Bug-eecha 2.0: An Educational Game for CS1 Students and Instructors
Pages 61 - 65
Abstract
In prior work, we have proposed Bug-eecha: a web-based game to help novice programmers comprehend programming problems and develop thorough test suites for such problems. This paper makes three contributions. First, based on student feedback from initial testing, we release a revised version of the game (Bug-eecha 2.0) with improvements to key interface elements. Second, this version includes an initial set of 22 problems and a web-interface for instructors to create additional problems. We believe that these two contributions will provide introductory programming (CS1) instructors with the resources necessary to experiment with our gamified approach to problem comprehension and test suite development. Third, based on the challenges we faced in creating appropriate questions for Bug-eecha, we identify a need for more research in designing questions that promote the ability of students to create thorough test suites.
References
[1]
GS Adithi, Akshay Adiga, K Pavithra, Prajwal P Vasisht, and Viraj Kumar. 2015. Secure, Offline Feedback to Convey Instructor Intent. In 2015 IEEE Seventh International Conference on Technology for Education (T4E). IEEE, 105–108.
[2]
Paul Denny, Viraj Kumar, and Nasser Giacaman. 2023. Conversing with Copilot: Exploring Prompt Engineering for Solving CS1 Problems Using Natural Language. In Proceedings of the 54th ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education V. 1 (Toronto ON, Canada) (SIGCSE 2023). Association for Computing Machinery, New York, NY, USA, 1136–1142. https://doi.org/10.1145/3545945.3569823
[3]
Matthias Felleisen, Robert Bruce Findler, Matthew Flatt, and Shriram Krishnamurthi. 2018. How to Design Programs: An Introduction to Programming and Computing. The MIT Press.
[4]
Cruz Izu, Carsten Schulte, Ashish Aggarwal, Quintin Cutts, Rodrigo Duran, Mirela Gutica, Birte Heinemann, Eileen Kraemer, Violetta Lonati, Claudio Mirolo, and Renske Weeda. 2019. Fostering Program Comprehension in Novice Programmers - Learning Activities and Learning Trajectories. In Proceedings of the Working Group Reports on Innovation and Technology in Computer Science Education (Aberdeen, Scotland Uk) (ITiCSE-WGR ’19). Association for Computing Machinery, New York, NY, USA, 27–52. https://doi.org/10.1145/3344429.3372501
[5]
Viraj Kumar. 2022. Privately Executable Examples. In Proceedings of the 27th ACM Conference on on Innovation and Technology in Computer Science Education Vol. 1 (Dublin, Ireland) (ITiCSE ’22). Association for Computing Machinery, New York, NY, USA, 283–289. https://doi.org/10.1145/3502718.3524800
[6]
Viraj Kumar, Amrit M. Joseph, Soumyadeep Sarma, and Shelly. 2023. Bug-Eecha: A Gamified Approach to Programming Problem Comprehension and Testing. In Proceedings of the 54th ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education V. 2 (Toronto ON, Canada) (SIGCSE 2023). Association for Computing Machinery, New York, NY, USA, 1258. https://doi.org/10.1145/3545947.3573225
[7]
Shu Lin, Na Meng, Dennis Kafura, and Wenxin Li. 2021. PDL: Scaffolding Problem Solving in Programming Courses. In Proceedings of the 26th ACM Conference on Innovation and Technology in Computer Science Education V. 1 (Virtual Event, Germany) (ITiCSE ’21). Association for Computing Machinery, New York, NY, USA, 185–191. https://doi.org/10.1145/3430665.3456360
[8]
Dastyni Loksa and Amy J. Ko. 2016. The Role of Self-Regulation in Programming Problem Solving Process and Success. In Proceedings of the 2016 ACM Conference on International Computing Education Research (Melbourne, VIC, Australia) (ICER ’16). Association for Computing Machinery, New York, NY, USA, 83–91. https://doi.org/10.1145/2960310.2960334
[9]
James Prather, Raymond Pettit, Brett A. Becker, Paul Denny, Dastyni Loksa, Alani Peters, Zachary Albrecht, and Krista Masci. 2019. First Things First: Providing Metacognitive Scaffolding for Interpreting Problem Prompts. In Proceedings of the 50th ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education (Minneapolis, MN, USA) (SIGCSE ’19). Association for Computing Machinery, New York, NY, USA, 531–537. https://doi.org/10.1145/3287324.3287374
[10]
James Prather, Raymond Pettit, Kayla McMurry, Alani Peters, John Homer, and Maxine Cohen. 2018. Metacognitive Difficulties Faced by Novice Programmers in Automated Assessment Tools. In Proceedings of the 2018 ACM Conference on International Computing Education Research (Espoo, Finland) (ICER ’18). Association for Computing Machinery, New York, NY, USA, 41–50. https://doi.org/10.1145/3230977.3230981
[11]
Leonardo Silva, António José Mendes, Anabela Gomes, and Gabriel Fortes. 2023. Investigating Programming Students Problem Comprehension Ability and its Association With Learning Performance. IEEE Transactions on Education 66, 2 (2023), 156–162. https://doi.org/10.1109/TE.2022.3204906
[12]
Jacqueline Whalley and Nadia Kasto. 2014. A Qualitative Think-Aloud Study of Novice Programmers’ Code Writing Strategies. In Proceedings of the 2014 Conference on Innovation & Technology in Computer Science Education (Uppsala, Sweden) (ITiCSE ’14). Association for Computing Machinery, New York, NY, USA, 279–284. https://doi.org/10.1145/2591708.2591762
[13]
John Wrenn and Shriram Krishnamurthi. 2019. Executable Examples for Programming Problem Comprehension. In Proceedings of the 2019 ACM Conference on International Computing Education Research (Toronto ON, Canada) (ICER ’19). Association for Computing Machinery, New York, NY, USA, 131–139. https://doi.org/10.1145/3291279.3339416
[14]
John Wrenn and Shriram Krishnamurthi. 2020. Will Students Write Tests Early Without Coercion?. In Proceedings of the 20th Koli Calling International Conference on Computing Education Research (Koli, Finland) (Koli Calling ’20). Association for Computing Machinery, New York, NY, USA, Article 27, 5 pages. https://doi.org/10.1145/3428029.3428060
Index Terms
- Bug-eecha 2.0: An Educational Game for CS1 Students and Instructors
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Published: 19 December 2023
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References
References
[1]
GS Adithi, Akshay Adiga, K Pavithra, Prajwal P Vasisht, and Viraj Kumar. 2015. Secure, Offline Feedback to Convey Instructor Intent. In 2015 IEEE Seventh International Conference on Technology for Education (T4E). IEEE, 105–108.
[2]
Paul Denny, Viraj Kumar, and Nasser Giacaman. 2023. Conversing with Copilot: Exploring Prompt Engineering for Solving CS1 Problems Using Natural Language. In Proceedings of the 54th ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education V. 1 (Toronto ON, Canada) (SIGCSE 2023). Association for Computing Machinery, New York, NY, USA, 1136–1142. https://doi.org/10.1145/3545945.3569823
[3]
Matthias Felleisen, Robert Bruce Findler, Matthew Flatt, and Shriram Krishnamurthi. 2018. How to Design Programs: An Introduction to Programming and Computing. The MIT Press.
[4]
Cruz Izu, Carsten Schulte, Ashish Aggarwal, Quintin Cutts, Rodrigo Duran, Mirela Gutica, Birte Heinemann, Eileen Kraemer, Violetta Lonati, Claudio Mirolo, and Renske Weeda. 2019. Fostering Program Comprehension in Novice Programmers - Learning Activities and Learning Trajectories. In Proceedings of the Working Group Reports on Innovation and Technology in Computer Science Education (Aberdeen, Scotland Uk) (ITiCSE-WGR ’19). Association for Computing Machinery, New York, NY, USA, 27–52. https://doi.org/10.1145/3344429.3372501
[5]
Viraj Kumar. 2022. Privately Executable Examples. In Proceedings of the 27th ACM Conference on on Innovation and Technology in Computer Science Education Vol. 1 (Dublin, Ireland) (ITiCSE ’22). Association for Computing Machinery, New York, NY, USA, 283–289. https://doi.org/10.1145/3502718.3524800
[6]
Viraj Kumar, Amrit M. Joseph, Soumyadeep Sarma, and Shelly. 2023. Bug-Eecha: A Gamified Approach to Programming Problem Comprehension and Testing. In Proceedings of the 54th ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education V. 2 (Toronto ON, Canada) (SIGCSE 2023). Association for Computing Machinery, New York, NY, USA, 1258. https://doi.org/10.1145/3545947.3573225
[7]
Shu Lin, Na Meng, Dennis Kafura, and Wenxin Li. 2021. PDL: Scaffolding Problem Solving in Programming Courses. In Proceedings of the 26th ACM Conference on Innovation and Technology in Computer Science Education V. 1 (Virtual Event, Germany) (ITiCSE ’21). Association for Computing Machinery, New York, NY, USA, 185–191. https://doi.org/10.1145/3430665.3456360
[8]
Dastyni Loksa and Amy J. Ko. 2016. The Role of Self-Regulation in Programming Problem Solving Process and Success. In Proceedings of the 2016 ACM Conference on International Computing Education Research (Melbourne, VIC, Australia) (ICER ’16). Association for Computing Machinery, New York, NY, USA, 83–91. https://doi.org/10.1145/2960310.2960334
[9]
James Prather, Raymond Pettit, Brett A. Becker, Paul Denny, Dastyni Loksa, Alani Peters, Zachary Albrecht, and Krista Masci. 2019. First Things First: Providing Metacognitive Scaffolding for Interpreting Problem Prompts. In Proceedings of the 50th ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education (Minneapolis, MN, USA) (SIGCSE ’19). Association for Computing Machinery, New York, NY, USA, 531–537. https://doi.org/10.1145/3287324.3287374
[10]
James Prather, Raymond Pettit, Kayla McMurry, Alani Peters, John Homer, and Maxine Cohen. 2018. Metacognitive Difficulties Faced by Novice Programmers in Automated Assessment Tools. In Proceedings of the 2018 ACM Conference on International Computing Education Research (Espoo, Finland) (ICER ’18). Association for Computing Machinery, New York, NY, USA, 41–50. https://doi.org/10.1145/3230977.3230981
[11]
Leonardo Silva, António José Mendes, Anabela Gomes, and Gabriel Fortes. 2023. Investigating Programming Students Problem Comprehension Ability and its Association With Learning Performance. IEEE Transactions on Education 66, 2 (2023), 156–162. https://doi.org/10.1109/TE.2022.3204906
[12]
Jacqueline Whalley and Nadia Kasto. 2014. A Qualitative Think-Aloud Study of Novice Programmers’ Code Writing Strategies. In Proceedings of the 2014 Conference on Innovation & Technology in Computer Science Education (Uppsala, Sweden) (ITiCSE ’14). Association for Computing Machinery, New York, NY, USA, 279–284. https://doi.org/10.1145/2591708.2591762
[13]
John Wrenn and Shriram Krishnamurthi. 2019. Executable Examples for Programming Problem Comprehension. In Proceedings of the 2019 ACM Conference on International Computing Education Research (Toronto ON, Canada) (ICER ’19). Association for Computing Machinery, New York, NY, USA, 131–139. https://doi.org/10.1145/3291279.3339416
[14]
John Wrenn and Shriram Krishnamurthi. 2020. Will Students Write Tests Early Without Coercion?. In Proceedings of the 20th Koli Calling International Conference on Computing Education Research (Koli, Finland) (Koli Calling ’20). Association for Computing Machinery, New York, NY, USA, Article 27, 5 pages. https://doi.org/10.1145/3428029.3428060
