Use-Modify-Create is a fairly popular technique to scaffold the progression to creating new programming projects. However, more recently, some scholars have described the advantages of a Use-Modify-Choose progression where students are given a choice of projects to choose to program. This supports student choice for a project but at the same time does not disadvantage those students who may need help in thinking up a project to create. It also helps the teacher be better prepared to guide open-ended projects.
Read the article From ‘Use’ to ‘Choose’: Scaffolding CT Curricula and Exploring Student Choices while Programming (Practical Report) by Lytle et al., (2019) and discuss the pros and cons of each approach.
Discussion Questions/Activities (from Dr. Christine Liebe, Colorado School of Mines)
Discuss ‘Use–Modify-Create’.
Have you ever seen another program, tried it, and then remade it?
How might you integrate this pedagogy with teaching code reading?
Make a plan for making the code more readable or more efficient or improve it in some way.
Trace the data – create a way for students to analyze inputs / outputs / types of data.
Revisit your plan and to improve the program based on data analysis.
Test your data analysis instructional strategy with another team – discuss ways to improve the program. Reprogram if time.
A-Z Handbook #CSK8 Twitter Chats Moderated by Vicky Sedgwick
From chapter 23, “open-ended programming with minimal guidance may result in a lack of … engagement with, and understanding of, programming concepts…”How do you scaffold coding activities for students to increase understanding & engagement? What are your favorite pedagogies/strategies and for what topics/situations?
