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Using Roles of Variables to Enhance Novices Debugging Work

Mikko-Jussi Laakso, Lauri Malmi, Ari Korhonen, Teemu Rajala, Erkki Kaila, Tapio Salakoski, Using Roles of Variables to Enhance Novices Debugging Work. Journal of Information Technology Education: Innovations in Practice 5, 281–296, 2008.

Abstract:

Debugging skill is an essent ial part of the programming skills. It is also highly related with program comprehension skills. In this paper we present a novel tool, called ViLLE, which supports learning debugging by promoting students' understanding of target program. ViLLE
combines visual debugging features with the support for roles of variables. These roles promote activating schemas of variable use in programs. In addition, ViLLE supports automatic presentation ofthe target program in different programming languages, even in pseudo code or with textual explanations. This, in turn, helps in building more general and abstract understanding of program structures and their relation to problem domain concepts. The key features of the tool are presented, followed by a discussion of how the tool should be used in programming education.

BibTeX entry:

@ARTICLE{jLaMaKoRaKaSa08a,
  title = {Using Roles of Variables to Enhance Novices Debugging Work},
  author = {Laakso, Mikko-Jussi and Malmi, Lauri and Korhonen, Ari and Rajala, Teemu and Kaila, Erkki and Salakoski, Tapio},
  journal = {Journal of Information Technology Education: Innovations in Practice},
  volume = {5},
  pages = {281–296},
  year = {2008},
  keywords = {Debugging, Roles of variables, Novice programming, Porgram visualization},
}

Belongs to TUCS Research Unit(s): Learning and Reasoning Lab

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