A multi-national study of reading and tracing skills in novice programmers

Lister, R; Fone, W; McCartney, R; Seppälä, O; Adams, ES; Hamer, J; Moström, JE; Simon, B; Fitzgerald, S; Lindholm, M; Sanders, K; Thomas, L

A multi-national study of reading and tracing skills in novice programmers

Lister, R

Fone, W McCartney, R Seppälä, O Adams, ES Hamer, J Moström, JE Simon, B Fitzgerald, S Lindholm, M Sanders, K Thomas, L

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Publication Type:: Journal Article
Citation:: SIGCSE Bulletin (Association for Computing Machinery, Special Interest Group on Computer Science Education), 2004, 36 (4), pp. 119 - 150
Issue Date:: 2004-12-01

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Field	Value	Language
dc.contributor.author	Lister, R https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5780-0445	en_US
dc.contributor.author	Fone, W	en_US
dc.contributor.author	McCartney, R	en_US
dc.contributor.author	Seppälä, O	en_US
dc.contributor.author	Adams, ES	en_US
dc.contributor.author	Hamer, J	en_US
dc.contributor.author	Moström, JE	en_US
dc.contributor.author	Simon, B	en_US
dc.contributor.author	Fitzgerald, S	en_US
dc.contributor.author	Lindholm, M	en_US
dc.contributor.author	Sanders, K	en_US
dc.contributor.author	Thomas, L	en_US
dc.date.issued	2004-12-01	en_US
dc.identifier.citation	SIGCSE Bulletin (Association for Computing Machinery, Special Interest Group on Computer Science Education), 2004, 36 (4), pp. 119 - 150	en_US
dc.identifier.issn	0097-8418	en_US
dc.identifier.uri	http://hdl.handle.net/10453/4126
dc.description.abstract	A study by a ITiCSE 2001 working group ("the McCracken Group") established that many students do not know how to program at the conclusion of their introductory courses. A popular explanation for this incapacity is that the students lack the ability to problem-solve. That is, they lack the ability to take a problem description, decompose it into sub-problems and implement them, then assemble the pieces into a complete solution. An alternative explanation is that many students have a fragile grasp of both basic programming principles and the ability to systematically carry out routine programming tasks, such as tracing (or "desk checking") through code. This ITiCSE 2004 working group studied the alternative explanation, by testing students from seven countries, in two ways. First, students were tested on their ability to predict the outcome of executing a short piece of code. Second, students were tested on their ability, when given the desired function of short piece of near-complete code, to select the correct completion of the code from a small set of possibilities. Many students were weak at these tasks, especially the latter task, suggesting that such students have a fragile grasp of skills that are a prerequisite for problem-solving.	en_US
dc.relation.ispartof	SIGCSE Bulletin (Association for Computing Machinery, Special Interest Group on Computer Science Education)	en_US
dc.relation.isbasedon	10.1145/1041624.1041673	en_US
dc.subject.classification	Education	en_US
dc.title	A multi-national study of reading and tracing skills in novice programmers	en_US
dc.type	Journal Article
utslib.citation.volume	4	en_US
utslib.citation.volume	36	en_US
utslib.for	0899 Other Information and Computing Sciences	en_US
dc.location.activity	Melbourne, Australia
pubs.embargo.period	Not known	en_US
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney/Faculty of Engineering and Information Technology
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney/Faculty of Engineering and Information Technology/School of Computer Science
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney/Strength - HCTD - Human Centred Technology Design
utslib.copyright.status	open_access
pubs.issue	4	en_US
pubs.publication-status	Published	en_US
pubs.volume	36	en_US

Abstract:

A study by a ITiCSE 2001 working group ("the McCracken Group") established that many students do not know how to program at the conclusion of their introductory courses. A popular explanation for this incapacity is that the students lack the ability to problem-solve. That is, they lack the ability to take a problem description, decompose it into sub-problems and implement them, then assemble the pieces into a complete solution. An alternative explanation is that many students have a fragile grasp of both basic programming principles and the ability to systematically carry out routine programming tasks, such as tracing (or "desk checking") through code. This ITiCSE 2004 working group studied the alternative explanation, by testing students from seven countries, in two ways. First, students were tested on their ability to predict the outcome of executing a short piece of code. Second, students were tested on their ability, when given the desired function of short piece of near-complete code, to select the correct completion of the code from a small set of possibilities. Many students were weak at these tasks, especially the latter task, suggesting that such students have a fragile grasp of skills that are a prerequisite for problem-solving.

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http://hdl.handle.net/10453/4126