Subgoals, context, and worked examples in learning computing problem solving

Briana B. Morrison; Lauren E. Margulieux; Mark Guzdial

doi:10.1145/2787622.2787733

Subgoals, context, and worked examples in learning computing problem solving

Briana B. Morrison, Lauren E. Margulieux, Mark Guzdial

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Conference contribution

124 Scopus citations

Abstract

Recent empirical results suggest that the instructional material used to teach computing may actually overload students' cognitive abilities. Better designed materials may enhance learning by reducing unnecessary load. Subgoal labels have been shown to be effective at reducing the cognitive load during problem solving in both mathematics and science. Until now, subgoal labels have been given to students to learn passively. We report on a study to determine if giving learners subgoal labels is more or less effective than asking learners to generate subgoal labels within an introductory CS programming task. The answers are mixed and depend on other features of the instructional materials. We found that student performance gains did not replicate as expected in the introductory CS task for those who were given subgoal labels. Computer science may require different kinds of problem-solving or may generate different cognitive demands than mathematics or science.

Original language	English (US)
Title of host publication	ICER 2015 - Proceedings of the 2015 ACM Conference on International Computing Education Research
Publisher	Association for Computing Machinery, Inc
Pages	21-30
Number of pages	10
ISBN (Electronic)	9781450336284
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1145/2787622.2787733
State	Published - Jul 9 2015
Externally published	Yes
Event	11th Annual ACM Conference on International Computing Education Research, ICER 2015 - Omaha, United States Duration: Aug 9 2015 → Aug 13 2015

Publication series

Name	ICER 2015 - Proceedings of the 2015 ACM Conference on International Computing Education Research

Other

Other	11th Annual ACM Conference on International Computing Education Research, ICER 2015
Country/Territory	United States
City	Omaha
Period	8/9/15 → 8/13/15

Keywords

Cognitive load
Contextual transfer
Subgoal labels

ASJC Scopus subject areas

General Computer Science
Education

Access to Document

10.1145/2787622.2787733

Cite this

Morrison, B. B., Margulieux, L. E., & Guzdial, M. (2015). Subgoals, context, and worked examples in learning computing problem solving. In ICER 2015 - Proceedings of the 2015 ACM Conference on International Computing Education Research (pp. 21-30). (ICER 2015 - Proceedings of the 2015 ACM Conference on International Computing Education Research). Association for Computing Machinery, Inc. https://doi.org/10.1145/2787622.2787733

Subgoals, context, and worked examples in learning computing problem solving. / Morrison, Briana B.; Margulieux, Lauren E.; Guzdial, Mark.
ICER 2015 - Proceedings of the 2015 ACM Conference on International Computing Education Research. Association for Computing Machinery, Inc, 2015. p. 21-30 (ICER 2015 - Proceedings of the 2015 ACM Conference on International Computing Education Research).

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Conference contribution

Morrison, BB, Margulieux, LE & Guzdial, M 2015, Subgoals, context, and worked examples in learning computing problem solving. in ICER 2015 - Proceedings of the 2015 ACM Conference on International Computing Education Research. ICER 2015 - Proceedings of the 2015 ACM Conference on International Computing Education Research, Association for Computing Machinery, Inc, pp. 21-30, 11th Annual ACM Conference on International Computing Education Research, ICER 2015, Omaha, United States, 8/9/15. https://doi.org/10.1145/2787622.2787733

Morrison BB, Margulieux LE, Guzdial M. Subgoals, context, and worked examples in learning computing problem solving. In ICER 2015 - Proceedings of the 2015 ACM Conference on International Computing Education Research. Association for Computing Machinery, Inc. 2015. p. 21-30. (ICER 2015 - Proceedings of the 2015 ACM Conference on International Computing Education Research). doi: 10.1145/2787622.2787733

Morrison, Briana B. ; Margulieux, Lauren E. ; Guzdial, Mark. / Subgoals, context, and worked examples in learning computing problem solving. ICER 2015 - Proceedings of the 2015 ACM Conference on International Computing Education Research. Association for Computing Machinery, Inc, 2015. pp. 21-30 (ICER 2015 - Proceedings of the 2015 ACM Conference on International Computing Education Research).

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abstract = "Recent empirical results suggest that the instructional material used to teach computing may actually overload students' cognitive abilities. Better designed materials may enhance learning by reducing unnecessary load. Subgoal labels have been shown to be effective at reducing the cognitive load during problem solving in both mathematics and science. Until now, subgoal labels have been given to students to learn passively. We report on a study to determine if giving learners subgoal labels is more or less effective than asking learners to generate subgoal labels within an introductory CS programming task. The answers are mixed and depend on other features of the instructional materials. We found that student performance gains did not replicate as expected in the introductory CS task for those who were given subgoal labels. Computer science may require different kinds of problem-solving or may generate different cognitive demands than mathematics or science.",

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author = "Morrison, {Briana B.} and Margulieux, {Lauren E.} and Mark Guzdial",

note = "Funding Information: We would like to thank the students who participated in the study and their instructors who graciously gave us the time. We also thank the anonymous reviewers who supplied comments which improved this paper. This work is funded in part by the National Science Foundation under grant 1138378. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the NSF.; 11th Annual ACM Conference on International Computing Education Research, ICER 2015 ; Conference date: 09-08-2015 Through 13-08-2015",

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Subgoals, context, and worked examples in learning computing problem solving

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Keywords

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Access to Document

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