Papers by Joana Martinho Costa
Education and Information Technologies, 2020
A data-driven approach to predict first-year students' academic success in higher education insti... more A data-driven approach to predict first-year students' academic success in higher education institutions. Education and Information Technologies.
Learning Environments Research, 2021
The four-component instructional design model (4C/ID): A meta-analysis on use and effect. Learnin... more The four-component instructional design model (4C/ID): A meta-analysis on use and effect. Learning Environments Research. 25 (2), 445-463, which has been published in final form at
Computer Applications in Engineering Education, 2023
Gamification has been widely used in education due to its application to different contexts. The ... more Gamification has been widely used in education due to its application to different contexts. The vast number of possibilities allows the creation of learning strategies that lead to students' success. Despite the high acceptance of gamification among several authors in educational contexts, there are many dispersed studies with high differences in their results. Although gamification impacts motivation, interest, and engagement, its effect on students' learning outcomes needs to be clarified. This study aims to investigate the effects of gamification on programming learning and the impact of the most used game concepts on knowledge acquisition. A multi-level meta-analysis was conducted on studies above K-12 to understand the effects of gamification in programming learning. From 15 combined effect sizes, it was analyzed the effect of points, badges, levels, avatars, leaderboards, and the number of elements used. The results showed that gamification leads to a significant increase in the results (Cohen's d = 0.4) but essentially due to the use of levels (p < .05). Using badges, points, avatars, and leaderboards showed no significant effect on programming learning, suggesting that these elements may be more beneficial to motivating or engaging the students. Gamification can be efficient in programming learning, but it is recommended the use of levels.
European Conference on Knowledge Management
Education is essential for the development of skills and talents that enable people to be product... more Education is essential for the development of skills and talents that enable people to be productive citizens and active members of society. Traditional modes of education, on the other hand, are no longer enough to fulfill society's complex expectations, as people frequently change occupations, seek new educational possibilities, and struggle to manage life, work, and compete for educational demands (Houlden & Veletsians, 2019). The study's challenge derives from the foregoing: " What Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) can be used in higher education to foster the learning-teaching process?" As a result of the findings of a literature study, it is now possible to identify information and communication technologies (ITCs) that may be employed in higher education to enhance the learning and teaching process.
Education Sciences, 2022
The increase in student engagement in the learning process has driven educators to use more dynam... more The increase in student engagement in the learning process has driven educators to use more dynamic pedagogical methodologies. Several studies have shown evidence of increased interest in learning when real-world problems are integrated into the learning environment. This paper presents the competencies developed by higher education students through application of the problem-based learning (PBL) methodology in higher education courses. The research begins with the identification of a set of competencies developed by higher education students in other studies developed and reported in the last five years and includes them in a survey to analyze the level of development of those competencies when problem-based learning is applied in university courses. To identify the competencies developed by applying the problem-based learning methodology, the research employed a document analysis and a survey of the students that participated in the experimental application. The research questions...
Sustainability, 2022
Tourism has been fundamental for countries’ economic development, and Africa is the destination w... more Tourism has been fundamental for countries’ economic development, and Africa is the destination with the biggest tourism growth potential. Using 1414 travelers’ online reviews collected from TripAdvisor, the present work aims to understand which variables predict the satisfaction of Cape Verde’s hotel clients. Satisfaction was analyzed using sentiment analysis and ANOVA to predict the effect of the gathered variables on clients’ satisfaction. Results indicate that 90% of the clients revealed positive satisfaction and that nationality, date of stay, and previous traveler experiences affect satisfaction. Contrarily to our predictions, there is no statistically significant evidence that gender influences satisfaction. The findings of this study will help hotel marketing managers to align their strategies accordingly and meet their clients’ expectations.
Education for Information, 2020
One of the most widely researched issue on higher education relates to exposed paths that lead to... more One of the most widely researched issue on higher education relates to exposed paths that lead to academic success. Nowadays information systems represent an essential part of the education sector in many universities. In particular, the increasing of the number of students in higher education in Portugal leads to the progressive increase of student’s data contained in institutional information systems. This article aims to include the use of student data contained in the Fénix information system of a Portuguese higher educational institution, turning their information in an internal tool, to assist analysis and studies of internal academic success. Providing relevant data for queries can offer a clearer explanation of the paths to success in higher education. It can also help the identification of problems and failures aiming to support a more effective intervention of institutions and researchers to improve the academic success.
RISTI - Revista Ibérica de Sistemas e Tecnologias de Informação, 2017
Resumo: Atualmente verifica-se a insuficiência de instrumentos de avaliação validados que possam ... more Resumo: Atualmente verifica-se a insuficiência de instrumentos de avaliação validados que possam mensurar as diferentes etapas de aprendizagem inicial de programação. Por este motivo desenvolvemos uma prova a partir da Taxonomia de Bloom que permite comparar o desempenho dos alunos independentemente da linguagem de programação com que iniciaram a sua aprendizagem. A prova apresenta questões de escolha múltipla para os quatro níveis iniciais e questões de desenvolvimento para os dois últimos níveis. Após a sua construção, foi validada por 12 especialistas e submetida a um grupo-piloto (N=29) para analisar a fiabilidade e dificuldade dos itens. Obtivemos um alfa de 0,837 e correlação positiva entre todos os itens da prova e o total dos itens com nível de significância p<0,05. As diferenças entre a frequência de respostas corretas nos itens são estatisticamente significativas (Q(12)=76,767; n=29; p=0,000). Estes resultados demonstram que a prova é válida, fiável e discriminativa.
Research in Learning Technology, 2020
Microworlds are simulations in computational environments where the student can manipulate object... more Microworlds are simulations in computational environments where the student can manipulate objects and learn from those manipulations. Since their creation, they have been used in a wide range of academic areas to improve students learning from elementary school to college. However, their effectiveness is unclear since many studies do not measure the acquired knowledge after the use of microworlds but instead they focus on self-evaluation. Furthermore, it has not been clear whether its effect on learning is related to the teaching method. In this study, we perform a meta-analysis to ascertain the impact of microworlds combined with different teaching methods on students' knowledge acquisition. We applied a selection criterion to a collection of 668 studies and were left with 10 microworld applications relevant to our learning context. These studies were then assessed through a meta-analysis using effect size with Cohen's d and p-value. Our analysis shows that the cognitive methods combined with microworlds have a great impact on the knowledge acquisition (d = 1.03; p < 0.001) but failed to show a significant effect (d = 0.21) for expository methods.
Informatics in Education, 2019
This paper presents an approach to the initial programming learning using the four components ins... more This paper presents an approach to the initial programming learning using the four components instructional model and the Alice software. The quasi-experimental design was developed with two groups of students that attended two schools with very different socioeconomic status and school retention levels. The differences obtained in the mean of the programming knowledge test when co-variated with the Logical Development Scale score were positive in the two groups, with no statistical significance in the difference between both (p = 0.05). The differences obtained in the Logical Development Scale score (Échelle Collective de Devéloppement Lógique [ECDL]), before and after the experimental treatment, revealed positive differences in the experimental group with no statistical significance (p > 0.05), and in the control group with statistical significance (p < 0.05). These results suggest that the Alice software when combined with the 4C-ID instructional model has positive effects in programming learning and in logical reasoning.
International Journal of Engineering and Technology, 2018
This article presents a learning environment design that compares the effectiveness of using Alic... more This article presents a learning environment design that compares the effectiveness of using Alice software with conventional programming languages in the scope of initial programming learning. The model proposes a quasi-experimental design in three stages: i) a pre-test to assess the development of logical reasoning in experimental (n=11) and control (n=11) groups; ii) learning programming with the Alice software and pseudocode or exclusively with pseudocode, in the experimental and control group respectively, both using a expository teaching methodology; iii) applying a validated programming test to assess student knowledge, mediated by logical reasoning in both groups. The pilot study indicated no significant differences in the programming test between experimental and control groups (p > 0.05). These results indicate that the effectiveness of the Alice software in programming knowledge might not work with the expository method. Keyword-Alice software, learning environment, programming learning, pseudocode, teaching method I. INTRODUCTION Teaching programming has been studied in the last decades in search for solutions that mitigate the difficulties in the student learning process. Research indicates that the main constraints to learning are the student lack of interest and mathematical knowledge, the syntactical complexity of first programming language that is taught, and the teaching methods, not always the most appropriate [1] [2]. In order to overcome these difficulties, one solution suggested by the research focuses on the use of microworlds [3]: programming environments that allow the user to move virtual objects using commands [4]. In this context, the Alice software stands out: a three-dimensional microworld created specifically to develop computational and logical reasoning and learn the fundamental principles of programming [5]. Although many studies use Alice software and present promising results, a meta-analytical study conducted by Costa and Miranda [6] concluded that the research designs and the instruments used vary widely among studies, which weakens the analysis of the results. The authors also question whether results might be related with the teaching methodologies used, as none of the studies focused on this variable. Hattie's [7] work states that teaching strategies have an impact with an effect size of 0.60, but audiovisual or visual teaching methods only have an effect size of 0.22. Additionally, Garlick and Cankaya [8] used Alice in their experimental work and obtained no significant changes in the experimental group. These authors also did not isolate teaching methodology, which leads to the question of whether there is a relation between the academic success, the teaching methodology and the chosen programming language to teach initial programming. In this article, we propose the creation and validation of an initial programming learning environment designed to be implemented in a Portuguese high school, but which can be adapted to different means and countries with a similar curriculum in programming. The implementation of this learning environment can further our understanding of whether the use of the Alice software with pseudocode is more effective in initial programming learning than an approach that exclusively uses pseudocode, and whether the development of logical reasoning influences this relation. The use of pseudocode as an initial approach mirrors the programming student curriculum, on which the experimental work will focus [9]. This design should also allow us to understand whether positive development of logical reasoning is related with the best programming results, regardless of the programming language. When operational, for a given teaching method and stage of logical reasoning, students using the Alice software with pseudocode to learn the structural concepts of programming will perform better in the programming knowledge test than students who only used pseudocode to learn the same concepts. After the experimental work, one need understand the evidence about the effectiveness of the Alice software in initial programming learning while controlling the teaching methodology. This article follows Creswell's proposal [10] for the presentation of a research design with a quantitative methodology.
British Journal of Educational Technology, 2016
Alice ® is one of the most used tools in learning programming languages, given its usefulness to ... more Alice ® is one of the most used tools in learning programming languages, given its usefulness to acquire skills in problem solving and algorithmic thinking. This document presents the results of the analysis of the use of the Alice platform as a tool for learning programming from a literature review. We used the most common databases in the area of computer science such as ACM, IEE, among others; and taking into account a search protocol, and some criteria, 24 articles were selected. Among the findings are the effectiveness of the use of Alice as a learning resource for introduction to programming, the amount of work in English, and the weak validity of the experimental results.
Sustainability, 2022
COVID-19 certainly brought more negative aspects than positive ones to education. On the one hand... more COVID-19 certainly brought more negative aspects than positive ones to education. On the one hand, new gaps and challenges emerged from the lockdowns worldwide. On the other hand, we have been witnessing the increased relationship between technology and education, which created an opportunity for education to evolve and enhance the use of digital tools in classes. During several lockdowns worldwide, due to the pandemic crisis, millions of students and teachers were forced to continue the process of teaching and learning at home and experienced Emergency Remote Teaching (ERT), which led to new challenges on the process of students’ assessment. To understand what assessment challenges teachers face during the ERT and their patterns for evaluation, we performed a survey in Portugal where the ERT lasted several months in the last two years. The survey was validated and conducted in the first semester of 2021. We found two main patterns: (i) the group of teachers that prefer oral discuss...
Given the problems around the programming teaching and some empirical studies about which leads s... more Given the problems around the programming teaching and some empirical studies about which leads students having difficulties in this area, it was started a exploratory study whose data collection method was the focus group in order to detect fails in the teaching of programming according to the students' perspective. The study consisted on doing the semi-structured interviews to 24 professional courses' students from two schools in two districts. Later, the interviews were coded and analyzed to find common themes. Despite some discrepancy between the responses of students from different schools, some categories have been identified: the course, the teacher, the student and the school. These shall be considered in the preparation of a questionnaire on this theme with which it is intended to inquire a greater number of students, with similar characteristics to the participants in this study.
Journal of Information Technology Education: Innovations in Practice, 2019
Aim/Purpose: This paper presents a data mining approach for analyzing responses to advanced decla... more Aim/Purpose: This paper presents a data mining approach for analyzing responses to advanced declarative programming questions. The goal of this research is to find a model that can explain the results obtained by students when they perform exams with Constructed Response questions and with equivalent Multiple-Choice Questions. Background: The assessment of acquired knowledge is a fundamental role in the teaching-learning process. It helps to identify the factors that can contribute to the teacher in the developing of pedagogical methods and evaluation tools and it also contributes to the self-regulation process of learning. However, better format of questions to assess declarative programming knowledge is still a subject of ongoing debate. While some research advocates the use of constructed responses, others emphasize the potential of multiple-choice questions. Methodology: A sensitivity analysis was applied to extract useful knowledge from the relevance of the characteristics (i.e...
Informatica, 2019
This paper presents a summary of doctoral thesis that evaluates the using of Alice microworld com... more This paper presents a summary of doctoral thesis that evaluates the using of Alice microworld combined with different pedagogical approaches to learn introductory programming, specifically in programming knowledge and logical reasoning variables. The results suggest that when microworlds are combined with the 4C-ID instructional model there are positive effects in learning to program a computer, but they have no impact if an expository method is used. However, given the limited number of sampled subjects in this thesis, this topic should be further researched. It is necessary to understand to what extent, measurable, the use of certain teaching methods with or without association with microworlds, influence the results of students in knowledge and logical reasoning. Povzetek: Opisano je doktorsko delo na področju poučevanja osnovnih programskih veščin.
Education Sciences, 2022
The increase in student engagement in the learning process has driven educators to use more dynam... more The increase in student engagement in the learning process has driven educators to use more dynamic pedagogical methodologies. Several studies have shown evidence of increased interest in learning when real-world problems are integrated into the learning environment. This paper presents the competencies developed by higher education students through application of the problem-based learning (PBL) methodology in higher education courses. The research begins with the identification of a set of competencies developed by higher education students in other studies developed and reported in the last five years and includes them in a survey to analyze the level of development of those competencies when problem-based learning is applied in university courses. To identify the competencies developed by applying the problem-based learning methodology, the research employed a document analysis and a survey of the students that participated in the experimental application. The research questions "What are the competencies developed by students in problem-based learning?" and "Are the competencies identified by the students sufficiently learned in universities?" guided the study. The competencies found by the students were identified through a questionnaire given as an online survey to 76 students. The key outcome of the research is the identification in the bachelor courses of the competencies perceived as essential by students participating in the application of PBL in terms of their advancement.
Sustainability, 2022
Tourism has been fundamental for countries’ economic development, and Africa is the destination w... more Tourism has been fundamental for countries’ economic development, and Africa is the destination with the biggest tourism growth potential. Using 1414 travelers’ online reviews collected from TripAdvisor, the present work aims to understand which variables predict the satisfaction of Cape Verde’s hotel clients. Satisfaction was analyzed using sentiment analysis and ANOVA to predict the effect of the gathered variables on clients’ satisfaction. Results indicate that 90% of the clients revealed positive satisfaction and that nationality, date of stay, and previous traveler experiences affect satisfaction. Contrarily to our predictions, there is no statistically significant evidence that gender influences satisfaction. The findings of this study will help hotel marketing managers to align
their strategies accordingly and meet their clients’ expectations.
Sustainability, 2022
COVID-19 certainly brought more negative aspects than positive ones to education. On the
one hand... more COVID-19 certainly brought more negative aspects than positive ones to education. On the
one hand, new gaps and challenges emerged from the lockdowns worldwide. On the other hand, we
have been witnessing the increased relationship between technology and education, which created
an opportunity for education to evolve and enhance the use of digital tools in classes. During several
lockdowns worldwide, due to the pandemic crisis, millions of students and teachers were forced to
continue the process of teaching and learning at home and experienced Emergency Remote Teaching
(ERT), which led to new challenges on the process of students’ assessment. To understand what
assessment challenges teachers face during the ERT and their patterns for evaluation, we performed
a survey in Portugal where the ERT lasted several months in the last two years. The survey was
validated and conducted in the first semester of 2021. We found two main patterns: (i) the group of
teachers that prefer oral discussion and dialogue simulation and display disbelief towards traditional
tests and educational games; and (ii) the group of teachers that tend to prefer oral simulation and
display greater disbelief about educational games, dialogue simulation and peer work and review.
From the survey analysis, we also found that teachers considered their students to be more distracted
and less engaged in online classes. They were negatively affected both in their learning and evaluation
process. Using digital tools to collect and validate data and creating patterns between collected data
is essential to understand what to expect in future crises. The presented analysis should be correlated
with other studies to extract patterns of knowledge from data and to be able to obtain conclusions
about how to move education forward.
Learning Environments Research, 2021
The four-component instructional design model (4C/ID) has been increasingly used in face-to-face ... more The four-component instructional design model (4C/ID) has been increasingly used in face-to-face and online learning environments. We present a meta-analysis on the use and effect on performance of educational programs developed with the 4C/ID model after more than
20 years of its application and research in different academic areas and technical training.
We performed the meta-analysis through the combination of effect sizes from studies using Cohen’s d. The combination of the studies suggests that the use of educational programs
developed with 4C/ID has a high impact on performance (d = 0.79 standard deviations),
regardless of the academic area, the design of the study and the outcome (knowledge and
complex skills). The grade under study was a significant moderator on the effect, showing
that the higher-education level is more suitable for application of the 4C/ID model. Our
results suggest that the use of the 4C/ID model should be prioritized as an instructional
model in college and university learning environments.
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Papers by Joana Martinho Costa
their strategies accordingly and meet their clients’ expectations.
one hand, new gaps and challenges emerged from the lockdowns worldwide. On the other hand, we
have been witnessing the increased relationship between technology and education, which created
an opportunity for education to evolve and enhance the use of digital tools in classes. During several
lockdowns worldwide, due to the pandemic crisis, millions of students and teachers were forced to
continue the process of teaching and learning at home and experienced Emergency Remote Teaching
(ERT), which led to new challenges on the process of students’ assessment. To understand what
assessment challenges teachers face during the ERT and their patterns for evaluation, we performed
a survey in Portugal where the ERT lasted several months in the last two years. The survey was
validated and conducted in the first semester of 2021. We found two main patterns: (i) the group of
teachers that prefer oral discussion and dialogue simulation and display disbelief towards traditional
tests and educational games; and (ii) the group of teachers that tend to prefer oral simulation and
display greater disbelief about educational games, dialogue simulation and peer work and review.
From the survey analysis, we also found that teachers considered their students to be more distracted
and less engaged in online classes. They were negatively affected both in their learning and evaluation
process. Using digital tools to collect and validate data and creating patterns between collected data
is essential to understand what to expect in future crises. The presented analysis should be correlated
with other studies to extract patterns of knowledge from data and to be able to obtain conclusions
about how to move education forward.
20 years of its application and research in different academic areas and technical training.
We performed the meta-analysis through the combination of effect sizes from studies using Cohen’s d. The combination of the studies suggests that the use of educational programs
developed with 4C/ID has a high impact on performance (d = 0.79 standard deviations),
regardless of the academic area, the design of the study and the outcome (knowledge and
complex skills). The grade under study was a significant moderator on the effect, showing
that the higher-education level is more suitable for application of the 4C/ID model. Our
results suggest that the use of the 4C/ID model should be prioritized as an instructional
model in college and university learning environments.
their strategies accordingly and meet their clients’ expectations.
one hand, new gaps and challenges emerged from the lockdowns worldwide. On the other hand, we
have been witnessing the increased relationship between technology and education, which created
an opportunity for education to evolve and enhance the use of digital tools in classes. During several
lockdowns worldwide, due to the pandemic crisis, millions of students and teachers were forced to
continue the process of teaching and learning at home and experienced Emergency Remote Teaching
(ERT), which led to new challenges on the process of students’ assessment. To understand what
assessment challenges teachers face during the ERT and their patterns for evaluation, we performed
a survey in Portugal where the ERT lasted several months in the last two years. The survey was
validated and conducted in the first semester of 2021. We found two main patterns: (i) the group of
teachers that prefer oral discussion and dialogue simulation and display disbelief towards traditional
tests and educational games; and (ii) the group of teachers that tend to prefer oral simulation and
display greater disbelief about educational games, dialogue simulation and peer work and review.
From the survey analysis, we also found that teachers considered their students to be more distracted
and less engaged in online classes. They were negatively affected both in their learning and evaluation
process. Using digital tools to collect and validate data and creating patterns between collected data
is essential to understand what to expect in future crises. The presented analysis should be correlated
with other studies to extract patterns of knowledge from data and to be able to obtain conclusions
about how to move education forward.
20 years of its application and research in different academic areas and technical training.
We performed the meta-analysis through the combination of effect sizes from studies using Cohen’s d. The combination of the studies suggests that the use of educational programs
developed with 4C/ID has a high impact on performance (d = 0.79 standard deviations),
regardless of the academic area, the design of the study and the outcome (knowledge and
complex skills). The grade under study was a significant moderator on the effect, showing
that the higher-education level is more suitable for application of the 4C/ID model. Our
results suggest that the use of the 4C/ID model should be prioritized as an instructional
model in college and university learning environments.