基於科學運算之運算思維導向程式設計教學

Abstract

各領域對運算思維與程式設計能力之需求日益增加，然而非資訊背景的學習者往往缺乏相關能力以因應資訊時代的需要。科學領域對運算之需求更甚，許多研究與教學者開始將運算加入科學課程中，以期使學生在科學研究與職場能利用運算的能力有效解決科學問題。因此本研究針對主修科學的學習者提出運算思維導向的程式設計教學方法，透過科學運算，讓學習者經歷以建模為主的運算思維。為檢驗研究所提之教學方法的有效性，研究將針對此種教學對學習者程式理解能力、程式實作能力以及運算思維進行探討。研究結果發現：本研究之學習者透過基於科學運算之運算思維導向程式設計教學後，建模品質較好的學習者在程式設計學習表現上較佳，建模品質較好的學習者在科學程式設計專題上的表現也較好，也發現他們對程式設計建模程序中觀察與除錯的步驟感到認同。研究中所設計之教材、開發之建模輔助平台以及研究相關發現，可對未來運算思維教學的研究與教學者提出相關建議。Programming is playing an increasingly important role in various fields, including science. However, traditional programming instruction tends to use small-scale and general examples to explain syntax and semantic meaning of the code, which cannot foster students’ programming ability of solving real-world problems. This research was intended to develop a modelling-based instruction for scientific programming to guide students to solve programming problems based on the modelling process （phenomenon description, data modelling, algorithmic modelling, coding, and verification and debugging）. A learning platform based on the proposed modelling process was also developed to assist science-major students to learn how to solve real-world scientific problems by programming. An empirical study was conducted on thirty-two science-major college students to prove the effectiveness of the modelling-based scientific programming. The experiment results show that students who engaged more in modelling had higher programming performance. The modelling-based instruction actually helps students to write programs for solving scientific problem by using both of data and algorithmic models.