IRJET- Introduction of Programming Skills in Peer Tutoring Programme for Engineering Students
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The document discusses the introduction of programming skills sessions into the peer tutoring program at the Faculty of Engineering & Technology at Multimedia University in Malaysia. Specifically: - Programming skills classes in MATLAB and PSpice were recently added to supplement regular subjects tutored in the peer program. - Feedback from students who attended the programming sessions was positive, with most rating the sessions as good or very good. Students found the peer tutors knowledgeable and topics like image processing interesting. - The addition of programming skills sessions was found to benefit students by helping improve their foundational programming knowledge and skills needed for engineering projects and courses.
![International Research Journal of Engineering and Technology (IRJET) e-ISSN: 2395-0056
Volume: 06 Issue: 11 | Nov 2019 www.irjet.net p-ISSN: 2395-0072
© 2019, IRJET | Impact Factor value: 7.34 | ISO 9001:2008 Certified Journal | Page 2048
Introduction of Programming skills in Peer Tutoring Programme for
Engineering Students
Yasothei Suppiah1, Tan Chun Fui2, Lim Way Soong3
1Lecturer, Faculty of Engineering &Technology, Multimedia University, Melaka, Malaysia
2Lecturer, Faculty of Engineering &Technology, Multimedia University, Melaka, Malaysia
3Associate Professor, Faculty of Engineering &Technology, Multimedia University, Melaka, Malaysia
---------------------------------------------------------------------***----------------------------------------------------------------------
Abstract - The peer tutoring programme is conducted by
student volunteers as a supplement to the ongoing lectures
and tutorials classes in Faculty of Engineering & Technology,
Multimedia University (FET-MMU). InFET-MMUpeertutoring
programme, programming skills classes are recently
introduced besides the normal subjects. Studentswhohavethe
capabilities of teaching other students in programming skills
are encouraged to join as peer tutors. Thefeedbackfromthose
attended the programme havebeenstudiedandanalysed. This
implementation was found to be very effective and useful to
the Engineering students.
Key Words: (Size 10 & Bold) Peer Tutoring, FET-MMU,
programming skills, MATLAB, PSpice
1. INTRODUCTION
The peer tutoring programme is widely applied in many
universities or colleges which involves senior students
assisting junior students as academic tutors. Peer-tutoring
serves as a programme that supports new students’
adjustment, [1] and it can be defined as ‘the acquisition of
knowledge and skill through active helping and supporting
among status equals or matched companions, where both
tutees and tutors benefit from the transaction’, [2] .
There is no denial of the importance of computer
programming skills for engineering students in their early
years of their university education, [3] and [4]. The benefits
of adapting computer programming in the engineering
curriculum has shown to enhance students’ skills in logical
reasoning, quantitativeproblemsolving andinapplicationof
technical knowledge, [5]. Although computing has become
an integral part in engineering courses, teaching
programming skills have becomea pedagogical challengefor
many higher learning institutions, [6].
In FET-MMU, the computer programming skills are
incorporated into the syllabus for electronics engineering
such as ECP 1016 Computer and Program Design and ECP
4206 Object Oriented Programming with C++. It was found
that there is a need to emphasize computer programming
skills among engineering students as there were many
students were lacking the fundamental programming
knowledge. This have affected their progress in developing
projects and other challenging engineering subjects.
Although computer based subjects are being taught in
lectures and labs, many students still fail to grasp the
foundation of the computer languages and its
implementation.
The advantage of peer tutoring programme can be found in
many studies such as, [7] and [8]. The success of FET-MMU
peer tutoring programme can be observed in [9]. In their
paper, they have shown how the model is built and
implemented. The effectiveness of the model is reflected in
the good performance of students in their examination.
2. Computer programming session in FET-MMU peer
tutoring programme
The FET-MMU has been organizing the peer tutoring
programme since year 2012 for the engineering students.
This programme is introduced where peer tutors teach and
coach the junior students on volunteer basis without any
payment. Many students have joined this programme and
gained motivation towards their studies and their academic
achievements can be observed in [9]. Very recently, the FET-
MMU peer tutoring programme has taken an additional
measurein providing ahelpinghandtoimprovethestudents’
academic performance by providing computer skills classes.
First, an announcement is posted for the recruitment of peer
tutors for the computer programming session at the faculty
bulletin board, the FET-MMU peer tutoring website, peer
tutoring facebook and at the MMLS (multimedia learning
system of MMU). The recruitment of peer tutors is not an
easy task as this programme is a voluntary basis conducted
by senior students. Besides this, the tutors need to be
academically sound in programming, scored good grades in
their studies especiallytheprogrammingsubjectsandwilling
to contribute their knowledge and time to coach other
students. The selected peer tutors then consult the
academicians who teaches computer programming or other
complex engineering subjects which requires programming
knowledge.
Matlab is a well-known programming software forengineers
which has a good modelling capabilities with diverse
application. This software is available in our faculty labs
which is convenient to handle the programming session.The
module or topics covered for the programming session are
introduction of matlab, vectors, matrices and basic plotting,
logicalandrelationaloperations,waveformgeneration,signal
processing and image processing. These topics are essential
for the electrical or electronics engineering students.](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/irjet-v6i11229-200125055123/85/IRJET-Introduction-of-Programming-Skills-in-Peer-Tutoring-Programme-for-Engineering-Students-1-320.jpg)
![International Research Journal of Engineering and Technology (IRJET) e-ISSN: 2395-0056
Volume: 06 Issue: 11 | Nov 2019 www.irjet.net p-ISSN: 2395-0072
© 2019, IRJET | Impact Factor value: 7.34 | ISO 9001:2008 Certified Journal | Page 2050
Chart -4: Survey on whether students recommend the
Matlab session to other students
Based on Chart 4, all students agreed that this programme
will be beneficial to other students as well as they would
recommend for others to attend.
Chart -5: Survey on time slots, tutoring hours and class
size
Chart 5 shows that 67% of the students have no issues in of
the time slots, tutoring hours and class sizes. The classes are
conducted at night to accommodate both the tutors and
tutees availability. Some students find it difficult to travel at
night to campus due to some transportation constraints.
In general, the students who attended this Matlab program
are satisfied with the peer tutors and content of theprogram.
Most of them suggest that this programme should be offered
every trimester. The students foundthatthetutorswerevery
helpful, obliging and attended to every question and doubt
during the session. On the other hand, the feedback from
PSpice program observed that 21 students attended this
program. Almost all of the students find it very helpful and
useful in tackling their problems in their assignmentprojects
for the Electronics I subject.
4. CONCLUSIONS
The FET-MMU peer tutoring programme have expanded
their tutoring contribution for the engineering students by
offering computer programming sessions for students who
are weak in the programming skills. The program received
good feedback from students as they have benefited and
learned so much from the computer programming sessions.
The tutors who have contributed their time, knowledge and
energy in making thisprogrammea successiscommendable.
It is a good way of sharing knowledge and more universities
and colleges should implement the computer programming
classes in their peer tutoring programme.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
The authors would like to thank all the peer tutors whohave
contributed to this programme especially to Khaled
Alaghbari, Mohammed Ahmed Salem, MohammedMagzoub,
Tan Wee Xin Wilson and Marwan Qaid Abdulrazzaq
Mohammed.
REFERENCES
[1] R.N. Levitz, ‘Student Retention and College Completion
Practices Benchmark Report for Four-year and Two-
year Institutions’. Cedar Rapids. 2015
http://learn.ruffalonl.com/rs/395-EOG-
977/images/2015RetentionPracticesBenchmarkReport.
pd
[2] K. J. Topping, ‘Peer Tutoring: Old Method, New
Developments / Tutoría Entre Iguales: Método Antiguo,
Nuevos Avances.’Infancia y Aprendizaje 38 (1): 1–29,
2015. doi:10.1080/02103702.2014.996407
[3] M. H. N. Naraghi and B. Litkouhi, ‘An Effective approach
for teaching computer programming to freshman
engineering students’, Proceedings of the 2001
American Society for Engineering Education Annual
Conference & Exposition, 2001.
[4] R. Bualuan, ‘Teaching computer programming skills to
first-year engineering students using fun animation in
MATLAB,’ Proceedings of the 2006 AmericanSocietyfor
Engineering Education Annual Conference&Exposition,
2006.
[5] J. D. Bowen, ‘Motivating civil engineering students to
learn computer programming with a structural design
project,’ Proceedings of the 2004 American Society for
Engineering Education Annual Conference&Exposition,
2004.
[6] W. Sun & X. Sun, ‘Teaching Computer Programming
Skills to Engineering and Technology Students with a
Modular Programming Strategy’.Paper presented at
2011 ASEE Annual Conference &Exposition,Vancouver,
BC. https://peer.asee.org/18625](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/irjet-v6i11229-200125055123/85/IRJET-Introduction-of-Programming-Skills-in-Peer-Tutoring-Programme-for-Engineering-Students-3-320.jpg)
![International Research Journal of Engineering and Technology (IRJET) e-ISSN: 2395-0056
Volume: 06 Issue: 11 | Nov 2019 www.irjet.net p-ISSN: 2395-0072
© 2019, IRJET | Impact Factor value: 7.34 | ISO 9001:2008 Certified Journal | Page 2051
[7] J. P. Lassegard. ‘The effects of peer tutoring between
domestic and international students:thetutorsystemat
Japanese universities’, Higher Education Research
&Development, 27(4), 2008, pp. 357–369.
[8] C. Kunsch, A. Jitendra, and S. Sood. ‘The effects of peer-
mediated instruction in mathematics for students with
learning problems: A research synthesis’, Learning
Disabilities Research & Practice, 22(1), 2007, pp. 1-12.
[9] E. R. Joseph , K.O. Low, & L. W. Soong, ‘Peer tutoring in
higher education – a pedagogical tool for student-
centered teaching’, Conference on Association of
Southeast Asian Institutions of Higher Learning, Tokyo,
Japan, 2018.](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/irjet-v6i11229-200125055123/85/IRJET-Introduction-of-Programming-Skills-in-Peer-Tutoring-Programme-for-Engineering-Students-4-320.jpg)
IRJET- Introduction of Programming Skills in Peer Tutoring Programme for Engineering Students
- 1. International Research Journal of Engineering and Technology (IRJET) e-ISSN: 2395-0056 Volume: 06 Issue: 11 | Nov 2019 www.irjet.net p-ISSN: 2395-0072 © 2019, IRJET | Impact Factor value: 7.34 | ISO 9001:2008 Certified Journal | Page 2048 Introduction of Programming skills in Peer Tutoring Programme for Engineering Students Yasothei Suppiah1, Tan Chun Fui2, Lim Way Soong3 1Lecturer, Faculty of Engineering &Technology, Multimedia University, Melaka, Malaysia 2Lecturer, Faculty of Engineering &Technology, Multimedia University, Melaka, Malaysia 3Associate Professor, Faculty of Engineering &Technology, Multimedia University, Melaka, Malaysia ---------------------------------------------------------------------***---------------------------------------------------------------------- Abstract - The peer tutoring programme is conducted by student volunteers as a supplement to the ongoing lectures and tutorials classes in Faculty of Engineering & Technology, Multimedia University (FET-MMU). InFET-MMUpeertutoring programme, programming skills classes are recently introduced besides the normal subjects. Studentswhohavethe capabilities of teaching other students in programming skills are encouraged to join as peer tutors. Thefeedbackfromthose attended the programme havebeenstudiedandanalysed. This implementation was found to be very effective and useful to the Engineering students. Key Words: (Size 10 & Bold) Peer Tutoring, FET-MMU, programming skills, MATLAB, PSpice 1. INTRODUCTION The peer tutoring programme is widely applied in many universities or colleges which involves senior students assisting junior students as academic tutors. Peer-tutoring serves as a programme that supports new students’ adjustment, [1] and it can be defined as ‘the acquisition of knowledge and skill through active helping and supporting among status equals or matched companions, where both tutees and tutors benefit from the transaction’, [2] . There is no denial of the importance of computer programming skills for engineering students in their early years of their university education, [3] and [4]. The benefits of adapting computer programming in the engineering curriculum has shown to enhance students’ skills in logical reasoning, quantitativeproblemsolving andinapplicationof technical knowledge, [5]. Although computing has become an integral part in engineering courses, teaching programming skills have becomea pedagogical challengefor many higher learning institutions, [6]. In FET-MMU, the computer programming skills are incorporated into the syllabus for electronics engineering such as ECP 1016 Computer and Program Design and ECP 4206 Object Oriented Programming with C++. It was found that there is a need to emphasize computer programming skills among engineering students as there were many students were lacking the fundamental programming knowledge. This have affected their progress in developing projects and other challenging engineering subjects. Although computer based subjects are being taught in lectures and labs, many students still fail to grasp the foundation of the computer languages and its implementation. The advantage of peer tutoring programme can be found in many studies such as, [7] and [8]. The success of FET-MMU peer tutoring programme can be observed in [9]. In their paper, they have shown how the model is built and implemented. The effectiveness of the model is reflected in the good performance of students in their examination. 2. Computer programming session in FET-MMU peer tutoring programme The FET-MMU has been organizing the peer tutoring programme since year 2012 for the engineering students. This programme is introduced where peer tutors teach and coach the junior students on volunteer basis without any payment. Many students have joined this programme and gained motivation towards their studies and their academic achievements can be observed in [9]. Very recently, the FET- MMU peer tutoring programme has taken an additional measurein providing ahelpinghandtoimprovethestudents’ academic performance by providing computer skills classes. First, an announcement is posted for the recruitment of peer tutors for the computer programming session at the faculty bulletin board, the FET-MMU peer tutoring website, peer tutoring facebook and at the MMLS (multimedia learning system of MMU). The recruitment of peer tutors is not an easy task as this programme is a voluntary basis conducted by senior students. Besides this, the tutors need to be academically sound in programming, scored good grades in their studies especiallytheprogrammingsubjectsandwilling to contribute their knowledge and time to coach other students. The selected peer tutors then consult the academicians who teaches computer programming or other complex engineering subjects which requires programming knowledge. Matlab is a well-known programming software forengineers which has a good modelling capabilities with diverse application. This software is available in our faculty labs which is convenient to handle the programming session.The module or topics covered for the programming session are introduction of matlab, vectors, matrices and basic plotting, logicalandrelationaloperations,waveformgeneration,signal processing and image processing. These topics are essential for the electrical or electronics engineering students.
- 2. International Research Journal of Engineering and Technology (IRJET) e-ISSN: 2395-0056 Volume: 06 Issue: 11 | Nov 2019 www.irjet.net p-ISSN: 2395-0072 © 2019, IRJET | Impact Factor value: 7.34 | ISO 9001:2008 Certified Journal | Page 2049 Besides Matlab, PSpice is a simulation software for circuit. The FET-MMU peer tutoring programme has offered PSpice programmeforstudents whoare taking Electronics I subject or yet to take the subject in the following trimester. Once the module for the computer programming skill is developed, the faculty puts up another advertisement in the faculty portals for students’ recruitment to join the peer tutoringsession. Only limitedseatsareofferedforthesession as the purpose of this program is to help weak students or students who have failed the programming subjects. In this way,students receive more attentionandcoachingtimefrom their tutors. The tutors could also emphasize and tackle the problem faced by students especially in basic programming skills and the application of various tools in the software. 3. Feedback from the computer programming session The FET-MMU peer tutoring programme has organised the Matlab computer programming session in the past three trimesters. We observed and analysed the feedback given by students who have attended this Matlab programme. The feedback provided here is based on the last trimester’s academic session’s survey which is Trimester 1, 2019/2020. There are 15 students who have attended the Matlab programme in Trimester 1, 2019/2020. The students were required to answer the questionsbasedonassessmentscales rating from 1 to 5 where 1 denotes very poor,2denotespoor, 3 denotes average, 4 denotes good and 5 denotes very good. 0 20 40 60 80 Very Poor Poor Average Good Very Good % of students What is your overall assessment of the Matlab programming session? Chart -1: Survey on overall assessment of the Matlab session From Chart 1, it indicates that about 73% of students evaluate the overall performance of the Matlab session as very good and the rest of them rated is a good. Chart -2: Survey on peer tutor’s expertise in Matlab session Based on Chart 2, 80% of the students found that the peer tutors are very knowledgeable and capable in handling the Matlab session. 0 20 40 60 80 100 Vectors and Matrices Plotting graphs Signal Processing Image Processing % of students Which topic in Matlabsession you find it most useful or interesting? Chart -3: Survey on most useful or interesting topic in Matlab Chart 3 indicates that most students are interested in the image processing in the Matlab session followed by plotting graphs and vectors and matrices topics. The students are allowed to tick more than one choice for this question.
- 3. International Research Journal of Engineering and Technology (IRJET) e-ISSN: 2395-0056 Volume: 06 Issue: 11 | Nov 2019 www.irjet.net p-ISSN: 2395-0072 © 2019, IRJET | Impact Factor value: 7.34 | ISO 9001:2008 Certified Journal | Page 2050 Chart -4: Survey on whether students recommend the Matlab session to other students Based on Chart 4, all students agreed that this programme will be beneficial to other students as well as they would recommend for others to attend. Chart -5: Survey on time slots, tutoring hours and class size Chart 5 shows that 67% of the students have no issues in of the time slots, tutoring hours and class sizes. The classes are conducted at night to accommodate both the tutors and tutees availability. Some students find it difficult to travel at night to campus due to some transportation constraints. In general, the students who attended this Matlab program are satisfied with the peer tutors and content of theprogram. Most of them suggest that this programme should be offered every trimester. The students foundthatthetutorswerevery helpful, obliging and attended to every question and doubt during the session. On the other hand, the feedback from PSpice program observed that 21 students attended this program. Almost all of the students find it very helpful and useful in tackling their problems in their assignmentprojects for the Electronics I subject. 4. CONCLUSIONS The FET-MMU peer tutoring programme have expanded their tutoring contribution for the engineering students by offering computer programming sessions for students who are weak in the programming skills. The program received good feedback from students as they have benefited and learned so much from the computer programming sessions. The tutors who have contributed their time, knowledge and energy in making thisprogrammea successiscommendable. It is a good way of sharing knowledge and more universities and colleges should implement the computer programming classes in their peer tutoring programme. ACKNOWLEDGEMENT The authors would like to thank all the peer tutors whohave contributed to this programme especially to Khaled Alaghbari, Mohammed Ahmed Salem, MohammedMagzoub, Tan Wee Xin Wilson and Marwan Qaid Abdulrazzaq Mohammed. REFERENCES [1] R.N. Levitz, ‘Student Retention and College Completion Practices Benchmark Report for Four-year and Two- year Institutions’. Cedar Rapids. 2015 http://learn.ruffalonl.com/rs/395-EOG- 977/images/2015RetentionPracticesBenchmarkReport. pd [2] K. J. Topping, ‘Peer Tutoring: Old Method, New Developments / Tutoría Entre Iguales: Método Antiguo, Nuevos Avances.’Infancia y Aprendizaje 38 (1): 1–29, 2015. doi:10.1080/02103702.2014.996407 [3] M. H. N. Naraghi and B. Litkouhi, ‘An Effective approach for teaching computer programming to freshman engineering students’, Proceedings of the 2001 American Society for Engineering Education Annual Conference & Exposition, 2001. [4] R. Bualuan, ‘Teaching computer programming skills to first-year engineering students using fun animation in MATLAB,’ Proceedings of the 2006 AmericanSocietyfor Engineering Education Annual Conference&Exposition, 2006. [5] J. D. Bowen, ‘Motivating civil engineering students to learn computer programming with a structural design project,’ Proceedings of the 2004 American Society for Engineering Education Annual Conference&Exposition, 2004. [6] W. Sun & X. Sun, ‘Teaching Computer Programming Skills to Engineering and Technology Students with a Modular Programming Strategy’.Paper presented at 2011 ASEE Annual Conference &Exposition,Vancouver, BC. https://peer.asee.org/18625
- 4. International Research Journal of Engineering and Technology (IRJET) e-ISSN: 2395-0056 Volume: 06 Issue: 11 | Nov 2019 www.irjet.net p-ISSN: 2395-0072 © 2019, IRJET | Impact Factor value: 7.34 | ISO 9001:2008 Certified Journal | Page 2051 [7] J. P. Lassegard. ‘The effects of peer tutoring between domestic and international students:thetutorsystemat Japanese universities’, Higher Education Research &Development, 27(4), 2008, pp. 357–369. [8] C. Kunsch, A. Jitendra, and S. Sood. ‘The effects of peer- mediated instruction in mathematics for students with learning problems: A research synthesis’, Learning Disabilities Research & Practice, 22(1), 2007, pp. 1-12. [9] E. R. Joseph , K.O. Low, & L. W. Soong, ‘Peer tutoring in higher education – a pedagogical tool for student- centered teaching’, Conference on Association of Southeast Asian Institutions of Higher Learning, Tokyo, Japan, 2018.