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Worked examples are an educational tool widely used in introductory computer science classes, primarily for programming and code-tracing concepts. Prior research supports the use of worked examples as a scaffolding mechanism to help students build a solid foundation before tackling problems on their own. Whether breaking down the intricacies of code or explaining abstract theoretical concepts, worked examples offer a structured approach that nurtures a deeper understanding during self-study. This study explores how peer-created worked examples, shown through detailed step-by-step videos, aid student learning in an intermediate-level computer science course, namely computer systems. Our results suggest that worked-example videos are a useful study aid for intermediate computer science courses, such as computer systems. Students who watched the worked-example videos found them to be very helpful, and ranked them as the top study aid for succeeding on quizzes. Additionally, students with access to worked-example videos performed moderately better on quizzes compared to students without worked-example videos. Our results and experiences also suggest that worked-example videos are beneficial to the students who created them as well as their peers who use them.
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This content will become publicly available on February 12, 2026
ASM Visualizer: A Learning Tool for Assembly Programming
We present ASM Visualizer, a tool that is designed to help students learn assembly programming, aiding in their understanding of how assembly instructions are executed and the relationship between assembly and equivalent high-level language code. Our tool allows a user to step both forward and backward through the execution of an assembly program, one instruction at a time, seeing how instruc- tions use and modify values in stack memory and CPU registers. ASM Visualizer presents three user-interface modes, supporting different stages of learning assembly programming. Beginners can step through basic arithmetic instructions, whereas more advanced learners can trace through function call/return sequences, stack frame manipulation, or entire assembly programs. We present our experiences using ASM Visualizer in introductory-level courses at our two institutions, and we discuss other ways in which our tool could be used by educators in both introductory and advanced CS courses. Results from a preliminary assessment of students using our tool show that students gain confidence in their understanding of different aspects of assembly programming. We feel that the visual interface to assembly code execution that ASM Visualizer provides is key to helping students understand assembly.
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- PAR ID:
- 10579296
- Publisher / Repository:
- ACM
- Date Published:
- ISBN:
- 9798400705311
- Page Range / eLocation ID:
- 840 to 846
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Location:
- Pittsburgh PA USA
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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