Understanding program behavior is challenging for novice learners. To address this problem, various program visualization systems such as TEDViT have been developed. TEDViT allows teachers to establish drawing rules, ensuring that their intentions are reflected in the visualization results. However, visualizing programs edited by learners using TEDViT has been hindered by its rule notation. In this study, we propose a novel rule designed to accommodate learner-edited programs. Furthermore, we develop a new system based on this rule.

In second language learning, learners learn four skills: reading, writing, listening, and speaking. However, compared with the other three skills, speaking skills have rarely been studied in environments wherein they can be learned. Therefore, we proposed a method for recognizing Japanese word accents using the pitch average of the whole word and that of each mora as part of speaking skill learning. We demonstrated that this method outperforms the pitch drop detection method. Using the proposed accent recognition method, we embedded a function that enabled learners to learn the accents of target words into the feedback phase of an existing Japanese language learning support system. This allowed learners to speak the target words and receive feedback on whether their accents were correct.

Several studies have been conducted to improve program comprehension through code tracing. However, most of these studies have focused on a single flow of control, with insufficient proposals to support program comprehension of multiple flows of control. It is difficult for novices to trace code with multiple flows in the correct order. In this study, we propose a code trace support environment for letting learners to trace the appropriate flow in execution with synchronization constraints. It also supports the component-based comprehension of synchronization mechanisms in multiple flows. The evaluation experiment confirmed the learning effect of understanding the appropriate order of steps. However, several issues regarding the component-based comprehension have been identified.

This paper describes a learning support system that allows learners to answer code fragments fitting blanks in target program code while observing program visualization (PV), and an evaluation experiment conducted to measure the effectiveness of the system. Most existing PV systems have functions to visualize changes in target domain world caused by each execution of statement and to allow learners to answer questions provided by the system, which is not sufficient in terms of learner engagement. In this study, we extended the PV system developed in our previous study by adding a function to provide fill-in-blank exercise to learners and allow learners to answer it, and a function to visualize the PV according to the learner's answer. The effectiveness of our system was measured by conducting a comparison experiment with a previous system. Although the sample size was not sufficient, the experimental results suggest that learning with our system could contribute to improve learners' understanding of program and that our system would be more effective than the previous system.

Semantic negotiation techniques are important for beginners of Japanese learner. In this study, we investigated how semantic negotiation is handled in a learning environment and then reclassified it. We developed a Japanese language learning support system that can handle semantic negotiation using text input. We report the results of a questionnaire survey administered to three Japanese language teachers and an experimental evaluation of a foreign student.

This study portrays a learning support system that visually represents the structure of stepwise algorithm refinement, also known as the structure of program code abstraction, aligned with the teacher's instructional objectives. We focus on the varying needs of learners in programming education and consider the possibility that different levels of stepwise refinement may be required based on their knowledge and experience. Novice learners with limited programming experience may need program code abstractions in finer steps, rather than the abstraction of numerous statements simultaneously. For learners with a certain level of experience, abstraction with excessive steps may hinder their holistic understanding of the entire program from a higher perspective. In this study, we developed a program visualization system that empowers teachers to customize the visualizations of the structure of stepwise abstractions and the data structures utilized by the target program according to their instructional intentions. We introduced the proposed system into an actual class and evaluated its effectiveness by measuring the degree of improvement in learners' understanding based on tests.

In general, college students enrolled in computer science courses are provided some software design classes and exercises. In a cross-reviewing learning/exercise environment, however, beginners often cannot provide useful feedback and viewpoints to others. One of the reasons for this is that beginners are not confident in their understanding of the software design models. These learners should be encouraged by strengthening their understanding of the models. In this research, we propose a self-review supporting environment that provides learners with feedback generated by translating their Unified Modeling Language (UML) class diagrams into natural language descriptions. This enables beginners to recognize discrepancies between what they would like to describe in their class diagrams and what they actually describe in their class diagrams by comparing them in natural language. We designed three types of templates to make learners aware of the discrepancies. Moreover, we performed an experiment to evaluate whether the feedback produced by translating a learner's model into natural language can support the learner to detect errors in the model themselves, and whether this feedback can support the learner to correct errors in the model themselves. The results of the experiment indicated that the subjects detected errors in their class diagrams with 89.2% accuracy and detected 47.3% of all errors in their diagrams. Furthermore, the subjects corrected the errors they correctly detected with 78.6% accuracy.

In the field of programming education, learners often cannot fully understand the behavior of algorithms and programs, because it is difficult for them to capture a realistic image of their behavior. Many researchers have proposed methods to visualize “the behavior of algorithm programs” as a solution to address this problem. Many programming learning support systems that incorporate these methods. We have developed a programming learning support system, TEDViT, that allows teachers to control the method of visualization. However, TEDViT is a programming language compatible with the C programming language, hence, the system cannot handle visualization in object-oriented languages. We developed and evaluated a prototype system that can visualize the proposed model.

In this paper, we describe a learning support system for software component design for learners at the early programming learning stage. In general, the source code used in instructional programming exercises does not have a testing code and is not designed to rapidly verify behaviors. We think one of the difficulties for students in designing their source code to be testable is that most cannot analyze their component design themselves. Therefore, we summarized the testability features applicable to such learners and designed our learning support system to improve instructional exercises in analyzing source codes and creating improved component design through feedback. The learning outcomes using the system were evaluated based on the subjects’ improved scores between pre- and post-tests on analyzing source codes and creating improved component design. The evaluation results indicated the effectiveness of the program with some testability features. We implemented the system in three different programming classes to evaluate the applicability of the system.

In this paper, we describe an extension of TEDViT, the program visualization system that can reflect teachers’ intent of instruction to support learning dynamic data structures. We extend TEDViT to enable the definition of drawing rules using values of target program variables and pointers corresponding to the execution status when the rule is fired. The evaluation results reveal that our extension could significantly reduce the amount of drawing rules and the time required for defining program visualizations. It suggests that our approach would support program visualizations with dynamic data structures to a certain degree.

In programming classes, teachers and teaching assistants (TAs) cooperate to support students’ programming exercises. A teacher is required to support many students and sometimes hand them over to another teacher or assistant. However, it is difficult to check students’ source code without interrupting the students, to share tutoring information among teachers and TAs, and to reuse tutoring documents created for one student. In this paper, we propose a tutoring support system based on reusable tutoring content and semi-automatic assessment of students’ code and report on a trial conducted in university programming classes that found the system could spontaneously promote tutoring content sharing and reuse.

TEDViT is a program visualization tool that allows teachers to apply an intention of description (IOD). Using this tool, teachers write a rule set to apply IOD. However, it takes a relatively long time to write the rule set. In this paper, we measure the amount of time required to write rule sets by conventional interface. We determine the reasons why it takes long time and suggest solutions. Thus, we constructed a supporting system that has features corresponding to these solutions. Our experimental results show that the system reduces total writing and debugging time by 41%.

In our previous research, we developed a learning support system for teaching a systematic debugging process. However, it was observed that all the subjects were unable to learn the entire process but some managed to learn it partially at experimental evaluation. We considered following two reasons: (1) the level of debugging skills we expected for subjects was higher than their actual level and (2) subjects were not offered lectures about the debugging process and required skills but were provided with only some exercises. For (1), we consider that they need to gain more basic debugging skills. For example, we decided to teach a skill to observe variables’ values. For (2), we designed a lecture that learners could attend to learn the process and debugging skills. The lecture has instruction and exercise parts. Next, we extended our learning support system to be adapted to the lecture and assist learners who face difficulties in the exercises. In this paper, we report a design of the learning support system and the lecture.

In this paper, we describe a learning support system that can visualize program behavior in memory image and status of the target domain world, and classroom practice that introduces the system to a real class. Several learning support systems have been developed for supporting novice learners in understanding program codes. However, visualization in existing systems often conceals the concrete value of variables such as pointers; the way in which each visualized object is located on the memory is not made explicit. In order to address this issue, we developed a learning support system that visualizes simultaneously and synchronously the memory image that is the field that presents the concrete value of variables, and the target domain world that is the field that presents logically the data structures processed by the program. Moreover, in order to allow teachers to set their instruction content based on the growing variety of learner background knowledge, our system visualizes the status of the target domain world according to the visualization policy defined by the teacher. We conducted classroom practice for understanding pointers in connection with a memory model, thus introducing our system to a real class. In this practice, we included a learning step for the students to observe the memory image of variables and compare it with the status of the target domain world, which had not been included in our preceding practice. Analysis of answered scores in a questionnaire conducted after the practice suggests that our system contributed to reducing irregularities in the participants’ understanding, and that appropriate learning support reached every participant of our practice using our system.

In this paper, we describe the code reading environment according to visualizing both variable’s memory image and target world’s status. We had constructed those environment that have two important function. One is the function by which the teacher can reflect his/her intention for instruction on the view of target world’s status. Another is the function by which the programming beginner can more deeply understand a program using our proposed environment.

In this paper, we describe a code reading support environment and a classroom practice using our system for understanding of nested loop. In our preceding work, we had practiced an exercise class in nested loop with a code reading support environment. The evaluation results suggested that students could obtain an expected learning effect roughly by using our system. However, we also found some of them had reached a learning impasse in the classroom. We tried to cope with them, based on two supporting approaches; to bridge a gap between generalization structures of program code and corresponding operations, and to make students capable of predicting the behavior of the nested loop. We extended the preceding system with some new functions according to our approaches, and practiced renewed exercise class in nested loop with our system. The evaluation results suggest that our new system has a certain correlation with understanding of nested loop.

In this study, we developed a programming practice monitoring system to facilitate teachers’ giving appropriate instructions to students at the right time during classroom lectures. To help teachers to provide appropriate instruction to learners, we identified parameters that would be useful for teachers during programming practice in classroom lecture. We constructed a programming practice monitoring system with five functions. The system automatically acquired the programs written by students to evaluate their performance using the five functions. We allowed four subjects to test our proposed monitoring system during a simulation of a classroom lecture.

In this paper, we describe an algorithm and programming learning environment by illustrating the relationships among programs, target domains, and operations. Our proposed learning environment supports software programming learners in understanding code that includes nested loops by using a function that visualizes the differences in the target domain's state before and after executing a sequence of operations. We evaluate this environment in the classroom, and the results suggest that the proposed environment improves the understanding of programming beginners.

This paper describes a prototype system of remote music therapy for elderly people with dementia using the latest communication technology in Japan. The system uses the latest high-speed optical network, called NGN (Next Generation Network) and the latest terminal especially for audio data communication called Hikari DUETTO NY1, which was released at the end of the last year. We did an experiment of the system using the real communication environment in this January between Tokyo and Osaka. The communication time of the system between Tokyo and Osaka was about 25.5 msec. Thus, we confirmed that the system was able to provide almost real-time audio data communication. Based on the result, the feasibility of music therapy activities, such as singing and exercises with music, using the system was examined. We confirmed that the singing activity which is the most important one in the music therapy was feasible.

No abstract available.

A VLSI chip fully compatible with ISO/IEC 13818 2 (MPEG-2 video) has been developed. The chip is conforming to main profile @ main level of the standard, which realizes real-time decoding of ITU-R Rec.601 format moving pictures. In addition, it is also designed to operate as a part of MPEG-2 encoder. The chip size and power dissipation are minimized by optimizing its architecture and by using hardware macro cells for bulky circuits such as multipliers. As a result, the chip has been implemented with approximately 620K transistors on 11.35/spl times/11.35 mm using a triple metal 0.5 /spl mu/m CMOS technology. The chip has performed well in evaluations on a PC-based testbed.