Work in progress: Programming concept visualization using flash animations

Abstract

Critical programming concepts such as recursion and inheritance are often difficult to grasp for beginners. As a result, students perform poorly in introductory programming courses and the attrition rate has become a severe nationwide problem1. Surveys reveal that many students are unable to comprehend "what is happening to their program in the memory" and "each instruction is executed in the state created by the previous instructions" 2, 3. To help students understand the essence of programming, revamping the teaching materials to effectively deliver the knowledge becomes essential. This paper presents a work that is currently conducted at the Computer Science Department of ABC University, which, through pilot testing, showed to be efficient in increasing student engagement and supporting teachers' instructional needs. The key strategy is to use new courseware to enhance student learning. Developed by applying Flash and animation technologies, the new courseware and programming learning modules can: (1) make programming interesting while retaining the underlying contents; (2) visualize programming logic and memory change; make abstract and intricate concepts "visible" and "touchable", and thereby, easy to understand; and (3) foster self-study, stimulate critical thinking, and improve students' learning effectiveness outside class meetings. The goal is to ensure that computer majoring students, especially freshman and sophomores, can develop correct understanding of programming concepts. To better organize the courseware, a training system is implemented to manage the learning modules and support online access. A summary of the programming topics, courses impacted, and samples of the designs of the learning modules are discussed. © 2012 American Society for Engineering Education.