Motivational Active Learning - Engaging University Students in Computer Science Education

Attracting and engaging computer science students to enhancetheir mathematical and algorithmic thinking skills are challengingtasks. In winter 2013 we introduced a new teaching format for acourse, which combines theory in computer science with handsonalgorithmic challenges, mathematical thinking act...

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Main Authors: Pirker, J., Riffnaller-Schiefer, M., Guetl, Christian
Other Authors: -
Format: Conference Paper
Published: Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) 2014
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/20807
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author Pirker, J.
Riffnaller-Schiefer, M.
Guetl, Christian
author2 -
author_facet -
Pirker, J.
Riffnaller-Schiefer, M.
Guetl, Christian
author_sort Pirker, J.
building Curtin Institutional Repository
collection Online Access
description Attracting and engaging computer science students to enhancetheir mathematical and algorithmic thinking skills are challengingtasks. In winter 2013 we introduced a new teaching format for acourse, which combines theory in computer science with handsonalgorithmic challenges, mathematical thinking activities, andcollaborative problem-solving. Therefore, we introduced thepedagogical model Motivational Active Learning (MAL), whichis grounded in MIT’s successful format for teaching physics,Technology-Enabled Active Learning (TEAL), and combines itwith motivational strategies usually used by game designers.Results from the initial setup in class reveals that students indeedassessed the course structure as more interactive and motivatingcompared to other similar courses. In this paper we discuss thecourse design, issues, and the impact, and analyze the first resultsin detail.
first_indexed 2025-11-14T07:36:26Z
format Conference Paper
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institution Curtin University Malaysia
institution_category Local University
last_indexed 2025-11-14T07:36:26Z
publishDate 2014
publisher Association for Computing Machinery (ACM)
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spelling curtin-20.500.11937-208072017-09-13T16:05:29Z Motivational Active Learning - Engaging University Students in Computer Science Education Pirker, J. Riffnaller-Schiefer, M. Guetl, Christian - Attracting and engaging computer science students to enhancetheir mathematical and algorithmic thinking skills are challengingtasks. In winter 2013 we introduced a new teaching format for acourse, which combines theory in computer science with handsonalgorithmic challenges, mathematical thinking activities, andcollaborative problem-solving. Therefore, we introduced thepedagogical model Motivational Active Learning (MAL), whichis grounded in MIT’s successful format for teaching physics,Technology-Enabled Active Learning (TEAL), and combines itwith motivational strategies usually used by game designers.Results from the initial setup in class reveals that students indeedassessed the course structure as more interactive and motivatingcompared to other similar courses. In this paper we discuss thecourse design, issues, and the impact, and analyze the first resultsin detail. 2014 Conference Paper http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/20807 10.1145/2591708.2591750 Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) restricted
spellingShingle Pirker, J.
Riffnaller-Schiefer, M.
Guetl, Christian
Motivational Active Learning - Engaging University Students in Computer Science Education
title Motivational Active Learning - Engaging University Students in Computer Science Education
title_full Motivational Active Learning - Engaging University Students in Computer Science Education
title_fullStr Motivational Active Learning - Engaging University Students in Computer Science Education
title_full_unstemmed Motivational Active Learning - Engaging University Students in Computer Science Education
title_short Motivational Active Learning - Engaging University Students in Computer Science Education
title_sort motivational active learning - engaging university students in computer science education
url http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/20807