Sajaniemi J., Kuittinen M. (2003)
Program Animation Based on the Roles of Variables
Proceedings ACM 2003 Symposium on Software Visualization (SoftVis 2003), San Diego, CA, June 2003. Association for Computing Machinery, 7-16. Best Paper Award.
Abstract: Computer programming is a difficult skill for many students and visualizations may be used to foster learning. This paper presents a program animation system, PlanAni, that is based on the concept of the roles of variables. Roles represent schematic uses of variables that occur in programs over and over again, and a set of nine roles covers practically all variables in novice-level programs. PlanAni has been tested in a teaching experiment comparing traditional teaching with role-based teaching and animation. The results of a semi-structured interview with the teacher indicate that students like to work with the animator and that the system clarifies many concepts in programming.
Last updated: August 1, 2005