ERIC Number: EJ826628
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2009-Jan
Pages: 19
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0731-9258
EISSN: N/A
Available Date: N/A
Analyzing Student Performance and Attitudes toward Textual versus Iconic Programming Languages
Lin, Janet Mei-Chuen; Yang, Mei-Ching
Journal of Computers in Mathematics and Science Teaching, v28 n1 p71-89 Jan 2009
In this study half of 52 sixth graders learned to program in MSWLogo and the other half in Drape. An analysis of students' test scores revealed that Drape (an iconic language) seemed to have a steeper learning curve than MSWLogo (a textual language). However, as students gradually became more familiar with either language, the difference in student performance narrowed. With respect to usability, students of the MSWLogo group made syntactic errors frequently, whereas students of the Drape group were often confused by icons that were not intuitively clear or icons that looked similar. No significant difference was found between the two groups in how much they enjoyed programming or if they would like to learn to program again. It was concluded that iconic programming languages might not be more suitable than textual languages for elementary school students. (Contains 7 figures and 6 tables.)
Descriptors: Elementary School Students, Programming Languages, Science Achievement, Instructional Effectiveness, Programming, Grade 6, Student Attitudes, Computer Software, Science Instruction, Foreign Countries, Educational Technology, Computer Science Education, Visual Aids, Computer Interfaces, Computer Software Evaluation
Association for the Advancement of Computing in Education. P.O. Box 1545, Chesapeake, VA 23327-1545. Tel: 757-366-5606; Fax: 703-997-8760; e-mail: info@aace.org; Web site: http://www.aace.org
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: Elementary Education; Elementary Secondary Education; Grade 6
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: Taiwan
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A
Author Affiliations: N/A