Abstract:

In this work we wish to discover the problems that can appear when we try to change the programming language used during practice sessions. To do this, we have designed an experience that present a change of programming language in a practical assignment in degrees taught at the University of Alicante. This study aims to analyze the impact of this language shift. We have the option to compare the solution of the same practical exercise in two different subjects that are taught in two different degrees. The degrees involved are the degree of Physics and the degree of Sound and Image in Telecommunication Engineering (SITE).

We have designed two interactive notebooks, one programmed in MATLAB and other in Python (using the Google Collab tool). The students of SITE must program part of the code using MATLAB, which is the main language used during their academic training, while the students of the degree of Physics are mainly trained in using Python. This will allow us to test the influence of the programming language used in their learning.

So, we provide the same, or a similar notebook, programmed using two languages to both groups of students. The aim is to see if the language selected influences how the students assimilate the concepts involved. These concepts are about sampling, quantification and recovery signals, and they are presented for the first time in both groups. We also encourage students to try to understand how the different notebooks are programmed. To evaluate the results, an anonymous survey has been designed where they are asked about their experience, separating them into groups and relating them to the perception they have about the different programming languages and the experience perceived with the programming environment.

The analysis of the survey suggests that the programming language most used in previous subjects is preferred for understanding the involved concepts. However, we also observed a positive perception of the other language, reflecting that students would be receptive to the incorporation of another programming language in their training. We find that changing the programming tool should be a decision that involves the entire degree program.

Keywords:

Python, Matlab, Higher Education, Digital Signal Processing.