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Title:      A STUDY OF ALICE: A VISUAL ENVIRONMENT FOR TEACHING OBJECT-ORIENTED PROGRAMMING
Author(s):      Jeraline Anniroot, M.R. (Ruth) de Villiers
ISBN:      978-972-8939-68-7
Editors:      Miguel Baptista Nunes, Pedro Isaías and Philip Powell
Year:      2012
Edition:      Single
Keywords:      Alice, Object-oriented programming, Visual programming environments, Abstraction, Problem-solving, Motivation
Type:      Full Paper
First Page:      251
Last Page:      258
Language:      English
Cover:      cover          
Full Contents:      click to dowload Download
Paper Abstract:      University students learning object-oriented programming (OOP) encounter many complexities. This paper describes a study in which the primary researcher undertook empirical research aimed at analysing learners’ interactions with the visual environment, Alice with rapid prototyping functionality. A questionnaire survey investigated the learners’ experience with the Alice environment and their understanding of OOP. Findings indicate that learners lack problem-solving abilities; are unable to grasp programming concepts on an abstract level; and spend insufficient time practicing programming exercises. Alice has proven to be an effective tool in helping to address some of these challenges and in improving learners’ grasp of OOP. Furthermore, the learners’ subsequent programming processes and performance were investigated. Results revealed that there was no statistically significant improvement in the performance of the learners who had been taught Alice in comparison to similar learners who were not exposed to the Alice intervention.
   

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