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We propose and evaluate a lightweight strategy for tracing code that can be efficiently taught to novice programmers, building off of recent findings on "sketching" when tracing. This strategy helps novices apply the syntactic and semantic knowledge they are learning by encouraging line-by-line tracing and providing an external representation of memory for them to update. To evaluate the effect of teaching this strategy, we conducted a block-randomized experiment with 24 novices enrolled in a university-level CS1 course. We spent only 5-10 minutes introducing the strategy to the experimental condition. We then asked both conditions to think-aloud as they predicted the output of short programs. Students using this strategy scored on average 15% higher than students in the control group for the tracing problems used the study (p<0.05). Qualitative analysis of think-aloud and interview data showed that tracing systematically (line-by-line and "sketching" intermediate values) led to better performance and that the strategy scaffolded and encouraged systematic tracing. Students who learned the strategy also scored on average 7% higher on the course midterm. These findings suggest that in <1 hour and without computer-based tools, we can improve CS1 students' tracing abilities by explicitly teaching a strategy.
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WIP: Evaluating the Impact on a User’s Motivation To Improve Their Sketching Ability Due to the Gamification of a User Interface
Sketching skills are developed over time through practice, requiring students to stay motivated to continue improving. Gamification has been shown to be helpful in keeping users motivated, so this work seeks to investigate the impact of gamification on the user’s motivation to practice sketching skills in the intelligent tutoring system, SketchTivity. Specifically, this work will evaluate the impact of gamified elements including achievement banners, star ratings, and performance statistics to give users feedback about their level of success after a sketching lesson. This concept will be explored through within subjects focus group testing where participants will interact with each version of the interface, describe their experiences in a think-aloud fashion, and discuss their preferences in a post-interview. The motivational impact of the gamified elements will be synthesized through thematic analysis of the think-aloud comments and interview data as well as statistical analysis of performance differences in terms of SketchTivity’s sketch quality metrics.
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- Award ID(s):
- 2013612
- PAR ID:
- 10418342
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- Joint Proceedings of the ACM IUI Workshops 2023
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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As the need for interdisciplinary collaboration increases, industry needs engineers who are not only affluent in technical engineering skills but also efficient in skills such as communication, problem-solving, engineering ethics, and business management. As a result, engineering programs are tasked with providing students with sufficient opportunities to develop non-technical professional skills to better prepare them for the workforce. Previous research has focused on exploring how and where students tend to develop profession skills and assessments have been established to measure the level of professional skills. However, without a means to measure whether students are getting sufficient opportunities for development, it is hard for educators and engineering programs to determine whether or where scaffolding are needed. We developed an instrument to assess undergraduate engineering students’ opportunities for professional skill development. To increase content validity, we conducted 20 think-aloud interviews with students from a large Midwestern university. The aim of this WIP is two-fold. We present the preliminary results of the think-aloud interview to determine what changes need to be made to existing items and what emerging themes appear regarding to participants’ professional skill development opportunities. After thematic analysis of the interview transcripts, we revised 10 items by simplifying the grammar or altering certain words that tend to confuse participants or carry negative connotations. We found that, compared to students who have only been involved in class projects, those with co-curricular experiences tend to report more opportunities in skills related to business management principles and problem-solving skills. Co-curricular activities were also the most referenced in building communication skills. Our next step will be piloting the instrument across multiple institutions and conducting validation analysis.more » « less
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