Comparison of introductory programming tools

Posted on December 18, 2009 by matthewbower

In the latest edition of the ISTE Journal for Computing Teachers there is a useful paper that reviews a range of tools that can be used to learn and teach introductory programming. It reviews Alice, Jeroo,  Scratch, Raptor, Jhave, Game Maker, and Baltie. Worth checking out:

Using Introductory Programming Tools to Teach Programming Concepts: A Literature Review

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Jarrod Johnson: Google wave

Posted on December 4, 2009 by matthewbower

An excellent introduction to Google Wave:

  • Emails/threads are called waves
  • Can drag and drop images into a wave, embed videos
  • Other people can type in the wave at the same time, synchronously (synchronous wiki)

Note: It is possible to setup Google alerts to give you everything about a topic over the last day.

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DePhillipa Levy: design and co-design for inquiry-based learning

Posted on December 3, 2009 by matthewbower

(Keynote speaker at the LAMS 2009 conference)

  • Emphasis on research as part of the tertiary learning experience
  • Gaps in the role of technology as a means of integrating research, teaching and learning.
  • Desirable outcomes of tertiary ed include “critical being” (Barnett) “epistemic fluency” (Goodyear) – “different ways of thinking about creating new knowledge” Goodyear and Ellis (2007, Teaching as design)
  • Self-authorship – intrapersonal, interpersonal, and epistemological (google for these terms to find research paper)
  • Providing students with the opportunity to frame and pursue their own inquiry.
  • LAMS as a tool for supporting student inquiry, allowing students to design and manage their own inquiry processes
  • Four modes of inquiry (imagine graph):AB Producing       BB Authoring
    AA Identifying      BA Pursuing

Excellent paper – should get slides!

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Citation Indices

Posted on December 3, 2009 by matthewbower

Major databases to look for citations include:

  • Web of Science (Thomson Reuters)
  • SCOPUS
  • Google Scholar

The ResearchID website is also a good way to collect author citations. SCImago journal & country rank is another database that can be reviewed.

The Web of Science database not only allows a researcher to search for their own publications and how many times each has been cited but also provides a range of journal measures. For instance, consider the following journal data collected below:

Abbreviated Journal Title ISSN 2008
Total Cites		 Impact
Factor		 5-Year
Impact
Factor 		Immediacy
Index		 2008
Articles		 Cited
Half-life		 EigenfactorTM
Score		 Article InfluenceTM
Score
J LEARN SCI 1050-8406 732 2.433 4.060 0.133 15 8.6 0.00292 1.969
COMPUT EDUC 0360-1315 1479 2.190 2.712 0.326 230 4.8 0.00317 0.449
J TEACH EDUC 0022-4871 719 1.222 1.293 0.222 27 8.7 0.00250 0.688
BRIT J EDUC TECHNOL 0007-1013 658 1.041 1.258 0.153 72 4.6 0.00231 0.306
INSTR SCI 0020-4277 541 0.917 1.816 0.160 25 9.2 0.00146 0.674
INTERACT LEARN ENVIR 1049-4820 124 0.914 0.853 0.053 19 6.6 0.00031 0.208
EDUC TECHNOL SOC 1436-4522 455 0.904 0.982 0.167 84 3.8 0.00098 0.129
TEACH TEACH EDUC 0742-051X 1407 0.769 1.367 0.135 163 7.7 0.00273 0.353
ETR&D-EDUC TECH RES 1042-1629 584 0.695 1.144 0.188 32 8.4 0.00108 0.335
AUST EDUC RES 0311-6999 85 0.350 0.510 0.071 14 0.00041 0.195
AUST J EDUC 0004-9441 126 0.150 0.056 18 8.9 0.00040

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