A socratic approach to helping novice programmers debug programs

Abstract

A technique is described which can be used to help novice programmers become more self-reliant in analyzing and debugging programs. The technique requires the instructor to interact one on one with students who seek help with their programs, and has been observed informally to have beneficial results for most of these students. Although the technique has not been tested experimentally, other experimental research involving novice programmers suggests that an approach of this kind should be effective.