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Types of Questions in Computer Science Education

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Guide to Teaching Computer Science

Abstract

As presented in the previous chapters of this Guide, teachers are expected to vary their teaching methods. This chapter focuses on how to achieve this pedagogical principle by using different types of questions. It explores and discusses different types of questions that computer science educators (middle and high school teachers as well as university instructors) can use in different teaching situations and processes: in the classroom, in the computer lab, as homework, or in exams. The chapter discusses also keywords that appear in problem-solving questions which reflect that learners need to apply high-order cognitive skills when answering these questions. The chapter lays out the advantages of using a variety of question types both for the learners’ and teachers’ perspectives and focuses on the design process of different question types. Though the types of questions presented are mainly related to programming assignments, most of them are suitable also for other computer science contents. In addition to the 12 types of questions presented in the chapter, other types of questions exist.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    See the Canterbury QuestionBank: http://web-cat.org/questionbank/.

  2. 2.

    See the “Proof That Computers Can’t Do Everything (The Halting Problem)” clip at https://youtu.be/92WHN-pAFCs.

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Hazzan, O., Ragonis, N., Lapidot, T. (2020). Types of Questions in Computer Science Education. In: Guide to Teaching Computer Science. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-39360-1_12

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-39360-1_12

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-030-39359-5

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-030-39360-1

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