Exploring Literate Programming in Electrical Engineering Courses

Abstract

Knuth's literate programming paradigm positions source code as a work of literature for which communication to a human is prioritized over communication to a computer. A primary pedagogical value of literate programming lies with the act of writing, especially good writing, leading to good thinking. Issues with early literate programming tool implementations plagued the classroom adoption of literate programming. Advances in technology have warranted a reinvestigation of the benefits of the paradigm. To complement existing inquiry of literate programming in computer programming courses, we investigate, "How can literate programming support student learning in microprocessors and digital system design courses?" In our examination of microprocessors, the instructor used principles of literate programming during in-class demonstrations of assembly programming. In our examination of digital system design, students used the tool to engage in literate programming while writing in a hardware description language. Our results indicated students had a slight preference for instructors to utilize literate programming when presenting in-class examples, and we observed small improvements for graded assignments in sections in which literate programming examples were employed. We also observed a difference in preferences for literate programming by major (computer versus electrical engineering) and noted multiple instructor-observed challenges with introducing a drastically different pedagogical technique in upper-level courses. While our examination did not produce statistically significant results, student and instructor perceptions can be used to guide future literate programming implementations and investigations.