Lab-Based Teaching - Guide to Teaching Computer Science: An Activity-Based Approach - page 136

are different in terms of their equipment and its usage; while in the above sciences
the equipment includes test tubes, materials, and other physical instruments that
learners use to perform experiments, the image of the lab in the context of computer
science education is a computer lab—a room with computers in which the learners
work, mostly—program.
According to Petre ( 2011 ) “An informal scan through a variety of papers about
'experimentation' in CS education suggests that 'experimentation' in our discipline
more often means 'building and trying things out' than 'observing, hypothesizing
and testing systematically'.” Petre argues that we need both kinds of experimenta-
tion in computer science and bases the importance attributed to the second perspec-
tive on “Years of observation and interview of expert software developers in indus-
try [which] reveal that scientific enquiry and dialogue is part of the professional
repertoire that contributes to their innovation and success.”
This perspective at the computer lab as a place, in which experiments are car-
ried out, further highlights the scientific aspect of computer science (see Chap. 3).
Indeed, as a science, computer science has its own scientific exploratory methods
which include, as in other sciences, the experimental path that starts with hypoth-
esis, continues with experiment and data gathering, and ends with the data analysis
and conclusion formulation. We suggest that it is important to deliver this message
to the prospective computer science teachers.
In Sect. 8.8.3, about the lab-first approach, we demonstrate how the computer
lab serves as a place for carrying out experiments and checking hypotheses.
The lab in the context of computer science teaching and learning has several ad-
ditional advantages:
• Learners are familiar with how to work with the equipment in this lab, that is,
how to work with computers, so there is no need to teach them how to use this
equipment.
• The work in the computer lab does not require the preparation of any physical
material, so a computer science teacher can be flexible, and when observing that
it is a suitable time to explore a specific topic with the computers, he or she can
just ask learners to use the computers (if the lesson takes place in the lab).
• Since no physical material is required in the computer lab, budget constrains
should not limit or block the use of the lab for computer science learning pur-
poses.
• In the computer lab, an experiment can be run many times, one after the other,
with an immediate feedback provided to learners by the computer.
While not claiming that all computer science courses should be lab based, most
courses can benefit from the use of some well-designed laboratory components
(e.g., Knox et al. 1996 ; Walker 2011 ; Lee 2013 ). In these lessons, the teacher's role
is very important and required considerable preparation. The teacher can demon-
strate an experiment to the pupils or, alternatively, guide them, in an active learn-
ing manner, to explore a new topic. As has been asserted before in this guide, the
more learners are active, their learning is more meaningful, and, in the context of