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How can we teach students to use more readable code structures? How common is it for students to choose less readable (but still functional) alternatives? We explore these questions for a specific anti-pattern: using sequential if statements when conditions are exclusive (rather than using else-if or else). We created and validated an automated detector to identify this anti-pattern in student's code. Running the detector on 1,764 homework submissions (from 270 students in a CS2 class on data structures and algorithms) showed that this anti-pattern was common and varied by assignment: across 12 assignments, 3% to 50% of submissions used sequential ifs for exclusive cases. However, using this anti-pattern did not preclude using else-ifs: across assignments, up to 34% of the submissions used both forms. Further, students used sequential if statements in surprising ways, such as checking a condition and then the negation of that condition, indicating a more novice level of understanding than expected for an intermediate course. Hand-inspection of the detector-flagged cases suggests that sequential ifs for exclusive cases may be a code smell that can indicate larger problems with logic and abstraction. 

Integrating sensors and screen interfaces directly into mobility devices offers individuals living with mobility issues, and medical providers, the opportunity to monitor health data and offer patient-specific therapeutic feedback in real time. This paper presents a series of prototypes that were developed in order to assess how these features can be optimally integrated into common mobility devices such as the walking cane. The early prototypes explored strategies for mounting a smartphone to a cane, as a low-cost strategy for improving mobility and reducing isolation by making use of smartphone apps for wayfinding, gait tracking, and video-conferencing. The later prototypes focused on the non-invasive integration of physiological sensors, in particular a pulse oximeter, to provide instantaneous physiological data to both the user and healthcare providers. Through a process of prototyping and critique, and integrating feedback from users, we developed an iterative series of designs that explore new strategies for affordable and easily accessible assistive technology. We conclude with a discussion of how these design strategies might be further developed and combined in order to provide more opportunities for seniors living with mobility issues to age in place.