Analysis of asynchronous dialogues to reveal the effect of discussions on learning programming languages by candidates of computer programmers


Ozyurt O.

ENERGY EDUCATION SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY PART B-SOCIAL AND EDUCATIONAL STUDIES, cilt.3, sa.4, ss.739-750, 2011 (SCI-Expanded) identifier identifier

Özet

Recently, Asynchronous Discussion Forums (ADFs) have become a part of the daily life. These environments, apart from different purposes of usages, currently appear as environments where learning activities are conducted. This study was conducted in order to reveal the effect and role of ADFs on learning programming languages by candidates of computer programmers. All ADFs in Turkey, in which discussions over programming languages were conducted, were scanned based on content analysis. Learning activities in these environments were tried to be detected via content analysis. Additionally, survey study was conducted with 46 computer programming students. Qualitative and quantitative data obtained from the study were analyzed. By means of these analyses, the level of candidates of computer programmers in utilizing the learning activities that occur in ADFs was tried to be determined. As a consequence of the analyses, it was seen that ADFs are used widely and efficiently by candidates of computer programmers in terms of learning programming languages. Besides, we also arrived at the conclusion that as collaborative learning environments, ADFs have positive effects on the learning of the candidates.