A Study on Practical Project and Modular Programming Teaching — An Example for the Practical Skill Program

• Main Authors: Wen-Yao Kang, 康文耀
• Other Authors: Wen-Hui Chen
• Format: Others
• Language: zh-TW
• Published: 2012
• Online Access: http://ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/handle/d933wp

碩士 === 國立臺北科技大學 === 自動化科技研究所 === 100 === Programming is one of the required subjects for information related programs in senior vocational high school, and an important foundation for advanced education and employment. Its main objectives include training students’ programming abilities, cultivating their interest in computer learning, and helping them in applying what they learned to actual problem solving. However, most of the students taking the practical skill programs of senior vocational high school are low-achieving ones that the ordinary designed teaching methods and activities can hardly achieve the expected goals. Therefore, we did not adopt the traditional teaching method which follows textbooks’ units, but tried to teach programming through a complete practical project. Also, we modularized each function of the projects, and introduced common instructions and syntax in each function. A new function was taught only when students were familiar with previous one. Because all functions are related, students can learn them repeatedly, and thus can absorb and utilize what they learned. This study is based on the program of Practical Project in the subject of Micro-computer Maintenance. There are 48 students took part in this experiment. These students were divided into two groups. Each group has 24 persons. Students’ learning effectiveness and problem solving capabilities were evaluated through “learning assessment.” The result shows that students in the experimental group clearly had better problem solving ability than those in the control group. However, for low-achievement students, whether their learning interest is aroused is equally important as teaching method. Therefore, the topic choosing of the practical project also plays a major role. Choosing a topic associated with current events should be a primary concern of the course designer.