Learning to program in KPL through guided collaboration

Abstract

Sixty-six six graders of two intact classes learned to program in KPL for 18 weeks during the experiment. One class was randomly assigned to the control (i.e., free-collaboration) group and the other to the experimental (i.e., guided-collaboration) group. Students in both groups formed heterogeneous teams of three persons. The guided-collaboration teams were provided with a worksheet for every programming task. The worksheet contained a set of task-specific guiding questions to guide students through the problem-solving process in a systematic and disciplined manner. An analysis of test scores showed that the experimental group significantly outperformed the control group in the achievement tests, suggesting that the guiding questions were useful in enhancing students' comprehension of programming concepts and developing their programming skills. With the help of the guiding questions, students in the experimental group were also more able to conduct meaningful discussions.