Teaching Algorithms and Programming First Year University

students on Base of Distance Learning System DL.GSU.BY

M. S. DOLINSKY

Faculty of Mathematics and Programming Technologies

Francisk Skorina Gomel State University

Sovetskaya Str.104, 246019, Gomel

BELARUS

Abstract. This article describes the technology of teaching text programming to first-year students based on

the DL.GSU.BY website. The main advantages of the technology include “zero entry threshold”, training

adapted to the student, many years of experience in practical application, effectiveness, and scalability. The

following issues are consistently considered in the article: idealized goal setting, students' use of a program-

ming language of their choice from a variety of modern programming languages when performing practical

tasks in the subject, clear verification of goal achievement, blended learning, effective personalization of the

educational process, non-standard organizational and technical solutions, learning effectiveness. The idealized

goal setting includes the need to teach students to algorithmic reformulation of the problem condition; posses-

sion of a set of basic language constructs, as well as basic built-in procedures and functions; ability to use

basic algorithms on one-dimensional and two-dimensional arrays, sets of plane points, lines, queue; ability to

develop and debug new algorithms. Effective personalization of the educational process is ensured by using

the following methods: each lesson the student is offered a choice of activities that correspond to his current

level of training; automatic verification of solutions is provided with the service "assignment of tests"; the sys-

tem of automatic differentiated learning is used.

Keywords: Remote programming training, website DL.GSU.BY, Gomel State University

Received: June 21, 2021. Revised: January 18, 2022. Accepted: February 23, 2022. Published: March 26, 2022.

1 Introduction

One of the global trends in higher education is the

transition to blended learning, when a significant

part of the educational process is transferred from

the classroom to the Internet. With the help of a

computer network, students receive tasks and the

necessary theoretical information in a wide variety

of forms (text, graphics, audio and video materi-

als), complete tasks and send them for verification

to tutors or automatic solution verification sys-

tems. The literature studied by the authors in pre-

paring this article can be divided into four areas:

review materials, proposals for the transition to

blended learning, a variety of systems used in

training, a presentation of work experience.

The first direction, review materials, includes

works [1] and [2].

The work [1] is devoted to an overview of strate-

gies and means of implementing blended learning.

The work [2] is a review and analysis of computer

education in Japanese universities. The authors of

the work identified the following types of comput-

er education:

 In faculties specializing in computer disci-

plines

 In faculties that do not specialize in computer

disciplines, but have computer disciplines as

an important part of their education

 General computer education for students of all

faculties, usually in the first or second years of

study

 Computer education for students who wish to

obtain a license to teach computer science in

schools.

The second direction - approaches to the

transition to blended learning - includes works [3-

4]. The paper [3] postulates the need for the digital

transformation of education and explains in detail

what is meant by the digital transformation of edu-

cation. The paper [4] offers an overview of the

directions for the development of blended learning

in Asian universities.

The third direction is a variety of lan-

guages and systems used in teaching. Among the

proposed systems are mentioned “GeoGe-

bra”[5],Google Classroom[6], Moodle[7,8].

WSEAS TRANSACTIONS on ADVANCES in ENGINEERING EDUCATION

DOI: 10.37394/232010.2022.19.6

M. S. Dolinsky

E-ISSN: 2224-3410

Volume 19, 2022

The fourth direction combines works that rep-

resent the real experience of learning with the help

of computer technologies in universities: pro-

gramming [9], computer thinking [10], chemis-

try[11], basic medical knowledge[12], earth sci-

ences[13], anatomy [14] ,WEB design[15], neuro-

anatomy [16], English language [17], new educa-

tional technologies [18].

2 Problem Formulation

This article describes the experience of the author's

implementation of blended education at F. Skorina

Gomel State University in teaching programming

to first-year students in the first semester. The au-

thors have been actively involved in preparing

schoolchildren for Olympiads in computer science

and programming for many years [19]. The expe-

rience of this work formed the basis of classes with

students [20]. However, it should be noted that

work with schoolchildren is carried out within the

framework of circles of interest, and therefore it is

not necessary to spend significant efforts on teach-

ing those who do not want to - they simply stop

going to the circle. The situation with students is

fundamentally different. It is necessary to work

with everyone. It has become especially difficult

since about 2005, when the enrollment for paid

education increased significantly (up to 50% of the

enrollment), as a result, the average level of prepa-

ration of first-year students has fallen sharply, not

only in special (in computer science and program-

ming), but also in general (for example, in mathe-

matics, Russian language and oral speech). When

at the Faculty Council teachers began to complain

about this situation to the dean, he replied, "Teach

these, there will be no others." Some help in such a

situation is that students have an exam in the sub-

ject. Thus, the teaching methodology should de-

velop in three directions: the learning process

should be feasible, interesting, forcing (for those

for whom the ability and interest is not enough).

Some help in such a situation is that students have

an exam in the subject.

3 Problem Solution

3.1. Idealized Goal Setting

As part of teaching in the first semester of first-

year students the subject "Fundamentals of Algo-

rithms and Programming", the authors set them-

selves the goal of teaching students the following:

a) Algorithmic reformulation of the problem

statement

The original problem statement usually contains

some kind of legend or "custom" explanation of

the work the program is supposed to do. The stu-

dent must reformulate the condition of the prob-

lem, retaining its essence, in terms of processing

numbers, symbols, strings, points (given by X and

Y coordinates on the plane) or their one-

dimensional/two-dimensional arrays.

b) Possession of a set of basic language con-

structs, which we include declarations of variables

and arrays, assignment operators, FOR and

WHILE conditions and loops, as well as built-in

procedures and functions:

Number processing: abs, sqr, sqrt, odd

String processing: length, delete, insert, copy, pos

Character handling: chr, ord

Type conversions: val, str

I/O: readln, writeln, assign, reset, rewrite, close

c) Possession of a set of basic algorithms, such

as: Basic algorithms for processing one-

dimensional arrays: summation; counting ele-

ments with specified properties; maxi-

mum/minimum element; search for an element that

has the specified properties. Sorting by exchange,

bubble, count. Sorting with numbers.

Transferring basic algorithms to two-

dimensional arrays and their components (rows,

columns, diagonals).

Algorithms for finding distances on a

plane: between two points, from one point to sev-

eral ones, between adjacent points of a set of

points, from each point to each in one set of points,

between all pairs of points of two sets.

Basic string algorithms: splitting a sen-

tence into words, forming all the different charac-

ters of a string, linear counting the number of

characters in a string, reversing a string.

Queue: the problem of the horse (the min-

imum number of moves the knight can make from

one cell of the chessboard to another) and the

problem of pieces (the number of pieces into

which a piece of paper will fall apart after cutting

out some cells).

d) Ability to apply basic algorithms when solv-

ing problems, their modifications, compositions

and super positions.

e) Ability to develop new algorithms and pro-

grams, perform manual scrolling of algorithms

and debugging programs in the development envi-

ronment using debugger commands: put variables

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and arrays in the view window, conveniently posi-

tion the source text and data view windows on the

screen, execute a line, execute to the cursor, enter

the procedure, execute to the end.

3.2 Multilingualism when Studying the

Subject

The student has the right to submit solutions to the

proposed problems in any of the programming

languages installed in the verification system, in-

cluding Pascal, C++, Java, Python, C#. If neces-

sary, new language versions and new languages

are installed in the system. Training for beginners

is conducted in Pascal due to the presence of a

powerful automatic learning system that has been

developed, operated and developed for more than

20 years. However, there are lecture notes for the

above programming languages, which are also de-

veloped by interested students as needed.

3.3 Clear Verification of Goal Achievement

The examination score for a semester for a student

is actually determined by the number of tasks that

he solves in 1.5 hours - from 0 to 10 on the follow-

ing topics:

1. Introduction to programming

2. One dimensional array

3. Two-dimensional array

4. Geometry

5. Strings

6. One dimensional array

7. Two-dimensional array

8. Geometry

9. Strings

10. Queue

As you can see, the topics of problems 2-5 are

exactly same as the topics of problems 6-9. The

difference is in the level of difficulty. The tasks in

topics 2-5 are chosen in such a way that any stu-

dent who has more or less conscientiously studied

during the semester can cope with them, even with

a zero level of preliminary readiness. Tasks 6-9

actually check the quality of the student's skills in

developing algorithms and debugging programs.

Many years of practice and adaptation of the use of

the approach has shown its effectiveness in as-

sessment (showing a range from 6 to 9 adequate to

the skills of students). The ability to solve the 10-

th problem shows the readiness of the student to

learn algorithms that are more complex.

3.4 Blended Learning

The educational process is conducted using the

appropriate course in the distance learning system

DL.GSU.BY, which since 2005 has the historical

name "Computers, programming, algorithms -

20nn". The course provides access to theory; issu-

ing tasks; automatic verification of solutions; dif-

ferentiated learning that implements an individual

educational trajectory that adapts to the student;

motivating display of learning outcomes in a varie-

ty of contexts. All this guarantees the possibility of

effective independent work of students in class-

rooms and outside them.

The tasks of the teacher are to present clearly

and concisely the new theory in lectures, to organ-

ize and maintain a working atmosphere in the

classroom. Particular attention should be paid to

the development of independent work skills of

first-year students. Very many of them in the first

lessons try to demand constantly and unnecessarily

the help of the teacher, instead of thinking and

solving the problem on their own or with the help

of a teaching system DL.GSU.BY.

3.5 Effective Personalization of the

Educational Process

Our goal in organizing training sessions is formu-

lated as follows:

Each student works every minute in every lesson

- Desirable - because he is interested

- At least, because the system and/or the teacher

and/or "public opinion" forces him to.

How and due to what this goal is largely achieved

in real practice?

At each lesson, the student is offered a

choice of activities corresponding to his current

level of training.

At the lectures (after reading the new theory,

as it is correct for 20-30 minutes), tasks are offered

on the topic of the lecture of DIFFERENT levels

of complexity. In addition, during lectures, you

can solve problems both on your own laptop alone,

and in a team of two people who are close in terms

of the current level of knowledge (determined by

the current assessment of each).

In practice and during work at home, the stu-

dent has a choice of both topics (from previously

studied) and the level of complexity of the tasks

being solved.

Automatic solution check (programs written

by students in lectures and practice), performed in

real time within a few seconds.

Service "Concession of tests", which allows

the student to find out the test (input data and the

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DOI: 10.37394/232010.2022.19.6

M. S. Dolinsky

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Volume 19, 2022

correct answer for them) on which his program

does not work correctly.

Automatic differentiated learning sys-

tem on each of the topics studied: introduction to

programming, one-dimensional array, two-

dimensional array, geometry, strings, all these five

topics - at two levels of complexity (basic and

simplified), queue. So that each student can study

independently both in the classroom and at home.

Packages of tasks for the development

of thinking integrated into thematic training

which the student can skip if it is impossible or

unwilling to perform such tasks.

Availability of the theory in lectures and

practical classes.

Individual assignments. Problems are

collected in the corresponding folder both by topic

and by olympiads, for which there are no solutions

or explanations in the course. For each task, its

level of difficulty is displayed, described by two

numbers: how many people solved this task and

the average number of days per solving. That is,

the number of days from the moment the task was

set to the current day, divided by the number of

people who solved this task. A student can choose

any problem for himself, solve it in any program-

ming language, and then describe his solution in

the forum and post a readable self-documented

source text of the solution. After checking the

teacher, such a task is transferred to another place

in the course - "Individual tasks with a description

of solutions in the forum." The work itself is high-

ly rated on the current academic record. Besides,

links to all such descriptions of solutions are col-

lected by topic, both regardless of the program-

ming language, and separately for each of the pro-

gramming languages. Thus, students get the oppor-

tunity for an additional self-developing type of

learning: solve problems if possible, and finally

read the solution on the forum.

Competitive elements introduced into the

educational process:

 After each training session, an automatically

generated result of the work performed by

each student in this session is entered in a spe-

cial topic “Who works how” on the course fo-

rum: in which topic he worked, how many

tasks he solved, where he is in the topic. At the

same time, higher in the table are students who

have gone further in training.

 A weekly test is carried out, which contains

about 30 tasks for developing programs of var-

ious levels of complexity from the simplest to

the most complex. The tasks are both for top-

ics covered and not yet studied in lectures. At

the end of the table of results is presented to all

students.

 Every week at the lecture, after reading the

theory, it is proposed to solve about 30 tasks of

varying complexity on the topic studied at the

current lecture. At the end of the lesson, the

results table is presented to the students.

 Permanently during the semester, students

have access to the current grade sheet, which

evaluates the results of students in the semes-

ter, including work in lectures, practice, at

home, also showing the current examination

grade of each.

3.6 Non-standard Organizational and

Technical Solutions

Automated registration of absenteeism and

their processing. One of the problems of modern

education in our university is the absence of clas-

ses by students. The authors understand that there

may be both real objective and subjective reasons

for this, as well as "student's exploration of the

boundaries of what is permitted." Therefore, omis-

sions are introduced as a separate column in the

academic record and negatively affect the assess-

ment of work in the semester. After almost seven

missed classes, the assessment becomes negative

(for those who work best in lectures and practice),

and for those who work worse, the assessment can

become negative after five passes. Therefore, stu-

dents are given the opportunity to WORK omis-

sions. At any time convenient for him, he can go to

the site, work for an hour and a half (from the first

to the last sending according to the work protocol.

Then choose the date of the omission, which was

worked out and the system will generate a message

in the special forum topic “Working out omissions

- 20nn” of the following form: such student from

such group worked on such date from such time to

such time, solved so many tasks, total time. This

message also includes a direct link to the log of

this work.

The teacher from under his account can click

on this link, check whether there was a work or its

simulation and accept the work (omission is elimi-

nated) or refuse the work - the omission will re-

main.

In order to ensure continuous work on the sub-

ject during the semester, practice without a teacher

(at home) is allowed only during the week after the

absence.

The fight against the indiscipline of students

during classes. The manifestations of such indis-

cipline include being late for classes, “long”

WSEAS TRANSACTIONS on ADVANCES in ENGINEERING EDUCATION

DOI: 10.37394/232010.2022.19.6

M. S. Dolinsky

E-ISSN: 2224-3410

Volume 19, 2022

breaks, the absence of a notebook and pen in class,

distraction by mobile phones during class, using a

laptop for other than class purposes, etc. For most

students, an explanation of the rules is enough, in

extreme cases, one-time remarks-reminders. How-

ever, there are also “active explorers of the bound-

aries of what is permitted” who do not respond to

explanations for everyone and even personal

comments. This is the pass of the current lesson

with the student’s right to “reset” it if the next

same pair (exactly in a week) the student conducts

without remarks and reminds the teacher of the

desire to reset the pass set for a remark.

Using a subject forum to support inde-

pendent learning. The authors try to provide stu-

dents with the opportunity to work independently

both in the classroom and outside of them.

In particular, the forum has a topic “Help,

please - 20nn”, in which a student can ask a ques-

tion of interest to him including problems to be

solved. If none of the students promptly answers,

then the teacher does. It is very important that at

the beginning of this topic, links to questions and

answers to them systematically accumulated. Thus,

often the student may not need to ask his own

question, if such a question has already been asked

and the answer to it is recorded.

In addition, at the initiative of one of the

students (2009 year of study), a topic was created

"Teach each other, learn from each other -

20nn", in which student can write how he/she

solved a difficult / individual problem or read how

another managed to do it. The teacher manually

constantly updates the table of contents of the top-

ic.

Topic "Students Opinion -

20nn"designed to receive feedback from students

both in the learning process and after its comple-

tion.

Topic "Computer, programming, algo-

rithms - 20nn"at the beginning contains all organ-

izational messages for new students, as well as

links to materials on all topics studied. The last

post in the topic contains links to materials on the

last read topic.

Finally, the topic "Bonuses -

20nn"contains the marks of each student in "bo-

nuses" for the last lecture; in addition, there ap-

pear, as necessary, messages about bonuses for one

or another cognitive activity of students in a lec-

ture, practice or in work at home.

Multiple retakes of the exam during the

semester. If a student regularly studies, then in

fact his mark on the exam is determined by the

mark on the control cut. From about the middle of

the semester, a student is allowed to apply for a

control cut and write it once a week. In this case,

the assessment is fixed only in the direction of in-

crease.

3.7 Learning Effectiveness

At the first practical lesson, an entrance control

section is held. It fixes the initial preparation of

students before entering the university, with a

slight adjustment for the fact that there are one or

even two lecture weeks before the first practical

lesson, and many students, motivated by the lec-

tures and the opportunity to work at home, they are

making good progress in knowledge during this

initial period. However, on average, the assess-

ment of each at the end of the semester increases

by a value from 4 to 9. In addition, the authors

consider the following “subjective” indicators of

learning effectiveness to be important. Most stu-

dents start studying immediately upon arrival,

without waiting for a call about the beginning of

the class, and "do not notice" the break between

the hours of the class, continuing to work. During

classes, there is almost perfect silence, and every-

one is working actively and enthusiastically.

4 Conclusion

This paper presents many years of experience and

methodology for teaching the basics of algorithms

and programming in the first semester of the first

year students of the Faculty of Mathematics and

Programming Technologies of the F. Skoryna

Gomel State University. Any university and teach-

er can use it. Either directly by subscribing their

students to the appropriate course of the

DL.GSU.BY distance learning system, or by bor-

rowing the teaching methodology, but using other

technical and software solutions. The authors refer

to the important components of the methodology:

the use of a personal computer and a projector by a

lecturer, the use of laptops by students in lectures,

direct consolidation of theoretical material by

practice, operational verification of programs -

solving problems, a table of results in real time at

lectures and practices, solving problems in teams.

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WSEAS TRANSACTIONS on ADVANCES in ENGINEERING EDUCATION

DOI: 10.37394/232010.2022.19.6

M. S. Dolinsky

E-ISSN: 2224-3410

Volume 19, 2022