In search of contextual teaching of progranlvhng in a tanzanian secondary school
Marcus Duveskog, Erkki Sutinen, Matti Tedre, Mikko Vesisenaho · 2004
Teaching programming in non-Western surroundings reveals the cultural roots and dependencies of Computer Science. Both the concepts and the teaching methods of the discipline needed to be rethought in a teaching experiment carried out in Kidugala, Tanzania, among secondary school students. Following the idea of contextualized Computer Science, called ethnocomputing, we used culturally relevant entry points to teach the basics of programming. HIV/AIDS was chosen as the topic of an Internet site, to be designed and implemented by novice programmers, using the Java language. Analyzed by action research, our experiences indicate a significant motivation among the students to learn programming skills in order to be able to deal with a taboo-like topic on a neutral platform - a computer. The experiment suggests that a culturally relevant entry point, combined with problem-based learning, could challenge novice programmers also in Western societies; a side-effect of studying Computer Science education in a less developed country.