Ben-Ari M., Sajaniemi J. (2003)
Roles of Variables From the Perspective of Computer Science Educators
University of Joensuu, Department of Computer Science, Technical Report, Series A, Report A-2003-6.
Abstract: Roles can be assigned to occurrences of variables in programs according to a small number of patterns of use that are both language- and algorithm-independent. Preliminary studies on explicitly teaching roles of variables to novice students have shown that roles are an excellent pedagogical tool for clarifying the structure and meaning of programs. This paper describes the results of an investigation designed to test the understandability and acceptability of the role concept and of the individual roles, as seen by computer science educators. The investigation consisted of a short tutorial on roles, a brief training session on assigning roles to variables, a test evaluating the subjectss ability to assign roles, and a set of open questions concerning their opinions of roles. The responses of 51 computer science educators were analyzed. Roles were identified by 85 % accuracy, and in typical uses of variables by 93 % accuracy. Subjects' comments on the role concept in general were mostly positive, and they believed that roles could contribute to understanding programs. The role set used in the investigation turned out to be suitable for describing variable usage in novice-level programs.
Last updated: August 1, 2005