Background of the Promotion of Programming Education in Singapore

In Singapore, most schools did not have computer science courses in the early days. Programming was only taught as part of the information and communication technology curriculum. These courses may introduce students to languages ​​such as Python or JavaScript, or they may focus more on the application of graphics and productivity tools, but they are not systematic or socialized.

Later, the National University of Singapore launched a semi-annual computer programming learning activity for secondary school, college, polytechnic and technical education students across the country. Non-university students aged 12 and above can complete the qualification by participating in a month-long online programme to qualify for the final live event. These events utilize the CodeCombat Arena system.

1. Curiosity, openness and decision-making Over the past six years, Singapore has been committed to building an open learning community for students who have a strong interest and curiosity in programming activities. Currently, thousands of students and more than 40 schools are using the community. To enhance the user experience, we organized two annual programming events and developed a learning platform called Achievements (http://achievements-prod.firebaseapp.com) that includes a variety of tool sets, providing programming learning services to approximately 240,000 young people aged 13-18 in Singapore.

2. Incremental Mastery in the Qualification Certification Stage The Achievements platform uses cloud technology and a complete set of mastery learning methods to free each student from the same learning timeline, support various online learning and on-site activities, and make it easier for senior members of the community (teachers) to organize and supervise students to participate in extracurricular programming activities.

Instructional programmers call courses that combine online and offline learning “fusion.” During the online event, 160 secondary schools, colleges, polytechnics and institutes of technical education (ITE) were invited to enter the biannual qualification certification phase. The qualification phase will be open for approximately one month, during which time students from eligible schools can complete their own and their school’s qualifications through online events hosted by Achievements, a regular qualification that brings together like-minded students from across Singapore.

3. Programming Challenge during the Live Activity Phase The Singapore team provided a live programming challenge, which not only observed students’ mastery of programming techniques, but also assessed their problem-solving and teamwork abilities. The coding challenge uses the CodeCombat coding arena to divide contestants into two groups based on each age group for an elimination tournament. Players, instructors and supporters were in the auditorium to watch both championships live. After each game, the host will evaluate the players' behavior and explain the logic behind their actions, reiterating the learning theme of the activity. The purpose of this event is not to declare the team with the most qualified players as the winner, nor is it to select a Python Master. Instead, the goal is to build a learning community based on students' shared interest in programming.

The future development of programming education in Singapore

The participant population of the Singapore Achievements learning community is large and stable enough, and learning materials and feedback are regularly integrated into learning activities. Extending the same model to the entire community, learners can generate their own questions, collect their own data, and draw their own conclusions about the community. The university also regularly hosts gatherings for local students, which enable students to communicate and inspire each other, in order to support students in solving problems and creating their own work.

Want to learn more? Click the button to learn more about campus introduction information!