Common sense computing (episode 4): debugging

We report on responses to a series of four questions designed to identify pre-existing abilities related to debugging and troubleshooting experiences of novice students before they begin programming instruction. The focus of these questions include general troubleshooting, bug location, exploring un...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inComputer science education Vol. 18; no. 2; pp. 117 - 133
Main Authors Simon, Beth, Bouvier, Dennis, Chen, Tzu-Yi, Lewandowski, Gary, McCartney, Robert, Sanders, Kate
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Routledge 01.06.2008
Subjects
beginners
College Instruction
College Students
Computer Science Education
Computer Software
Concept Formation
constructivism
Constructivism (Learning)
CS1
debugging
Error Correction
Learning Processes
Misconceptions
novices
preconceptions
Prior Learning
Programming
Student Characteristics
Teaching Methods
Troubleshooting
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Summary:We report on responses to a series of four questions designed to identify pre-existing abilities related to debugging and troubleshooting experiences of novice students before they begin programming instruction. The focus of these questions include general troubleshooting, bug location, exploring unfamiliar environments, and describing students' real life troubleshooting experiences. We find that the common sense experience of students related to debugging is often at odds with the needs for debugging programs. Student troubleshooting experiences recognize real world non-determinism and rarely require undoing an attempted fix. Based on student answers, we shed light on some specific frustrations of instructors and make a set of recommendations for teaching, including addressing the difference between finding an error and fixing it, modeling the formation of multiple hypotheses, and encouraging students to apply domain knowledge.
ISSN:0899-3408
1744-5175
DOI:10.1080/08993400802114698