skip to main content
demonstration

Digital CS1 study pack based on Moodle and Python

Published:30 June 2008Publication History
Skip Abstract Section

Abstract

We believe that CS1 courses can be made more attractive to students:

  • by teaching a highly interactive scripting language - Python

  • by using an open source course management system - such as Moodle - to make all course resources available in a comprehensive digital study pack, and

  • by offering detailed self-guided online labs

.

We have used Moodle [1] and Python [2] to develop a "Python First" digital study pack [3] which comprises a wealth of new, original learning modules: extensive e-texts, detailed self-guided labs, numerous sample programs, quizzes, and slides. Our digital study pack pedagogy is described in recent ITiCSE and SIGCSE papers [4, 5]. "Python First" digital packs instances have already been adopted by instructors at several universities. This demonstration reveals instructor and student perspectives to the "Python First" digital pack. In particular, we demonstrate how instructors can use standard Moodle functionality to customize and manage digital packs. We also demonstrate several Moodle-supported, Python-based self-guided labs.

References

  1. Moodle. http://www.moodle.org.Google ScholarGoogle Scholar
  2. Python. http://www.python.org.Google ScholarGoogle Scholar
  3. Radenski, A. Introduction to Computing with Python. http://www.studypack.com.Google ScholarGoogle Scholar
  4. Radenski, A. "Python First": A Lab-Based Digital Introduction to Computer Science. ITiCSE'06, 197--201. Google ScholarGoogle ScholarDigital LibraryDigital Library
  5. Radenski, A. Digital Support for Abductive Learning in Introductory Computing Courses. SIGSE'07, 14--18. Google ScholarGoogle ScholarDigital LibraryDigital Library

Index Terms

  1. Digital CS1 study pack based on Moodle and Python

    Recommendations

    Comments

    Login options

    Check if you have access through your login credentials or your institution to get full access on this article.

    Sign in

    Full Access

    • Published in

      cover image ACM SIGCSE Bulletin
      ACM SIGCSE Bulletin  Volume 40, Issue 3
      ITiCSE '08
      September 2008
      362 pages
      ISSN:0097-8418
      DOI:10.1145/1597849
      Issue’s Table of Contents
      • cover image ACM Conferences
        ITiCSE '08: Proceedings of the 13th annual conference on Innovation and technology in computer science education
        June 2008
        394 pages
        ISBN:9781605580784
        DOI:10.1145/1384271

      Copyright © 2008 ACM

      Publisher

      Association for Computing Machinery

      New York, NY, United States

      Publication History

      • Published: 30 June 2008

      Check for updates

      Qualifiers

      • demonstration

    PDF Format

    View or Download as a PDF file.

    PDF

    eReader

    View online with eReader.

    eReader
    About Cookies On This Site

    We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website.

    Learn more

    Got it!