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International Conference on Applied Human Factors and Ergonomics

AHFE 2018: Advances in Human Factors in Training, Education, and Learning Sciences pp 194–202Cite as

Name Tags and Pipes: Assessing the Role of Metaphors in Students’ Early Exposure to Computer Programming Using Emoticoding

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Part of the book series: Advances in Intelligent Systems and Computing ((AISC,volume 785))

Abstract

This paper presents a case study for assessing the effect of emoticoding during the students’ first encounter with text-based coding interfaces, in which period a student could have a deeply disappointing experience that may lead to “blank page trauma” as well as negative attitude towards the subject. A prototype metaphor-based source code editor was developed using novel human-computer interaction mechanics based on the concept of emoticon-like scripting. Similarly to the use of shortcuts for typing emoticons in social media, visual or textual replacements appear in the proposed text editor when the user types complete valid tokens from a given programming language. Appropriate metaphors can be used in the design of the token replacements so that they are appealing to a particular age, gender, or cultural groups of users. Quantitative analysis of data from 5th-grade students (n = 40) shows that metaphor-based emoticoding improves significantly the students’ performance in terms of syntax recall when they transition from block- to text-based programming in comparison to transitioning without emoticoding.

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Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank the students who participated in this study. Angelos Barmpoutis would also like to express his appreciation to the University of Florida College of the Arts for honoring him with the “Best Teacher of the Year” award in 2017 for inventing and applying the method discussed in this paper.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Digital Worlds Institute, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, 32611, USA

    Angelos Barmpoutis & Kim Huynh

Authors
  1. Angelos Barmpoutis
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  2. Kim Huynh
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Angelos Barmpoutis .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Maritime Operations, University College of Southeast Norway, Borre, Norway

    Salman Nazir

  2. Safety Solutions, Finnish Institute of Occupational Health, Helsinki, Finland

    Anna-Maria Teperi

  3. Department of Production Management and Logistics, Faculty of Management and Production Engineering, Lodz University of Technology, Lodz, Poland

    Aleksandra Polak-Sopińska

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Barmpoutis, A., Huynh, K. (2019). Name Tags and Pipes: Assessing the Role of Metaphors in Students’ Early Exposure to Computer Programming Using Emoticoding. In: Nazir, S., Teperi, AM., Polak-Sopińska, A. (eds) Advances in Human Factors in Training, Education, and Learning Sciences. AHFE 2018. Advances in Intelligent Systems and Computing, vol 785. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-93882-0_20

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-93882-0_20

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-93881-3

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-93882-0

  • eBook Packages: EngineeringEngineering (R0)

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