Learning Programming Languages through Corrective Feedback and Concept Visualisation

In this paper we address common issues faced by students in programming courses by combining implicit and explicit feedback measures to provide real-time assistance in coding tasks. We also introduce our concept visualisation technique, which aims to visually convey programming concepts and information on the execution state to students. The mapping between game content construction actions and actual source code forms an implicit example-based learning environment, allowing programming concepts to be more clearly conveyed than in conventional integrated development environment (IDE) or static lecture materials. An experimental evaluation of a prototype system suggests the potential of this approach for programming education by scoring highly in terms of both user satisfaction and potential pedagogical capability.

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