Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

The advantages of data flow diagrams for beginning programming

  • Conference paper
  • First Online:
Intelligent Tutoring Systems (ITS 1992)

Part of the book series: Lecture Notes in Computer Science ((LNCS,volume 608))

Included in the following conference series:

Abstract

In this paper we describe DRLP (Dataflow Representation Language for Programming) a language that we have designed. DRLP is a concise and easy to use representation for novices learning programming. At the moment, DRLP is a visual isomorph of LISP. However we believe that some of ideas in DRLP could be extended to cover other languages. We describe an experiment that was conducted to determine whether DRLP has any effect on novices' programming performance. The results suggest that DRLP has advantages in that it avoids some of the obstacles of the LISP programming language but that many of the conceptual difficulties that students have are unaffected by the choice of a linear or graphical representation.

This research was supported by grant MDR 89-54745 from the National Science Foundation to the second author. The first author was supported by a United Nations Development Project Fellowship.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution

Institutional subscriptions

Preview

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

References

  1. J. R. Anderson, B. J. Reiser: The LISP Tutor. Byte, 10, 159–175, 1985.

    Google Scholar 

  2. J. R. Anderson, A. T. Corbett, B. J. Reiser: Essential LISP. Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley, 1987.

    Google Scholar 

  3. A. T. Corbett, J. R. Anderson: The effect of feedback control on learning to program with the Lisp Tutor. Twelfth Annual Conference of the Cognitive Science Society, 796–806. Cambridge, MA, 1990.

    Google Scholar 

  4. A. L. Davis, R. M. Keller: Data Flow Program Graphs. Computer, 26–41, 1982.

    Google Scholar 

  5. B. J. Reiser, R. Beekelaur, A. Tyle, D. Merrill: GIL: Scaffolding learning to program with reasoning-congruent representations. Proceedings of the 1991 International Conference on the Learning Sciences, 382–388, 1991.

    Google Scholar 

  6. B. J. Reiser, D. Y. Kimberg, M. C. Lovett, M. Ranney: Knowledge representation and explanation in GIL, an intelligent tutor for programming. In J. Larkin & R. Chabay, (Eds.), Computer Assisted Instruction and Intelligent Tutoring Systems: Shared Goals and Complementary Approach. Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum, 111–149, 1992.

    Google Scholar 

  7. S. Wight, W. Feurzeig, J. Richards: Pluribus: A visual programming environment for education and research. Proceedings of the IEEE Workshop on Languages for Automation, 122–128, 1988.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. National Centre for Software Technology, Gulmohar Cross Road No. 9, 400 049, Juhu, Bombay, India

    K. S. R. Anjaneyulu

  2. Department of Psychology, Carnegie Mellon University, 15213, Pittsburgh, PA, USA

    John R. Anderson

Authors
  1. K. S. R. Anjaneyulu
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. John R. Anderson
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Editor information

Claude Frasson Gilles Gauthier Gordon I. McCalla

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 1992 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg

About this paper

Cite this paper

Anjaneyulu, K.S.R., Anderson, J.R. (1992). The advantages of data flow diagrams for beginning programming. In: Frasson, C., Gauthier, G., McCalla, G.I. (eds) Intelligent Tutoring Systems. ITS 1992. Lecture Notes in Computer Science, vol 608. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/3-540-55606-0_68

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/3-540-55606-0_68

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-540-55606-0

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-540-47254-4

  • eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation