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AR and VR - What is the difference? How can the technology be used in education and daily living?
AR and VR - What is the difference? How can the technology be used in education and daily living?
Studio Porto, Canva 2023
Rachel Mainero, Canva 2023 (https://mrsmainero.com/about/)
F3.pptThe chart on the left is from part of an assessment of CS skills from computer science senior undergraduates. The assessement was conducted in partnerships from universities globally. The chart shows US students demonstrating high skill sets in STEM fields which utlitmately will make them competitive in the computer-related occuaptions.
"In the United States, it is projected that over half a million [Information Communication Technologies] ICT jobs will be created within the next decade, and by 2024 almost three-quarters of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) job growth will be in computer-related occupations" (Loyalka et al., 2019)
The infographic on the left is from a sampling survey of middle school students assessing their problem solving skills, determining their first course of action in solving a problem in school, and their understanding of the value of learning computer programming.
As an advocate for Computer Science integration in k-12 schools I wanted to explore the connection of strong computer science skills to problem solving abilities and language skills. Dr. James St. Germain, from the School of Computing, Univeristiy of Utah; states "Solving problems is the core of computer science." (St. Germain, n.d.) He further describes how programmers have to be able to translate from human language to a specific programming language. This is the equivalent of translating from your primary language to your secondary language. The ability to write algorithims into a specific coding language requires an understanding of the syntax of that language. So, one who learns a code and can not only write it, but can interpret it into their primary language has essentially learned another language.
This graph shows how the skills of study participants, such as numeracy and language aptitude, contribute to the learning of Python. According to the graph, cognition and language aptitude are greater predictors of learning than numeracy. Credit: Prat et al./Scientific Reports (University of Washington, 2020)
Languag Skills Linked to Programming Skills
There is this stereotype that a computer programmer has very high math skills,and to able to program you must posses those math skills. High schools and colleges may perpetuate this perception by setting up pre-requisite coursework in math as the pathway to progamming classes. Through a study conducted by the Univeristy of Washington data is showing that language skills are a better indicator of programming success. (University of Washington, 2020)
The chart on the left is from the same sampling survey of middle school students. At the beginning of the term, students were asked how many languages they knew.
In grades 6th and 7th, students did not recognize they knew a programming language despite having lessons in Blockly and in JavaScript. Moving to the 8th grade students you can see some students recognize they are learning a language. To gauge the impact of going through a Computer Literacy or Computer Science course, these students will complete a second survey at the end of the term.
"Programming and communication through language are closely related – enough that Florida has pushed to consider coding a foreign language in public schools. Classifying coding as a new language is an interesting approach to consider!"(Tynker.com, 2017)
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