, in an example having a more concrete nature, others argue that a K–12 CS curriculum should only deal with very basic data structures, such as built-in types and one-dimensional arrays. Two-dimensional arrays, and certainly lists or stacks are beyond the understanding of high-school students. And, another argument offered is that there is no need to teach more than one programming paradigm in high school, a second paradigm is too much. These three statements, given here as examples, are of different natures and stem from different justifications. The second and the third statements indicate a belief in the limited capabilities of high-school students—students can only handle so much, and we should not overload them with too many concepts or concepts that are too difficult. The first statement calls for variability—avoiding repetition or overlap when moving from a K–12 CS curriculum to an undergraduate CS curriculum. The first argument is concerned about the potential negative effects of K–12 CS education on undergraduate CS education. The other two arguments are concerned about the potential negative effects of CS undergraduate education on K–12 CS education, specifically, the effects of transferring knowledge units from the undergraduate curriculum. However, these three (and similar) arguments can be addressed by adopting the ideas of the world-renowned psychologist Jerome Bruner, whose educational theories had, and still have, enormous effect on educational practice, specifically on cur-ricular development. Bruner thought that nothing is too complex for a child, as long it is …
ACM SIGCSE Bulletin, 2008
The research described in this paper continues a previous, qualitative (mostly interview-based) s... more The research described in this paper continues a previous, qualitative (mostly interview-based) study that examined the ways undergraduate computer science students perceive, experience, and use reduction as a problem-solving strategy. The current study examines the same issue, but in the context of a larger population, using quantitative analysis methods, and focusing on algorithmic problems.
ACM Inroads, 2014
who may not be familiar with theoretical frameworks we use. Thus, it is important to distill the ... more who may not be familiar with theoretical frameworks we use. Thus, it is important to distill the practical implications of our findings for CS teachers. Pais et al. [4] argues interestingly that there are two types of theories. Howtheories concentrate on methods to solve given practical problems. For computer scientists such theories provide practical guidance. Actually, much research in CER can be associated with this: we develop a new teaching method or learning tool and present how it can be used to improve students’ learning. While we may be able to show positive results supporting our claims in empirical studies, often we are not able to reason deeply what actually happened and why. Pais et al. call theories reaching this level Why-theories. They seek to explain student behavior – why something works or does not work. Such information would obviously be valuable in designing how to improve our teaching, but it is also considerably more difficult to acquire. CER as a field is not yet well-versed in using theories from social sciences and there is a lot to learn for us as a research community. This effort is, however, worthwhile, as we can gain many valuable tools to better tackle our goals in improving computing education. Ir
ACM Inroads, 2011
ABSTRACT People have falsely regarded the computing working environment as dedicated to the confi... more ABSTRACT People have falsely regarded the computing working environment as dedicated to the confines of a building with availability of electricity, high-speed info-structure, and the latest computer technology. In reality, there are many computing have-nots ...
ACM Transactions on Computing Education, 2011
Teaching computer science (CS) in high schools, rather than just programming or even computer lit... more Teaching computer science (CS) in high schools, rather than just programming or even computer literacy, is important as a means of introducing students to the true nature of CS, and enhancing their problem-solving skills. Since teachers are the key to the success of any high school educational initiative, any discussion of high school programs must consider the teachers, and specifically the teacher preparation needed to make the implementation of such programs possible. However, there is scant research on CS teacher education, probably because CS is a relatively young discipline. Very few of the publications in the area of CS teacher preparation are research-based. Most are descriptive papers, including recommendations for specific programs or courses. The purpose of this survey is to import from what is already known in other disciplines in this context. We therefore examine the body of research on teacher education in other disciplines, especially in mathematics and science, to s...
ACM Inroads, 2015
of fundamental ideas, which was often mentioned in this column. That is, they looked for fundamen... more of fundamental ideas, which was often mentioned in this column. That is, they looked for fundamental CS ideas—that by their fundamental nature, are relevant in many contexts across the CS secondary curriculum—which are relevant to data management as well. Through this prism, an updated data management course does not only play the role of covering upto-date topics of data management, but also offers an opportunity to demonstrate such big, fundamental ideas in the specific context of current data management. This IN THIS COLUMN I would like to share with you my impressions from a very interesting conference—the 9th Workshop in Primary and Secondary Computing Education (WiPSCE)—which took place at the Freie University in Berlin last November. As its name indicates, WiPSCE focuses only on K–12 CS education. It is a European conference, originally a German one, which became international in 2012, and appears to be a great meeting and discussion venue for those with deep interest in K–12 CS education. Like other conferences of similar size (such as ICER or Koli Calling), it enjoys the benefits of a small conference with no parallel sessions, enabling lively and contributing discussions. What I liked most was the current nature of K–12 computing education research, as depicted by the papers and posters presented at this conference (all available through the ACM digital library). Most (though not all) of the attendees and presenters were from different European countries, some of which have long experience with teaching CS in schools, and also long experience with K–12 CSE research. I saw high-level views of computing education, or better said—forest views, as opposed to tree views. For example, Andreas Grillenberger and Ralf Romeike [2] investigated teaching data management in secondary schools. Their rationale was that this area has deview echoes Bruner’s recommendation regarding fundamental ideas—revisiting them throughout the curriculum, in every context that lends itself to their use, demonstrating the two sides of the coin— their generality, the characteristics that are common to all of their appearances; and their expression in the specific context at hand. The same holistic curricular view was taken in the interesting poster by Michael Rücker and Niels Pinkwart [5], who described how Petri nets can be used as an expressive tool throughout the CS secondary school curriculum. Alexander Ruf, Andreas Mühling, and Peter Hubwieser [6] have also taken a high-level approach when comparing the environments of Scratch and Karel the Robot, in terms of their effect on learning outcomes and motivation. They did not consider the two environments as being interesting by themselves, but rather, as representing two types of environments intended for young novices. This view alleviates their study from a concrete study that applies to the two specific environments of Scratch and Karel the Robot, to a
ACM Transactions on Computing Education, Apr 27, 2015
Aiming to collect various concepts, approaches, and strategies for improving computer science edu... more Aiming to collect various concepts, approaches, and strategies for improving computer science education in K-12 schools, we edited this second special issue of the ACM TOCE journal. Our intention was to collect a set of case studies from different countries that would describe all relevant aspects of specific implementations of Computer Science Education in K-12 schools. By this, we want to deliver well-founded arguments and rich material to the critical discussion about the state and the goals of K-12 computer science education, and also provide visions for the future of this research area. In this editorial, we explain our intention and report some details about the genesis of these special issues. Following, we give a short summary of the Darmstadt Model, which was suggested to serve as a structuring principle of the case studies. The next part of the editorial presents a short description of the five extended case studies from India, Korea, NRW/Germany, Finland, and USA that are selected to be included in this second issue. In order to give some perspectives for the future, we propose a set of open research questions of the field, partly derived from the Darmstadt Model, partly stimulated by a look on large-scale investigations like PISA.
ACM Transactions on Computing Education, Jun 1, 2014
In view of the recent developments in many countries, for example in the USA or in the UK, it see... more In view of the recent developments in many countries, for example in the USA or in the UK, it seems that computer science education (CSE) in primary or secondary schools (shortly K-12) would have reached a significant turning point, shifting its focus from ICT-oriented to rigorous computer science concepts. The goal of this special issue is to offer a publication platform for soundly based in-depth experiences that have been made around the world with concepts, approaches or initiatives that aim at supporting this shift. For this purpose, the paper format was kept as large as possible, enabling the authors to explain many facets of their concepts and experiences in detail. Regarding the structure of the papers, we had encouraged the authors to lean on the Darmstadt Model, a category system that was developed to support the development, improvement, and investigation of K-12 CSE across regional or national boundaries. This model could serve as a unifying framework that might provide a proper structure for a well-founded critical discussion about the future of K-12 CSE. Curriculum designers or policy stakeholders, who have to decide, which approach an upcoming national initiative should follow, could benefit from this discussion as well as researchers who are investigating K12 CSE in any regard. With this goal in mind, we have selected six extensive and two short case-studies from the UK,