The Design and Evaluation of Visual-Semantic Programming for Computer Science Education

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Author
Date
2024Type
- Doctoral Thesis
ETH Bibliography
yes
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Abstract
Computer programming is often perceived as a challenging cognitive activity, especially for novices. A key factor contributing to this difficulty is the disconnect between how a program is composed and its effects when it is run. The motivating question of this thesis is: how can we bridge the gap between program composition and execution to make programming more accessible to beginners? To address this challenge, we present Algot, a visual-semantic programming language designed to provide a direct, tangible connection between program composition and its execution. Unlike visual-syntactic languages that focus on code manipulation alone, Algot allows users to write programs by manipulating semantically meaningful components that represent the program state. It employs programming by demonstration, enabling programmers to specify a program by visually performing its intended execution path on one or more sets of inputs. Additionally, Algot functions as a live programming environment, continuously displaying the current program state to foster an immediate connection between the programmer’s mental model and the program's behavior. Show more
Permanent link
https://doi.org/10.3929/ethz-b-000717610Publication status
publishedExternal links
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Publisher
ETH ZurichSubject
visual programming; computer science education; visual semantics; programming by demonstration; live programmingOrganisational unit
09628 - Su, Zhendong / Su, Zhendong
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ETH Bibliography
yes
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