Contains fulltext : 333701.pdf (Publisher’s version ) (Open Access)

Programming, when practised in an epistemic sense, can be used as a means of gaining insight into areas of personal interest that extend beyond the programming domain itself, e.g. by analysing data or running a simulation. However, novice programmers need support in conducting such personal epistemic programming projects. This paper reports on an eye-tracking study, aimed at identifying different approaches to using worked examples in this context. The study, conducted with 26 participants from K-12 using SMI REDn eye trackers, aims to uncover different types of (heuristic and presumably epistemic) approaches. In this context, we present an approach to clustering and aggregating scan paths through using dynamic time warping. The results show five different clusters with different behaviours: While some participants had several linear reading phases in the worked example, others focused more on parts that were necessary for their individual efforts. This could be an indication of epistemic programming.

K-12 computing education research is a rapidly growing field of research, both driven by and driving the implementation of computing as a school and extra-curricular subject globally. Within discipline-based education research, it is a new and emerging field, drawing on fields such as mathematics and science education research for inspiration and theoretical bases. The urgency around investigating effective teaching and learning in computing in school alongside broadening participation has led to much of the field being focused on empirical research. Less attention has been paid to the underlying philosophical assumptions informing the discipline, which might include a critical examination of the rationale for K-12 computing education, its goals and perspectives, and associated inherent values and beliefs. The goals of this research project are to understand the implicit and hidden values, perspectives and goals underpinning computing education at school. This will be achieved through a critical examination of a wide body of literature leading to the development of a categorization and framework.

Programming nowadays has become an important tool in various scientific fields, not only in terms of software engineering but also for knowledge acquisition. In this regard, we analyze epistemic programming as an interdisciplinary, cognitive perspective on programming, enabling programmers to gain insights into individual interests. As a first step towards implementing epistemic programming in computing education, we assess, whether novice programmers can utilize epistemic programming as a means of gaining insights and exploring their interests with the help of a worked example. Therefore, we report on findings from a study, analyzing eye-tracking data, screen recordings, and transcripts from retrospective think-aloud interviews.

We conducted an exploratory study in which participants had to acquire knowledge of unfamiliar application programming interfaces (APIs) in order to complete two programming tasks. Eye tracking was used to monitor participants’ attention throughout the study. We analysed the learning process using the COIL model, which includes three stages: Information Collection, Information Organisation and Solution Testing. Using this model, we describe patterns in the sequences of actions derived from the data. We discuss whether the Solution Testing stage has two distinct functions: constructing the solution and gathering information simultaneously. This would be an exploratory Solution Testing Stage. In addition, the use of eye tracking provided further insight into the API learning process.