Albehaijan, Noorah Abdullah.pdf (4.39 MB)
Applying temporal chunk signals analysis to measure programming competence by the transcription of Java program code
thesis
posted on 2023-06-10, 03:59 authored by Noorah AlbehaijanThis thesis investigates the basis for a novel method of quickly and efficiently assessing programming comprehension. It investigates the feasibility of assessing learners’ mental chunk structures, and their temporal chunk signals, as a way of measuring their competence. The focus is on the Java programming language. The thesis investigates the feasibility of chunk-based measures in two different simple transcription tasks: view display, where stimulus is visible at all times; and hide and show, where the stimulus is only made visible when a participant presses a special button. University computer science students and faculty are the target group. Chunking theory is utilised to define three chunking measures of competence and to anticipate how they would vary across participants with different degrees of Java competence. The measures are as follows: (1) the number of characters transcribed per view (or the number of views) of the Java program code; (2) the time spent writing between the views; and (3) the duration of pauses before writing each written character. Ninety-six participants participated in the three experiments, transcribing on graphics tablets in experimental settings, and evidence of chunking’s essential role in transcription tasks was revealed. Significant relationships were discovered between the chunking measures of competence and independent measures of Java competence (Java familiarity scores and students’ final test marks (for the third experiment)). The third experiment included a longitudinal post-test component spanning three months of learning, in which changes to the mean scores in characters per view, writing-times, and pauses reflected the students’ amount of learning.
History
File Version
- Published version
Pages
255.0Department affiliated with
- Informatics Theses
Qualification level
- doctoral
Qualification name
- phd
Language
- eng
Institution
University of SussexFull text available
- Yes
Legacy Posted Date
2022-06-17Usage metrics
Categories
No categories selectedKeywords
Licence
Exports
RefWorks
BibTeX
Ref. manager
Endnote
DataCite
NLM
DC