Programming language, natural language? Supporting the diverse computational activities of novice programmers. (April 2017)
- Record Type:
- Journal Article
- Title:
- Programming language, natural language? Supporting the diverse computational activities of novice programmers. (April 2017)
- Main Title:
- Programming language, natural language? Supporting the diverse computational activities of novice programmers
- Authors:
- Good, Judith
Howland, Kate - Abstract:
- Abstract: Given the current focus on teaching computational concepts to all from an early age, combined with the growing trend to empower end users to become producers of technology rather than mere consumers, we consider the issue of "computational notation". Specifically, where the goal is to help individuals develop their understanding of computation and/or use computation in real world settings, we question whether natural language might be a preferred notation to traditional programming languages, given its familiarity and ubiquity. We describe three empirical studies investigating the use of natural language for computation in which we found that although natural language provides support for understanding computational concepts, it introduces additional difficulties when used for coding. We distilled our findings into a set of design guidelines for novice programming environments which consider the ways in which different notations, including natural language, can best support the various activities that comprise programming. These guidelines were embodied in Flip, a bi-modal programming language used in conjunction with the Electron toolset, which allows young people to create their own commercial quality, narrative based role- playing games. Two empirical studies on the use of Flip in three different real world contexts considered the extent to which the design guidelines support ease of use and an understanding of computation. The guidelines have potential to be ofAbstract: Given the current focus on teaching computational concepts to all from an early age, combined with the growing trend to empower end users to become producers of technology rather than mere consumers, we consider the issue of "computational notation". Specifically, where the goal is to help individuals develop their understanding of computation and/or use computation in real world settings, we question whether natural language might be a preferred notation to traditional programming languages, given its familiarity and ubiquity. We describe three empirical studies investigating the use of natural language for computation in which we found that although natural language provides support for understanding computational concepts, it introduces additional difficulties when used for coding. We distilled our findings into a set of design guidelines for novice programming environments which consider the ways in which different notations, including natural language, can best support the various activities that comprise programming. These guidelines were embodied in Flip, a bi-modal programming language used in conjunction with the Electron toolset, which allows young people to create their own commercial quality, narrative based role- playing games. Two empirical studies on the use of Flip in three different real world contexts considered the extent to which the design guidelines support ease of use and an understanding of computation. The guidelines have potential to be of use both in analysing the use of natural language in existing novice programming environments, and in the design of new ones. Abstract : Highlights: Natural language presents problems when used for program generation. Natural language is beneficial when used for program comprehension and debugging. Novice programming environments should use multiple notations for support. … (more)
- Is Part Of:
- Journal of visual languages & computing. Volume 39(2017)
- Journal:
- Journal of visual languages & computing
- Issue:
- Volume 39(2017)
- Issue Display:
- Volume 39, Issue 2017 (2017)
- Year:
- 2017
- Volume:
- 39
- Issue:
- 2017
- Issue Sort Value:
- 2017-0039-2017-0000
- Page Start:
- 78
- Page End:
- 92
- Publication Date:
- 2017-04
- Subjects:
- Novice programming languages -- Natural language -- Design -- Empirical evaluation
Visual programming languages (Computer science) -- Periodicals
Visual programming (Computer science) -- Periodicals
Programming languages (Electronic computers) -- Semantics -- Periodicals
Langages de programmation visuelle -- Périodiques
Programmation visuelle -- Périodiques
Langages de programmation -- Sémantique -- Périodiques
Programming languages (Electronic computers) -- Semantics
Visual programming (Computer science)
Visual programming languages (Computer science)
Periodicals
Electronic journals
005 - Journal URLs:
- http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/journal/1045926X ↗
http://www.elsevier.com/journals ↗ - DOI:
- 10.1016/j.jvlc.2016.10.008 ↗
- Languages:
- English
- ISSNs:
- 1045-926X
- Deposit Type:
- Legaldeposit
- View Content:
- Available online (eLD content is only available in our Reading Rooms) ↗
- Physical Locations:
- British Library DSC - 5072.495200
British Library DSC - BLDSS-3PM
British Library HMNTS - ELD Digital store - Ingest File:
- 21840.xml