Mission to mars - A study on naming and referring

Abstract

Algorithms processing complex structures like graphs contain references to entities, which are part of the structure. This contribution first presents an analysis of naming techniques and discusses implications to working memory load. Then some findings of a study on naming and referring in naïve algorithms (involving more than 200 high school students) are presented. The study is based on workshops, in which the students first interpreted a model algorithm and then wrote algorithms by themselves, adopting - to some extent - techniques from the model. © 2010 Springer-Verlag.