Information Technology Reference
In-Depth Information
We first concentrate on question patterns and present 12 types of questions that
CS educators can use (Sect. 9.2). For each type of question, we lay out several
variations. Clearly, additional types of questions, as well as the combination of dif-
ferent types of questions, exist and can be developed and used by CS teachers. Sec-
tion 9.3 presents keywords of problem-solving questions. Then, Sect. 9.4 presents
three general kinds of questions (story questions, closed questions, and unsolvable
questions). Section 9.5 describes how the different types of questions can be assimi-
lated to different CS contents and demonstrates these assimilations in the context of
Automata Theory. In Sect. 9.6, we present guidelines on how to develop questions
to be used in a CS class. We suggest several course activities to be facilitated in the
MTCS course in order to expose the prospective CS teachers to this topic.
9.2
Types of Questions
This section presents 12 types of questions and suggests how they can be used in CS
teaching processes. Emphasis is placed on the pedagogical approaches they repre-
sent and on cognition considerations.
Each type of question is presented according to the following pattern: classi-
fication of the type of question reflected by its title; short description of the spe-
cific type of question; a concrete example or an example of a general pattern that
demonstrates the said type of question; different variations of the discussed type
of question; and a short pedagogical and cognitive discussion about the said type
of question. Since our purpose here is to present the variety of questions to future
high-school prospective teachers, most of the examples are quite simple. Clearly,
for each type of question, it is possible to develop a range of questions on different
complexity levels both from the algorithmic and the cognitive points of view. In
addition, with respect to each type of question, it is possible to present additional
variations that require different cognitive skills.
We add several remarks about the actual use of this collection of questions in the
actual teaching of CS situations:
• The order of the presentation of the 12 types of questions in this chapter is arbi-
trary; no specific rule is applied for their ordering.
• No specific rules or guidelines can be formulated with respect to the order by
which it is recommended to preset the different types of questions in the class;
each CS educator should select the appropriate type of question and its complex-
ity level according to the specific learners' characteristics and the specific teach-
ing situations.
• The suggested types of questions are sometimes overlapping each other; this
point is addressed when it is relevant.
• A question can contain several types of questions in its different subtasks; this
point is illustrated by a particular example in Sect. 9.2.13 “Combining several
types of questions.”
Search WWH ::




Custom Search