Informatics education - supporting computational thinking : Third International Conference on Informatics in Secondary Schools - Evolution and Perspectives, ISSEP 2008, Torun, Poland, July 1-4, 2008 : proceedings

Informatics Education – Supporting Computational Thinking contains papers presented at the Third International Conference on Informatics in Secondary Schools – Evolution and Perspective, ISSEP 2008, held in July 2008 in Torun, Poland. As with the proceedings of the two previous ISSEP conferences (2005 in Klag- furt, Austria, and 2006 in Vilnius, Lithuania), the papers presented in this volume address issues of informatics education transcending national boundaries and, the- fore, transcending differences in the various national legislation and organization of the educational system. Observing these issues, one might notice a trend. The p- ceedings of the First ISSEP were termed From Computer Literacy to Informatics F- damentals [1]. There, broad room was given to general education in ICT. The ECDL, the European Computer Driving License, propagated since the late 1990s, had pe- trated school at this time already on a broad scale and teachers, parents, as well as pupils were rather happy with this situation. Teachers had material that had a clear scope, was relatively easy to teach, and especially easy to examine. Parents had the assurance that their children learn “modern and relevant stuff,” and for kids the c- puter was sufficiently modern so that anything that had to do with computers was c- sidered to be attractive. Moreover, the difficulties of programming marking the early days of informatics education in school seemed no longer relevant. Some colleagues had a more distant vision though. Front Matter....Pages - The Challenging Face of Informatics Education in Poland....Pages 1-18 Bebras International Contest on Informatics and Computer Literacy: Criteria for Good Tasks....Pages 19-30 From Top Coders to Top IT Professionals....Pages 31-40 Integrating Mathematical Analysis of Sensors and Motion in a Mobile Robotics Course....Pages 41-52 Visualization of Program Behaviors: Physical Robots Versus Robot Simulators....Pages 53-62 Development of an Educational System to Control Robots for All Students....Pages 63-74 Proposal for Teaching Manufacturing and Control Programming Using Autonomous Mobile Robots with an Arm....Pages 75-86 Design Disciplines and Non-specific Transfer....Pages 87-98 Like a (School of) Fish in Water (or ICT-Enhanced Skills in Action)....Pages 99-109 Duality Reconstruction – Teaching Digital Artifacts from a Socio-technical Perspective....Pages 110-121 What’s My Challenge? The Forgotten Part of Problem Solving in Computer Science Education....Pages 122-133 Bringing Abstract Concepts Alive. How to Base Learning Success on the Principles of Playing, Curiosity and In-Classroom Differentiation....Pages 134-141 Analysis of Learning Objectives in Object Oriented Programming....Pages 142-150 To Have or to Be? Possessing Data Versus Being in a State – Two Different Intuitive Concepts Used in Informatics....Pages 151-160 Understanding Object Oriented Programming Concepts in an Advanced Programming Course....Pages 161-170 Spiral Teaching of Programming to 10–11 Year-Old Pupils After Passed First Training (Based on the Language C++)....Pages 171-179 Multi-facet Problem Comprehension: Utilizing an Algorithmic Idea in Different Contexts....Pages 180-191 VIPER, a Student-Friendly Visual Interpreter of Pascal....Pages 192-203 Analysis of Students’ Developed Programs at the Maturity Exams in Information Technologies....Pages 204-215 Creating and Testing Textbooks for Secondary Schools....Pages 216-228 Informatics as a Contribution to the Modern Constructivist Education....Pages 229-240 New Methodology of Information Education with “Computer Science Unplugged”....Pages 241-252 Disciplinary-Pedagogical Teacher Preparation for Pre-service Computer Science Teachers: Rational and Implementation....Pages 253-264 Algorithm – Fundamental Concept in Preparing Informatics Teachers....Pages 265-271 Computer Science Teacher Training at the University of Groningen....Pages 272-281 Distance Learning Course for Training Teachers’ ICT Competence....Pages 282-292 Teaching Information Technology and Elements of Informatics in Lower Secondary Schools: Curricula, Didactic Provision and Implementation....Pages 293-304 Spreadsheet Knowledge and Skills of French Secondary School Students....Pages 305-316 Harmonization of Informatics Education – Science Fiction or Prospective Reality?....Pages 317-326 Development of E-Learning Design Criteria with Secure Realization Concepts....Pages 327-336 On the Technological Aspects of Generative Learning Object Development....Pages 337-348 Informational Technologies for Further Education of Latvian Province Teachers of Informatics....Pages 349-356 Back Matter....Pages - Informatics Education - Supporting Computational Thinking contains papers presented at the Third International Conference on Informatics in Secondary Schools - Evolution and Perspective, ISSEP 2008, held in July 2008 in Torun, Poland. As with the proceedings of the two previous ISSEP conferences (2005 in Klag- furt, Austria, and 2006 in Vilnius, Lithuania), the papers presented in this volume address issues of informatics education transcending national boundaries and, the- fore, transcending differences in the various national legislation and organization of the educational system. Observing these issues, one might notice a trend. The proceedings of the First ISSEP were termed From Computer Literacy to Informatics Fundamentals [1]. There, broad room was given to general education in ICT. The ECDL, the European Computer Driving License, propagated since the late 1990s, had penetrated school at this time already on a broad scale and teachers, parents, as well as pupils were rather happy with this situation. Teachers had material that had a clear scope, was relatively easy to teach, and especially easy to examine. Parents had the assurance that their children learn "modern and relevant stuff," and for kids the computer was sufficiently modern so that anything that had to do with computers was considered to be attractive. Moreover, the difficulties of programming marking the early days of informatics education in school seemed no longer relevant. Some colleagues had a more distant vision though. Annotation This book constitutes the refereed proceedings of the Third International Conference on Informatics in Secondary Schools - Evolution and Perspectives, ISSEP 2008, held in Torun, Poland in July 2008. The 28 revised full papers presented together with 4 invited papers were carefully reviewed and selected from 63 submissions. A broad variety of topics related to teaching informatics in secondary schools is addressed ranging from national experience reports to paedagogical and methodological issues. The papers are organized in topical sections on informatics, a challenging topic, didactical merits of robot-based instruction, transfer of knowledge and concept formation, working with objects and programming, strategies for writing textbooks and teacher education, national and international perspectives on ICT education, as well as e-learning Roland T. Mittermeir, Maciej M. Sysło (eds.). International Conference Proceedings. Includes Bibliographical References And Author Index.