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Evaluating a Tactile Approach to Programming Scratch

Published: 18 April 2019 Publication History

Abstract

Computer Science in K-12 is continuing to become more prevalent. Because learning syntax and debugging can be burdensome, many teachers in K-12 use block languages to teach their students. Block languages, such as Scratch, allow students to focus on simple programming concepts and logic, and therefore, make computer programming easier and more approachable to students. However, block languages are not accessible to students with visual impairments because of block-environments' high dependence on visual aspects. This paper describes an innovative peripheral device that can help students with visual impairments access Scratch by simply remembering six buttons and guided by auditory cues generated by the computer. In order to test CodeBox64's usability and efficiency, a simple user study was conducted. Based on the data collected from the user study, CodeBox64 functioned properly and efficiently.

References

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Discover AP. (n.d.). https://ap.collegeboard.org.
[2]
M. Paul and A. Wagner. 2017. CodeBox64: A Tactile Input Modality for Block Programming. SIGCSE'17.
[3]
L. Milne and R. Ladner. Blocks4All: Overcoming Accessibility Barriers to Blocks Programming for Children with Visual Impairments. CHI 2018.
[4]
L. Milne, C. Baker, and R. Ladner. 2017. Blocks4All Demonstration: A Blocks-Based Programming Environment for Blind Children. ASSETS'17
[5]
R. Ladner and A. Stefik. 2017. AccessCSForALL: Making Computer Science Accessible to K-12 Students in the United States. SIGACESS Newsletter, (118), pp. 3--8.
[6]
A. Stefik, C. Hundhausen, and R. Patterson. 2011. An Empirical Investigation into the Design of Auditory Cues to Enhance Computer Program Comprehension. International Journal of Human-Computer Studies, 69(12), pp. 820--838.
[7]
PyAutoGUI. 2014. PyAutoGUI. http://pyautogui.readthedocs.io/en/latest.
[8]
Z. Johnston (n.d.). Using Voice as an Input Modality: A Look at Myna.
[9]
Scratch-Imagine, Program, Share. (n.d.). https://scratch.mit.edu.
[10]
Z. Wang. "Using Touch and Sound to Program Scratch." Proceedings of the 50th ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education -- SIGCSE 19, 2019.

Cited By

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  • (2024)Towards Construction-Oriented Play for Vision-Diverse PeopleProceedings of the 26th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility10.1145/3663548.3675607(1-12)Online publication date: 27-Oct-2024
  • (2022)Understanding and Addressing Accessibility Barriers Faced by People with Visual Impairments on Block-Based Programming Environmentsundefined10.12794/metadc2048605Online publication date: Dec-2022
  • (2022)Addressing Accessibility Barriers in Programming for People with Visual Impairments: A Literature ReviewACM Transactions on Accessible Computing10.1145/350746915:1(1-26)Online publication date: 21-Mar-2022
  • Show More Cited By

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  1. Evaluating a Tactile Approach to Programming Scratch

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    cover image ACM Conferences
    ACMSE '19: Proceedings of the 2019 ACM Southeast Conference
    April 2019
    295 pages
    ISBN:9781450362511
    DOI:10.1145/3299815
    • Conference Chair:
    • Dan Lo,
    • Program Chair:
    • Donghyun Kim,
    • Publications Chair:
    • Eric Gamess
    Permission to make digital or hard copies of all or part of this work for personal or classroom use is granted without fee provided that copies are not made or distributed for profit or commercial advantage and that copies bear this notice and the full citation on the first page. Copyrights for components of this work owned by others than ACM must be honored. Abstracting with credit is permitted. To copy otherwise, or republish, to post on servers or to redistribute to lists, requires prior specific permission and/or a fee. Request permissions from [email protected]

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    Association for Computing Machinery

    New York, NY, United States

    Publication History

    Published: 18 April 2019

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    Author Tags

    1. Accessibility
    2. auditory cues
    3. block languages
    4. computer science education
    5. tactile input modality
    6. visual impairments

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    • Short-paper
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    • Refereed limited

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    ACM SE '19
    Sponsor:
    ACM SE '19: 2019 ACM Southeast Conference
    April 18 - 20, 2019
    GA, Kennesaw, USA

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    Overall Acceptance Rate 402 of 779 submissions, 52%

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    Cited By

    View all
    • (2024)Towards Construction-Oriented Play for Vision-Diverse PeopleProceedings of the 26th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility10.1145/3663548.3675607(1-12)Online publication date: 27-Oct-2024
    • (2022)Understanding and Addressing Accessibility Barriers Faced by People with Visual Impairments on Block-Based Programming Environmentsundefined10.12794/metadc2048605Online publication date: Dec-2022
    • (2022)Addressing Accessibility Barriers in Programming for People with Visual Impairments: A Literature ReviewACM Transactions on Accessible Computing10.1145/350746915:1(1-26)Online publication date: 21-Mar-2022
    • (2020)Teaching Programming to Students with Vision Impairment: Impact of Tactile Teaching Strategies on Student’s Achievements and PerceptionsSustainability10.3390/su1213532012:13(5320)Online publication date: 1-Jul-2020
    • (2020)Leveraging Graphical User Interface Automation for Generic Robot ProgrammingRobotics10.3390/robotics1001000310:1(3)Online publication date: 25-Dec-2020
    • (2020)CodeTrippingProceedings of the 4th European Conference on Software Engineering Education10.1145/3396802.3396803(47-51)Online publication date: 18-Jun-2020

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