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ViDA: A virtual debugging advisor for supporting learning in computer programming courses.

Abstract: Many students need assistance in debugging to achieve progress when they learn to write computer programs. Face‐to‐face interactions with individual students to give feedback on their programs, although definitely effective in facilitating their learning, are becoming difficult to achieve...

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Published in:Journal of Computer Assisted Learning Vol. 34; no. 3; pp. 243 - 259
Main Authors: Lee, V. C. S., Yu, Y. T., Tang, C. M., Wong, T. L., Poon, C. K.
Format: pictorial research tables/charts Journal Article
Published: Wiley-Blackwell Jun2018
Online Access:View this record in EBSCOhost
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      jtl: Journal of Computer Assisted Learning
      issn: 02664909
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      dt: Jun2018
      vid: 34
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      pub: Wiley-Blackwell
      place: Malden, Massachusetts
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        129452900
        129452900
        129452900
        10.1111/jcal.12238
        129452900
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        atl: ViDA: A virtual debugging advisor for supporting learning in computer programming courses.
      aug:
        au:
          Lee, V. C. S.
          Yu, Y. T.
          Tang, C. M.
          Wong, T. L.
          Poon, C. K.
        affil: Department of Computer Science, City University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong
      sug:
        subj:
          Computers and Computerization
          Software
          Computer Viruses
          Learning Methods
          Computer-Assisted Instruction
          Outcomes of Education
          Funding Source
          Questionnaires
          Human
          Students, College
          Descriptive Statistics
          Summated Rating Scaling
          T-Tests
          P-Value
      ab: Abstract: Many students need assistance in debugging to achieve progress when they learn to write computer programs. Face‐to‐face interactions with individual students to give feedback on their programs, although definitely effective in facilitating their learning, are becoming difficult to achieve with ever‐growing class sizes. This paper proposes a novel approach to providing practical automated debugging advice to support students' learning, based on the strong relationship observed between common wrong outputs and the corresponding common bugs in students' programs. To implement the approach, we designed a generic system architecture and process, and developed a tool called Virtual Debugging Advisor (ViDA) that was put into use in classes in a university. To evaluate the effectiveness of ViDA, a controlled experiment and a survey were conducted with first year engineering students in an introductory computer programming course. Results are encouraging, showing that (a) a higher proportion of students could correct their faulty code themselves with ViDA enabled, (b) an overwhelming majority of respondents found ViDA helpful for their learning of programming, and (c) most respondents would like to keep ViDA enabled when they practice writing programs.
      pubtype: Academic Journal
      doctype:
        pictorial
        research
        tables/charts
        Journal Article
      ougenre: Article
    language: English
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