Sprego: case study on the effectiveness of teaching spreadsheet management with schema construction

Abstract

In the modern, information driven society managing and handling data is unavoidable. The most common form of data handling is to organize data into tables and complete operations on them in spreadsheets. Sprego (Spreadsheet Lego) is a programming-oriented methodology focusing on schemata construction and authentic problem-solving working with only a limited number of general-purpose functions. In our current study the goal is to present Sprego as an alternative method for spreadsheeting, and to measure its effectiveness in education compared to the traditional surface approach methods. We also aim to highlight the advantages of teaching datamanagement, spreadsheeting, and introduction to programming by applying an algorithmic and schemata centric method in a user-friendly interface. The teaching and testing were carried out in three classes of a local middle and high school with two experimental and one control groups. Based on our results, it is found that the Sprego methodology is significantly more effective than the traditional surface approach methods. Furthermore, it is also proved, in accordance with similar studies in sciences, that students, who had studied traditional spreadsheet management in advance to this experience, have difficulties switching to Sprego. Although these students alternate between the two approaches, our measurements clearly prove that the traditional approach is pushed into the background, as students prefer to solve problems using Sprego. Our findings also imply that traditional methods do not develop long-lasting knowledge which students could rely on, and have a negative effect on their development, while Sprego seems much more reliable.