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Cited by 10Teaching and Learning ProgrammingSpreadsheets and End-User ComputingEducational Robotics and Engineering

Towards Understanding Successful Novice Example Use in Blocks-Based Programming

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Ichinco, Michelle, Harms, Kyle, Kelleher, Caitlin·2017·Journal of Visual Languages and Sentient Systems
DOI 10.18293/vlss2017-012
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Abstract

Blocks-based environments are frequently used in settings where there is little or no access to teachers.Effective support for examples in blocks-based environments may help novices learn in the absence of human experts.However, existing research suggests that novices can struggle to use examples effectively.We conducted a study exploring the impacts of example-task similarity and annotation style on children's abilities to use examples in a blocks-based environment.To gain understanding of where and why children struggle, we examined the degree to which (1) children were able to map a task to its corresponding example, and (2) their programming behavior predicted task success.The results suggest that annotations improve task performance to an extent and that mappings and programming behavior can begin to explain the remaining problems novices have using examples.

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  • Ichinco et al. showed that novices struggle to use worked examples to solve block-based programming problems.

    “In novice programming environment, Ichinco et al. showed that novices struggle to use WEs to solve block-based programming problems [6].”

    From Exploring the Impact of Worked Examples in a Novice Programming Environment (2019) · cites this paper as [6]

  • Novices have difficulty in understanding the examples and finding relevant blocks to finish the programming task.

    “For example, they found that novices have difficulty in understanding the examples and finding relevant blocks to finish the programming task.”

    From Exploring the Impact of Worked Examples in a Novice Programming Environment (2019) · cites this paper as [6]

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Cited by

Sorted by citations

Authors
Ichinco, M., Harms, K., & Kelleher, C.
Affiliations
Washington University in St. Louis (US)
ORCID
Venue
Journal of Visual Languages and Sentient Systems
Publisher
KSI Research Inc.
Published
2017-07-05
Volume
3
Issue
1
Pages
101-118
ISSN
  • 2573-7147 (ISSN-L)
  • 2575-3916
DOI
10.18293/vlss2017-012
OpenAlex
W3215583323
Cited by
10
References
6
Citations by year
2025: 1 · 2024: 1 · 2023: 2 · 2022: 2 · 2020: 1 · 2019: 2 · 2017: 1
FWCI
1.31
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
Journal of Visual Languages and Sentient Systems (publishedVersion)
Topics
  • Physical Sciences › Computer Science › Computer Science Applications › Teaching and Learning Programming
  • Physical Sciences › Computer Science › Software › Spreadsheets and End-User Computing
  • Physical Sciences › Computer Science › Artificial Intelligence › Educational Robotics and Engineering
Keywords
learning from examples, novice programmers, children, task mapping, self-paced learning, programming education

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