Does Hedy, the Gradual Programming Language Help Computing Undergraduates to Learn Programming?

Oscar Karnalim; Mewati Ayub; Maresha Caroline Wijanto; Felienne Hermans

doi:10.1007/978-3-031-53022-7_19

Does Hedy, the Gradual Programming Language Help Computing Undergraduates to Learn Programming?

Oscar Karnalim^*, Mewati Ayub, Maresha Caroline Wijanto, Felienne Hermans

^*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Chapter in Book / Report / Conference proceeding › Conference contribution › Academic › peer-review

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Abstract

Novices sometimes have difficulty in understanding programming syntax. In response to that, Hedy was developed. It is a text-based programming language that gradually imposes syntax rules from human language to Python, a common programming language. Children with Hedy appreciate the use of it and find it easy to learn. Given the benefits, we are interested to see whether Hedy can also help computing undergraduate students to learn programming. A two-year experiment involving two batches of such students (87) was conducted with three questionnaire surveys and one quasi-experiment. Our study shows that although students with Hedy have comparable programming performance to those without it, they appreciate the use of Hedy and understand some Python concepts.

Original language	English
Title of host publication	Towards a Hybrid, Flexible and Socially Engaged Higher Education
Subtitle of host publication	Proceedings of the 26th International Conference on Interactive Collaborative Learning (ICL 2023), Volume 3
Editors	M.E. Auer, U.R. Cukierman, Eduardo Vendrell Vidal, Edmundo Tovar Caro
Publisher	Springer Science and Business Media Deutschland GmbH
Pages	187-198
Number of pages	12
Volume	3
ISBN (Electronic)	9783031530227
ISBN (Print)	9783031530210
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-53022-7_19
Publication status	Published - 2024
Event	26th International Conference on Interactive Collaborative Learning, ICL 2023 - Madrid, Spain Duration: 26 Sept 2023 → 29 Sept 2023

Publication series

Name	Lecture Notes in Networks and Systems
Volume	901 LNNS
ISSN (Print)	2367-3370
ISSN (Electronic)	2367-3389

Conference

Conference	26th International Conference on Interactive Collaborative Learning, ICL 2023
Country/Territory	Spain
City	Madrid
Period	26/09/23 → 29/09/23

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2024.

Keywords

computing education
CS1
gradual programming language
quasi-experiment

Access to Document

10.1007/978-3-031-53022-7_19

Does Hedy, the Gradual Programming Language Help Computing Undergraduates to Learn ProgrammingFinal published version, 200 KBLicence: Article 25fa Dutch Copyright Act

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Cite this

Karnalim, O., Ayub, M., Wijanto, M. C., & Hermans, F. (2024). Does Hedy, the Gradual Programming Language Help Computing Undergraduates to Learn Programming? In M. E. Auer, U. R. Cukierman, E. Vendrell Vidal, & E. Tovar Caro (Eds.), Towards a Hybrid, Flexible and Socially Engaged Higher Education: Proceedings of the 26th International Conference on Interactive Collaborative Learning (ICL 2023), Volume 3 (Vol. 3, pp. 187-198). (Lecture Notes in Networks and Systems; Vol. 901 LNNS). Springer Science and Business Media Deutschland GmbH. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-53022-7_19

Karnalim, Oscar ; Ayub, Mewati ; Wijanto, Maresha Caroline et al. / Does Hedy, the Gradual Programming Language Help Computing Undergraduates to Learn Programming?. Towards a Hybrid, Flexible and Socially Engaged Higher Education: Proceedings of the 26th International Conference on Interactive Collaborative Learning (ICL 2023), Volume 3. editor / M.E. Auer ; U.R. Cukierman ; Eduardo Vendrell Vidal ; Edmundo Tovar Caro. Vol. 3 Springer Science and Business Media Deutschland GmbH, 2024. pp. 187-198 (Lecture Notes in Networks and Systems).

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title = "Does Hedy, the Gradual Programming Language Help Computing Undergraduates to Learn Programming?",

abstract = "Novices sometimes have difficulty in understanding programming syntax. In response to that, Hedy was developed. It is a text-based programming language that gradually imposes syntax rules from human language to Python, a common programming language. Children with Hedy appreciate the use of it and find it easy to learn. Given the benefits, we are interested to see whether Hedy can also help computing undergraduate students to learn programming. A two-year experiment involving two batches of such students (87) was conducted with three questionnaire surveys and one quasi-experiment. Our study shows that although students with Hedy have comparable programming performance to those without it, they appreciate the use of Hedy and understand some Python concepts.",

keywords = "computing education, CS1, gradual programming language, quasi-experiment",

author = "Oscar Karnalim and Mewati Ayub and Wijanto, \{Maresha Caroline\} and Felienne Hermans",

note = "Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2024.; 26th International Conference on Interactive Collaborative Learning, ICL 2023 ; Conference date: 26-09-2023 Through 29-09-2023",

year = "2024",

doi = "10.1007/978-3-031-53022-7\_19",

language = "English",

isbn = "9783031530210",

volume = "3",

series = "Lecture Notes in Networks and Systems",

publisher = "Springer Science and Business Media Deutschland GmbH",

pages = "187--198",

editor = "M.E. Auer and U.R. Cukierman and \{Vendrell Vidal\}, Eduardo and \{Tovar Caro\}, Edmundo",

booktitle = "Towards a Hybrid, Flexible and Socially Engaged Higher Education",

address = "Germany",

}

Karnalim, O, Ayub, M, Wijanto, MC & Hermans, F 2024, Does Hedy, the Gradual Programming Language Help Computing Undergraduates to Learn Programming? in ME Auer, UR Cukierman, E Vendrell Vidal & E Tovar Caro (eds), Towards a Hybrid, Flexible and Socially Engaged Higher Education: Proceedings of the 26th International Conference on Interactive Collaborative Learning (ICL 2023), Volume 3. vol. 3, Lecture Notes in Networks and Systems, vol. 901 LNNS, Springer Science and Business Media Deutschland GmbH, pp. 187-198, 26th International Conference on Interactive Collaborative Learning, ICL 2023, Madrid, Spain, 26/09/23. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-53022-7_19

Does Hedy, the Gradual Programming Language Help Computing Undergraduates to Learn Programming? / Karnalim, Oscar; Ayub, Mewati; Wijanto, Maresha Caroline et al.
Towards a Hybrid, Flexible and Socially Engaged Higher Education: Proceedings of the 26th International Conference on Interactive Collaborative Learning (ICL 2023), Volume 3. ed. / M.E. Auer; U.R. Cukierman; Eduardo Vendrell Vidal; Edmundo Tovar Caro. Vol. 3 Springer Science and Business Media Deutschland GmbH, 2024. p. 187-198 (Lecture Notes in Networks and Systems; Vol. 901 LNNS).

Research output: Chapter in Book / Report / Conference proceeding › Conference contribution › Academic › peer-review