Relevant Research

Motivation for Research on Educational Programming Environments (back on 1998)

In order to design and implement the new environment (objectKarel) research was carried out with the aim of:

• reviewing students’ difficulties, errors and misconceptions when introduced to programming

• categorizing approaches to teaching programming and the relevant educational tools

• categorizing the most important design principles for integrated novice programming environments

Review of Alternative Teaching Approaches and Tools

Programming Microworlds – Mini-languages: CARISTO, Boxer, LOGOMotion, StarLogo, MultiLogo, SuperLogo, BPS Robot Simulator, Karel The Robot, Karel++ for Windows, Karel-3D, Marta, Darel, RoboPascal for Delphi, Knobby’s World, Karel Genie, JKarelRobot, Jeroo, Karel J. Robot, Alice, ...

Compilers with Improved Diagnosing Capabilities: THETIS, CAP

Structure Editors – Iconic Programming Languages: MacGNOME Genies, Alice Pascal, BACCII, BACII++, FLINT, KidSim/Cocoa

Program Animation Systems (Software Visualization): DynaLab, AnimPascal, BlueJ

Applying Algorithm Animation Techniques: LENS

Program Auralization: CAITLIN, LogoMedia

Xinogalos, S. & Satratzemi, M. (2004) Introducing Novices to Programming: a review of Teaching Approaches and Educational Tools, Proceedings of the 2nd International Conference on Education and Information Systems, Technologies and Applications (EISTA 2004), Orlando, Florida, USA, July 21-25, Vol. 2, 60-65.

Didactical and Research Rationale of objectKarel

Selecting as the main teaching approach, Programming Microworlds:

• it is the only approach that solves nearly all the didactical problems of the classic approach

Incorporating the technology of Program Animation:

• supports students in comprehending the semantics of programming concepts/structures and flow of control

• supports students in debugging their programs

Incorporating the technology of Explanatory Visualization:

• provides an alternative means of visualization that might suit better to some students

• deeper understanding of the meaning of concepts that are difficult for novices (such as control structures) and program flow of control

Although the programming language consists of a limited instruction set, we decided to incorporate a Structure Editor:

• focus on concepts and developing problem solving abilities

• teaching the material in less time

• teaching programming concepts to smaller aged students

Reporting user-friendly error messages:

• revealing the misconceptions that usually account for the errors

Incorporating a Series of Lessons containing theory and hands-on activities:

• teaching the material in less time

• familiarizing students with concepts before implementing programs

History of compilations

Xinogalos, S. & Satratzemi, M. (2002) Αn Integrated Programming Environment for Teaching the Object-Oriented Programming Paradigm, Lecture Notes in Computer Science (LNCS), 2510, Shafazand Η Α Min Tjoa (Eds.), Springer Verlag, 544-551.

Pilot Use and Evaluation of objectKarel

Participants:

• 19 undergraduate students of the Department of Applied Informatics (working in groups of two)

• conditions for participating:

  • students should have difficulties in programming (had failed the exams)

  • students had to attend six 2-hour lessons, to fill-in two questionnaires at the beginning and at the end of the lessons

• «reward»: credits for the course «Introduction to Programming»

Material:

• teaching took place entirely in the lab using the environment of objectKarel Camtasia Recorder was used for recording (video) two of the groups

The design of the study:

• Lessons:

1. Objects - Classes

2. Inheritance

3. Polymorphism & Overriding

4. Selection Structures

5. Repetition Structures

6. Evaluation

• Duration of each lesson: 2 hours

• Frequency: weekly

Conclusions

The overall design of the lessons was successfully applied:

• the general didactical aims of the 5 lessons were achieved in a high degree

• students faced difficulties with selection structures, a fact that shows that an extra lesson is needed

• some students faced difficulties with the concepts of polymorphism and overriding

Students’ performance was very good:

• students comprehended the basic OOP concepts and control structures

• several misconceptions recorded in the literature regarding OOP were not recorded in our study

The programming environment in combination with the series of lessons supported students and made it possible to teach the main principles of the OOP paradigm in a short period of time.

All the features of the programming environment helped students:

Xinogalos, S., Satratzemi, M. & Dagdilelis, V. (2006) An Introduction to object-oriented programming with a didactic microworld: objectKarel, Computers & Education, Volume 47, Issue 2, September 2006, 148-171, Elsevier Publishers.

Comparing the Evaluation of objectKarel's Features by Students with Different Levels of Experience

Comparing the evaluation of objectKarel’s features by two groups of students with different level of experience in programming languages and environments, and proposing design guidelines for programming environments:

• Incorporate brief and concise theory and hands-on activities to the environment

• Use a combination of a structure – text editor

• Use explanatory visualization in combination with program animation

Xinogalos, S., Satratzemi, M. & Dagdilelis, V. (2006), Evaluating objectKarel - an educational programming environment for object oriented programming, In A. Mendez-Vilas et al. (eds) "Current Developments in Technology-Assisted Education”, vol. 2, 821-825, Formatex press.

Studying Students’ Conceptual Grasp of Fundamental OOP Concepts in objectKarel and BlueJ

• students’ conceptual grasp is deeper in objectKarel

• objectKarel can not be used for teaching the real thing

• the combined use of the two environments is proposed

Xinogalos, S., Satratzemi, M. & Dagdilelis, V. (2007), A Comparison of Two Object-Oriented Programming Environments for Novices, Proceedings of the 10th IASTED International Conference on Computers and Advanced Technology in Education (CATE 2007), 8 -10 October 2007, Beijing, China, 49-54.