Implementing an adaptive tutorial system for coding literacy
Abstract
Novice programmers frequently struggle to develop mental models of program execution. Coding literacy-the ability to understand written programs-has been shown to be an important prerequisite for developing algorithmic thinking. This work presents our progress in developing the Coding Literacy Trainer (COLT), a web-based adaptive teaching system for improving literacy skills in novice programmers. COLT uses a curiosity-driven learning model to adapt the content of its examples for each learner and incorporates algorithms for generating pedagogically useful random programs. COLT is available as an open-source program and we are currently preparing to deploy it in our introductory computer science courses.
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Consortium for Computing Sciences in Colleges
Evansville, IN, United States
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Published: 01 December 2017
Published in JCSC Volume 33, Issue 2
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