Development of the Coding Process Analysis System for Programming Education. Tatsuyuki Takano, Takashi Kohama, Osamu Miyakawa. (pp.

Transcription

1 Development of the Coding Process Analysis System for Programming Education Tatsuyuki Takano, Takashi Kohama, Osamu Miyakawa (pp ) The Asian Conference on Education Official Conference Proceedings 2011 ISSN: Proceedings URL: iafor The International Academic Forum

2 Development of the coding process analysis system for programming education Tatsuyki Takano Graduate School of Advanced Science and Technology, Tokyo Denki University Osamu Miyakawa School of Information Environment, Tokyo Denki University Takashi Kohama School of Information Environment, Tokyo Denki University Maths, Science, and Technology Learning 517

3 Development of the coding process analysis system for programming education Tatsuyki Takano 1, Osamu Miyakawa 2, Takashi Kohama 2 1. Graduate School of Advanced Science and Technology, Tokyo Denki University 2. School of Information Environment, Tokyo Denki University Abstract Coding style is utilized in introductory programming education. To use indentation as an example, it is confirmed that this has an effect on comprehension of a program s contents. However, even when the coding style of a piece of source code is the same, the process that led to the source code is not necessarily so. Through analysis of the coding process, there is a possibility of revealing the main factors related to program build that cannot be understood through analysis of the source code alone. Thus, we have developed a system for collecting and analyzing the coding process of learners. This system allows for analysis of the program s structural components and program build and viewing the coding process. Also, we have conducted a pilot program using the system in actual lectures, allowing us to collect and analyze data which has confirmed the usefulness of the system. 1. Introduction The scale of software has become larger, and it has become commonplace for development to be carried out by multiple people. Coding styles for creating programs according to coding conventions are used as a method for improving the readability of programs among developers. Coding styles are utilized in introductory programming courses that form the launching point for the education of software engineers. From the perspective of education, coding styles, to use indentation as an example, have been confirmed to have an effect on the comprehension of a program s contents. [1][2] However, even if the coding style of the source code in its final state is the same, a number of variations exist in the coding processes that lead to that result. Thus, it is 518

4 thought that there are characteristics of programming learners that cannot be classified through only coding style. 2. Subjects The goal of the present research is to reveal the main factors related to the ability to build a program through detailed collection and analysis of the coding process. In this paper, we report that we have carried out the development of a system to obtain and analyze coding processes, along with an explanation of that system, and the results of the pilot program. 3. System Overview An overview of the system is shown in Figure 1. The system is structured as a server/client model. The system was built using Java and Groovy [4], and communication between the server and client is carried out through information transfers by XML using HTTP. Students compose programs using a GUI (Graphical User Interface) editor, which comprises the client side. The editor records keystroke information as editing information related to program composition, and then sends that information to the server. The server collects data sent from the editor, and stores that information in a database. Then, the instructor can view the information accumulated on the server through a Web browser. Next, usage method of the system will be described. First, the instructor gives the students an assignment to create a program. Students then create a program for this assignment using the system s GUI editor. Then, by pressing a send button included in the editor, editing information such as keystrokes is transmitted to the server. The information obtained by the system is information including editing work such as the input and deletion of characters, cursor movement, and the timing of transmissions to the server. Figure 2 shows the server/client relationship when the information is sent from the editor. When students press the send button, at the same time the information is saved to the server, the server determines whether or not there are errors in the program. If it is determined that there is an error in the program, the student is notified by the display of an error message. The student may transmit the program any number of times until it is completed. In this way, it is possible to obtain a look at the 519

5 student s response to errors. The student s input information can be reproduced on a Web browser, and the instructor can see it in detail. Also, it is possible for acquire the data of the student s input information as data formatted so as to be easily analyzed. Figure 1. System Overview Figure 2. Client Transmission 4. Student Interface The student interface in the system is the GUI editor that was mentioned above. This GUI editor uses Java Web Start [4] technology. Java Web Start is a technology to launch software that can be automatically downloaded and installed by clicking on a link in a Web browser on any PC with Java installed. Thus, if Java is installed on the student-side PC, this system can be used. Figure 3 shows the appearance of the editor. The GUI of the editor is comprised of a text field that displays the name of the assignment program, the text area region for creating the program, the send button, and a text area region for displaying messages when the send button is pressed. The white portion of the text area is the program creation region, and the black portion is the region that displays messages. 520

6 A message is displayed when the send button is pressed if the program includes mistakes such as compiler errors or differences in method definitions. If there are no errors, a transmission complete message is displayed, and the student is notified that the program is complete. As an example, Figure 4 shows a compiler error, and Figure 5 shows a case with an error with the program s definitions. Figure 3. Editor Appearance Figure 4. Compiler Error Message 521

7 Figure 5. Program Definition Error Message 5. Instructor Interface The interface used by the instructor is a Web browser. The instructor logs in to the system, and views the assignment and data accumulated by the system. The system includes functions for reconstructing the coding process of the student and for displaying the results of each analysis. Figures 6 and 7 show the result of reconstructing the student s coding process. Input time is indicated by the position of the slider, and the program at that time is displayed. The left edge of the slider is the beginning time of input, and the right edge of the ending time of input. In other words, by moving the slider from left to right, the appearance of the program being created can be viewed as shown in Figures 6 and 7. The system supports Web browsers on tablet terminals and smart phones. Figure 8 shows the appearance of displaying an answer list. On the answer list, student numbers are displayed in order, and each one is a button. By tapping this on a tablet terminal, it is possible to view information submitted by the student associated with that number. 522

8 Figure 6. Recreating the Student Coding Process (1) Figure 7. Recreating the Student Coding Process (2) 523

9 Figure 8. Displaying the Solution List 6. Analysis Functions and Implementation The system is equipped with functionality for accumulating and analyzing student coding processes. For the analysis, compiling and parsing analysis technology is used. Through this, it is possible to analyze not only keystrokes, but also coding processes such as what methods were first created. And, from the student s keystroke information, timing for possible compiling and parsing analysis is detected, and analysis of the program s build process and such are performed. Also, the compiling and parsing analysis handled by the system is not filed-based, but rather is designed and implemented to take place in memory. By making this memory-based, processes such as file read and write and the loading of necessary classes at compile time only occur once. Thus, this allows for analyzing the program more quickly than with a file-based approach. 524

10 7. Pilot Program To confirm the operation of the developed system, a pilot program was carried out in which it was used in an actual lecture. The target lecture was Object Oriented Design, a class for third year students at our university. More than 100 students were enrolled. Students had already taken lectures on fundamental programming, and the assignment assigned for this pilot program was from within a range possible to solve with fundamental programming abilities. The assignment involved presenting students with a UML class diagram and having students write the skeleton code for a program following this class diagram. This class diagram is shown in Figure 9, and the solution skeleton code is shown in Figure 10. The answering time for the assignment was approximately 30 minutes. 94 students participated in this pilot program, and most were able to submit within the allotted solution time. Nearly 100 students used the system simultaneously, and no problems in obtaining the coding processes were found. It was confirmed that the Web browser display for instructors executed correctly, and the keystroke information and coding process information for each individual student could be obtained and viewed. The result of this pilot program was that we could confirm that the system operated correctly. Figure 9. Assignment Class Diagram 525

11 Figure 10. Assignment Skeleton Code 8. Summary We developed a system to acquire and analyze coding processes that could not be acquired using only source code analysis. We pilot tested the system, and confirmed the system s operation. Also, by using the system s analytic functions, it was possible to acquire analysis results regarding coding order. In future research, we plan to analyze student coding processes in combination with analysis results from source code analysis. Acknowledgements The authors thank to Professor Akio Takubo of the School of Information Environment at Tokyo Denki University, who provided us guidance in moving forward with this research. 526

12 References [1] Richard J. Miara, Joyce A. Musselman, Juan A. Navarro, and Ben Shneiderman. Program indentation and comprehensibility. Commun. ACM, Vol. 26, No. 11, pp , [2] P. W. Oman and C. R. Cook. A paradigm for programming style research. SIGPLAN Not., Vol. 23, No. 12, pp , [3] Groovy. [4] Java Web Start. javawebstart/index.html. 527

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