A Mixed-Methods Study of Novice Programmer Interaction with Python Error Messages
The ability to interpret error messages in order to find and fix bugs is an essential skill for novice programmers. Unfortunately, the technical language of most error messages can hinder the progress of CS1 students and can lead to feelings of confusion and frustration. A potential intervention for CS educators is the use of enhanced error messages that utilise natural-language geared towards novice learners, but the current discourse in CS Education regarding benefits of such messages is inconclusive. In this paper, we describe a planned, semi-controlled experiment running parallel to a CS1 course at the University of Toronto Scarborough. The study aims to build upon existing work in quantifying the effects of enhanced error messages by incorporating additional quantitative metrics, usability surveys, student feedback, and semi-structured interviews. The additional methods serve to measure not only the effects on error recovery, but student satisfaction, sense of frustration and overall attitude towards error messages and debugging.
Do Enhanced Compiler Error Messages Help Students?: Results Inconclusive.
One common frustration students face when first learning to program in a compiled language is the difficulty in interpreting the compiler error messages they receive. Attempts to improve error messages have produced differing results. Two recently published papers showed conflicting results, with one showing measurable change in student behavior, and the other showing no measurable change. We conducted an experiment comparable to these two over the course of several semesters in a CS1 course. This paper presents our results in the context of previous work in this area. We improved the clarity of the compiler error messages the students receive, so that they may more readily understand their mistakes and be able to make effective corrections. Our goal was to help students better understand their syntax mistakes and, as a reasonable measure of our success, we expected to document a decrease in the number of times students made consecutive submissions with the same compilation error. By doing this, we could demonstrate that this enhancement is effective. After collecting and thoroughly analyzing our own experimental data, we found that--despite anecdotal stories, student survey responses, and instructor opinions testifying to the tool's helpfulness--enhancing compiler error messages shows no measurable benefit to students. Our results validate one of the existing studies and contradict another. We discuss some of the reasons for these results and conclude with projections for future research.
Wiki, a New Way to Produce Accessible Documents
Adapting complex documents to make them accessible for print disabled persons is an iterative process which involves various skills and requires the intervention of several people. Collaborative approaches are well suited, especially those based on Wikis which are now widely used to edit contents on the Web. A Wiki offers useful features to overcome some of the difficulties encountered when using word-processors. MediaWiki is a popular Wiki software which can be extended to allow users to import, edit and export contents using XML DTBook, the format designed by the DAISY Consortium for structuring text in an accessible way.