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People often learn programming in face-to-face courses or online tutorials. Interactive computer tutors---systems that provide learning content interactively---are becoming more common in online tools such as those teaching computer programming. Studies have shown that teachers, interactive computer tutors, and the combination of both are efficient and effective in teaching programming. However, there is limited understanding of the comparative perspectives of learners learning from these two different sources. We conducted an exploratory study using semi-structured interviews and recruited 20 participants with programming experience from both teachers and interactive computer tutors. Speaking with our participants, we surfaced factors that learners like and dislike from the two learning resources and discussed the strengths and weaknesses between the two. Based on our findings, we discuss implications for designs that programming educators and interactive computer tutor developers can use to improve their teaching effectiveness.
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Comparison of Learning Programming Between Interactive Computer Tutors and Human Teachers
People typically learn programming from teachers in in-person courses or online tutorials. Interactive computer tutors---systems that deliver learning content interactively---have become more prevalent in online settings for teaching skills such as computer programming. Research has shown the efficiency and effectiveness of learning programming from teachers, interactive computer tutors, and a combination of both. However, there is limited understanding of learners' comparative perspectives about their experience learning from these different resources. We conducted an exploratory study using semi-structured interviews, recruiting 20 participants that had experience learning programming from both teachers and interactive computer tutors. We identified factors that learners like and dislike from both learning methods and discussed the strengths and weaknesses of them. Based on our findings, we propose suggestions for designers of interactive computer tutors, and for programming educators.
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- Award ID(s):
- 1657160
- PAR ID:
- 10099127
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- ACM Global Computing Education Conference (CompEd)
- Page Range / eLocation ID:
- 2 to 8
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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- Free Publicly Accessible Full Text
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Accepted Manuscript1.0
- Conference Paper:
- https://doi.org/10.1145/3300115.3309506
