Introducing Computer Science Unplugged in Pakistan: A Machine Learning Approach
Introducing computational thinking at elementary school can develop students’ capabilities and interest in Computing skills. In this study, we introduced the Computer Science unplugged (CS-unplugged) technique in Pakistan. We use paper-based activities to equip students with basic Computer Science s...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2023-09-01
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| Series: | Education Sciences |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2227-7102/13/9/892 |
| _version_ | 1797580555639848960 |
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| author | Seema Jehan Pakeeza Akram |
| author_facet | Seema Jehan Pakeeza Akram |
| author_sort | Seema Jehan |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Introducing computational thinking at elementary school can develop students’ capabilities and interest in Computing skills. In this study, we introduced the Computer Science unplugged (CS-unplugged) technique in Pakistan. We use paper-based activities to equip students with basic Computer Science skills without introducing any programming language. This study contributes twofold: First, we report the impact of CS-Unplugged training on more than 350 elementary students. The empirical study reveals that the students perform better in solving problems after unplugged training. Improved results in the post-training activity support this impact. Second, we applied machine learning to predict students’ performance. We employed different supervised machine learning algorithms to predict the students’ performance. Our results indicate that the Logistic regression-based model can predict the positive response of the student with a 0.91 receiver operating characteristic curve (ROC curve). This pilot study results encourage introducing unplugged techniques at elementary schools in third-world countries. The goal is to have minimal changes in infrastructure and focus on better student learning. In the future, we plan to introduce more unplugged problem-solving techniques to elementary students by providing little training to the science or math teacher. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-10T22:51:36Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-d91c4df9840d47968aa5281b93c8c27d |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2227-7102 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-10T22:51:36Z |
| publishDate | 2023-09-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Education Sciences |
| spelling | doaj.art-d91c4df9840d47968aa5281b93c8c27d2023-11-19T10:19:04ZengMDPI AGEducation Sciences2227-71022023-09-0113989210.3390/educsci13090892Introducing Computer Science Unplugged in Pakistan: A Machine Learning ApproachSeema Jehan0Pakeeza Akram1School of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, National University of Sciences and Technology, Islamabad 44000, PakistanSchool of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, National University of Sciences and Technology, Islamabad 44000, PakistanIntroducing computational thinking at elementary school can develop students’ capabilities and interest in Computing skills. In this study, we introduced the Computer Science unplugged (CS-unplugged) technique in Pakistan. We use paper-based activities to equip students with basic Computer Science skills without introducing any programming language. This study contributes twofold: First, we report the impact of CS-Unplugged training on more than 350 elementary students. The empirical study reveals that the students perform better in solving problems after unplugged training. Improved results in the post-training activity support this impact. Second, we applied machine learning to predict students’ performance. We employed different supervised machine learning algorithms to predict the students’ performance. Our results indicate that the Logistic regression-based model can predict the positive response of the student with a 0.91 receiver operating characteristic curve (ROC curve). This pilot study results encourage introducing unplugged techniques at elementary schools in third-world countries. The goal is to have minimal changes in infrastructure and focus on better student learning. In the future, we plan to introduce more unplugged problem-solving techniques to elementary students by providing little training to the science or math teacher.https://www.mdpi.com/2227-7102/13/9/892computer science educationcomputer science unpluggedmachine learningsupervised learning algorithmsdata analyticalPakistan education |
| spellingShingle | Seema Jehan Pakeeza Akram Introducing Computer Science Unplugged in Pakistan: A Machine Learning Approach Education Sciences computer science education computer science unplugged machine learning supervised learning algorithms data analytical Pakistan education |
| title | Introducing Computer Science Unplugged in Pakistan: A Machine Learning Approach |
| title_full | Introducing Computer Science Unplugged in Pakistan: A Machine Learning Approach |
| title_fullStr | Introducing Computer Science Unplugged in Pakistan: A Machine Learning Approach |
| title_full_unstemmed | Introducing Computer Science Unplugged in Pakistan: A Machine Learning Approach |
| title_short | Introducing Computer Science Unplugged in Pakistan: A Machine Learning Approach |
| title_sort | introducing computer science unplugged in pakistan a machine learning approach |
| topic | computer science education computer science unplugged machine learning supervised learning algorithms data analytical Pakistan education |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2227-7102/13/9/892 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT seemajehan introducingcomputerscienceunpluggedinpakistanamachinelearningapproach AT pakeezaakram introducingcomputerscienceunpluggedinpakistanamachinelearningapproach |