James Cross
Dean Hendrix
ABSTRACT
In this paper, we describe our experiences using dynamic program visualizations in our Java-based CS1 and CS2 courses during the spring semester 2013. The visualizations were constructed by both faculty and students using the new viewer canvas in jGRASP. A public beta version was downloaded and installed in our computer labs and on student and faculty machines. Program visualizations were used in the classroom as well as in lab activities and programming projects. Since the viewers had already been evaluated in controlled experiments, our focus was on ease of use of the viewer canvas by the students and the utility of the program visualizations in helping students understand their programs. Direct observations in the lab and individual meetings with students to discuss their work indicated that students could indeed build dynamic visualizations that, in conjunction with the debugger, helped them understand and correct bugs in their programs much more effectively than using the debugger alone.
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Digital Library
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Index Terms
- Dynamic program visualizations: an experience report
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