On the use of feedback in learning computer programming by novices: a systematic literature mapping

Abstract

In programming problem solving activities, sometimes, students need feedback to progress in the course, being positively affected by the received feedback. This paper presents an overview of the state of the art and practice of the feedback approaches on introductory programming. To this end, we have carried out a systematic literature mapping to understand and discuss the main approaches for providing and evaluating feedback used in the learning of novice programmers in the problem solving activity. Thus, according to a formal protocol, an automatic search was performed for papers from 2016 to 2021. As a result, 39 studies were selected for the final analysis. As a result, we propose three different categorizations: the main approaches to providing feedback, the main methods used in the evaluation and the main aspects and effects of the evaluated feedback.

Bridging the Gap: Template-Based Coding for Transitioning from Visual Logic to Text-Based Programming

“…Malik et al [13] proposed the PAAM (Problem Analysis Algorithmic Model) to assist novices in their learning curve. On the other hand, coding enhances problem solving skills [14], which is one of the eight key competencies of the 21st century as defined by UNESCO (2017). Several approaches were used by researchers to improve the programming learners' abilities, such as Augmented Reality (AR) [15] and blended learning [16,17].…”

Towards Giving Timely Formative Feedback and Hints to Novice Programmers

“…A number of systematic literature reviews from the past six years were used as a starting point for the identification of adequate learning environments and their features [3,12,14,15,31,35,51,62,63,66]. We briefly introduce the main points of this (non-exhaustive) list of references in chronological order starting in 2016.…”

“…This is also an underlying assumption of the present work. The 2022 systematic literature mapping by Barbosa Rocha et al [3] aims to understand the main approaches used for providing and evaluating feedback in learning environments for novice programmers. The 39 papers from 2016 to 2021 distinguish six different feedback approaches of relevant tools, but the report does not provide information on their availability and accessibility.…”

“…The student would see that the return value remains 1. In a subsequent snapshot the student extends the code with another recursive call, leading to 48 steps instead of 16 for factorial (3). When stepping through, it is shown that the step limit has been reached by calls with a negative parameter.…”