Writing-to-Learn-to-Program: Examining the Need for a New Genre in Programming Pedagogy

Jones, Bryan A.; Mohammadi-Aragh, Mahnas Jean; Barton, Amy K.; Reese, Donna; Pan, Hejia

doi:10.18260/p.25114

Cited by 7 publications

(6 citation statements)

References 8 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…One of the authors of this paper has developed a modern tool -CodeChat [20] -that attempts to address WEB's failings while still incorporating the main premise of LP. The CodeChat tool combines the strengths of both documentation generators and LP tools.…”

Section: Codechat: a Modern Lp Approachmentioning

confidence: 99%

Exploring Literate Programming in Electrical Engineering Courses

Jones¹,

Bruce²,

Mohammadi-Aragh³

2020

CoED

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

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.

show abstract

Section: Codechat: a Modern Lp Approachmentioning

confidence: 99%

Exploring Literate Programming in Electrical Engineering Courses

Jones¹,

Bruce²,

Mohammadi-Aragh³

2020

CoED

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…One promising avenue for exploration involves engaging students in the creation of a literate program, using writing-to-learn strategies in this context of programming 12 . From a tool perspective, extending CodeChat from its current state, in which edits can only be made to the source code, to enable direct modification of the literate programming document, would significantly improve the usability of the system.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…While these tools were inspired by LP principles 11 , they can only be used to document the external interface (the application programming interface, or API), not the internal working of a program, thus losing the core benefits of literate programming. Therefore, this paper employs the CodeChat tool 12 which combines the strengths of both documentation generators and LP tools: it builds a formatted document directly from source code, using human-readable restructured text as markup in comments. In addition, it contains a synchronization mechanism which matches source code with the corresponding web output, making editing of either straightforward.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Employing Literate Programming Instruction in a Microprocessors Course

Jones¹,

Mohammadi-Aragh²

2016 ASEE Annual Conference &Amp; Exposition Proceedings

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

“…Through reflecting on their thinking processes, learners can recognize what and how they are learning [4]. In the programming process, writing intermingled with coding allows students to reflect in real-time about the choices they are making and the reasons for those choices [5,6]. Just as importantly, examining novice programmers' source code comments can provide insight into their thinking processes as they approach a lab assignment.…”

Section: Theoretical Foundations Based In Writing To Learnmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Case Study of Writing to Learn to Program: Codebook Implementation and Analysis

Mohammadi-Aragh¹,

Beck²,

Barton³

et al.

2019 ASEE Annual Conference &Amp; Exposition Proceedings

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Dr. Mohammadi-Aragh investigates the use of digital systems to measure and support engineering education, specifically through learning analytics and the pedagogical uses of digital systems. She also investigates fundamental questions critical to improving undergraduate engineering degree pathways.. She earned her Ph.D. in Engineering Education from Virginia Tech. In 2013, Dr. Mohammadi-Aragh was honored as a promising new engineering education researcher when she was selected as an ASEE Educational Research and Methods Division Apprentice Faculty.

show abstract

Writing-to-Learn-to-Program: Examining the Need for a New Genre in Programming Pedagogy

Cited by 7 publications

References 8 publications

Exploring Literate Programming in Electrical Engineering Courses

Exploring Literate Programming in Electrical Engineering Courses

Employing Literate Programming Instruction in a Microprocessors Course

A Case Study of Writing to Learn to Program: Codebook Implementation and Analysis

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About