Interactive learning in Java

• Main Author: Liew, Shirley Pei Pei
• Other Authors: Li Fang
• Format: Final Year Project
• Language: English
• Published: Nanyang Technological University 2021
• Subjects: Engineering::Computer science and engineering::Software
• Online Access: https://hdl.handle.net/10356/147892
• Institution: Nanyang Technological University

The programming language, Java, is commonly used to develop applications and web systems by developers worldwide. Many educational institutions are educating students on Java programming along with Object-Oriented (OO) concepts and design principles today. However, learning to program in Java is not the hardest part for most, it is the concepts and design principles that students find challenging to learn and lecturers find difficult to teach. The project, Java Ranch, aims to educate students on the usefulness of OO concepts and design principles, the data used by this project is from CE/CZ2002 Object-Oriented Design and Programming course notes as this project can be used to complement the module curriculum. Next, since Java Ranch is an educational application, it is important that its user interface achieves a high level of usability. This report discusses the rationale and importance of having a simple and clean interface, focusing on the benefits it brings to improving a user’s learning efficiency. Furthermore, Java Ranch is designed with educational learning theories in mind which help users learn more effectively. Hence, this report will further discuss the importance of having an application design that adheres to existing educational learning theories. The theories that are discussed are; Cognitive Learning Theory, Behaviorism Learning Theory, Constructivism Learning Theory, Humanism Learning Theory and Connectivism Learning Theory. In addition to educational learning theories, principles of effective teaching are also applied to the design of Java Ranch. The principles of effective teaching is a powerful set of principles that can make teaching more effective and efficient. Hence, this report will discuss the benefits of following the principles when it comes to an application’s design. Lastly, a survey is conducted to determine if Java Ranch has managed to achieve its objective, and results that are derived by the survey conducted is discussed in detail. Overall, Java Ranch has managed to educate students on the usefulness of OO concepts and design principles. However, further studies can be carried out and it can focus on how educational learning theories combined with principles of effective teaching, can be fully applied to the design of interactive and educational applications. Additionally, experiments can be conducted to determine or measure how much more effective a student’s learning efficiency has become when compared to applications that did not apply any form of educational learning theories or principles of effective teaching in its design.