An Inquisitive Code Editor for Addressing Novice Programmers' Misconceptions of Program Behavior

TL;DR

This paper introduces an inquisitive code editor designed to help novice programmers overcome misconceptions about program behavior through prompts, explanations, and educational resources, aiming to improve their learning experience.

Contribution

The work presents a novel tool concept that actively identifies and corrects misconceptions in novice programmers using an interactive editor with integrated educational features.

Findings

Implemented as Atom plugins for initial testing

Conducted informal surveys with students and instructors

Next step involves deploying the prototype in real courses

Abstract

Novice programmers face numerous barriers while attempting to learn how to code that may deter them from pursuing a computer science degree or career in software development. In this work, we propose a tool concept to address the particularly challenging barrier of novice programmers holding misconceptions about how their code behaves. Specifically, the concept involves an inquisitive code editor that: (1) identifies misconceptions by periodically prompting the novice programmer with questions about their program's behavior, (2) corrects the misconceptions by generating explanations based on the program's actual behavior, and (3) prevents further misconceptions by inserting test code and utilizing other educational resources. We have implemented portions of the concept as plugins for the Atom code editor and conducted informal surveys with students and instructors. Next steps include deploying the tool prototype to students enrolled in introductory programming courses.