Innovations in Teaching of Programming languages Milena Stanković Suzana Stojković Ivan Petković Petar Rajković

Target Courses Old curriculum: Programming – course in the III semestar with the hours in week (Fortran); Programming languages – course in the V and VI semestar with the hours in week (C, C++, Java); New curriculum: Algorithms and programming – course in the II semestar with the hours in week (C); Object-oriented programming - course in the III semestar with the hours in week (C++); Programming languages - course in the IV semestar with the hours in week (Java).

Fortran obsolete Methods of presenting curriculum had been changed

Exercises Exercises for courses of Object – Oriented Programming and Programming languages are realized in three different ways: Classic (auditoria) exercises, Demonstrative lab classes, Practical lab exercises. All kind of exercises are done in computer laboratories. All teaching material is available online. Web site is very important tool used as a support in teaching process and for communication between teaching assistants (TAs) and students.

Examination - Evaluation Model Final mark is a sum of following three parts: Total sum of points obtained by practical lab exercises (maximum 20 points) Marks from colloquiums or written exam (max 50 points); Final test score (max 30 points).

Classic (Auditoria) Exercises Teaching assistant (TA) explains syntax of specific programming language and various code examples TA prepares slides, as PowerPoint file, as well as examples in the apropriate development environment TA uses computer and a projector in order to present prepared teaching material

Demonstrative Lab Classes During the class, TA and students together solve more complex examples Teacher’s computer in classroom is connected to the projector TA presents existing code listing and explains presented solution

Practical Lab Exercises Each student takes its own task one week before practical lab class. Students must complete their tasks and show results to the TA during the exercise. TA evaluate each solution Students can obtain integer number of points – minimal value is zero, and maximal is 4 points.

Colloquium Implementation Model Students complete their tasks on computers with proper development environment. Students must register for colloquium. TA verifies the list of registered students and make colloquium holding schedule. Each student has its own task. After completing solutions for their tasks, students upload them on the server.

Signing Up for Colloquium

Solution Upload Page

Solutions and Colloquium Results TA publish online solutions for all given tasks after finishing colloquium. The results of the colloquium are published on the Web and posted on department’s message board.

Summary This is the first year we are implementing this teaching model. No complete comparison is available at the moment Preliminary results: Students’ involvement in the teaching process is increased, Students are more active and motivated, Colloquium results indicate positive changes