%0 Conference Paper %1 Kumar_2018 %A Kumar, Amruth N. %B Proceedings of the 49th ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education %D 2018 %I ACM %K parsons-problem programming %P 527-532 %R 10.1145/3159450.3159576 %T Epplets: A Tool for Solving Parsons Puzzles %U https://doi.org/10.1145%2F3159450.3159576 %X Performance on Parsons puzzles has been found to correlate with that on code-writing exercises. Parsons puzzles are preferred by students over alternative programming tasks. In order to make Parsons puzzles widely available to students in the introductory programming course, we developed a tool that administers the puzzles in C++, Java and C#, called epplets. Our design of the tool improves upon the work done by earlier researchers in several ways: students rearrange lines of code rather than program fragments; they get credit based on the number of actions they take to reassemble the code; they get feedback that helps them fix their incorrect answer; and the tool adapts to the needs of the student. The tool runs as a Java Web application. We describe our experience using the tool for two years: how it benefited the students; the revisions made to address the feedback provided by the users; and our plans for future work. We found that practicing with the tool helped reduce the time and actions with which students solved successive puzzles.

@inproceedings{Kumar_2018, abstract = {Performance on Parsons puzzles has been found to correlate with that on code-writing exercises. Parsons puzzles are preferred by students over alternative programming tasks. In order to make Parsons puzzles widely available to students in the introductory programming course, we developed a tool that administers the puzzles in C++, Java and C#, called epplets. Our design of the tool improves upon the work done by earlier researchers in several ways: students rearrange lines of code rather than program fragments; they get credit based on the number of actions they take to reassemble the code; they get feedback that helps them fix their incorrect answer; and the tool adapts to the needs of the student. The tool runs as a Java Web application. We describe our experience using the tool for two years: how it benefited the students; the revisions made to address the feedback provided by the users; and our plans for future work. We found that practicing with the tool helped reduce the time and actions with which students solved successive puzzles. }, added-at = {2020-08-27T04:46:06.000+0200}, author = {Kumar, Amruth N.}, biburl = {https://www.bibsonomy.org/bibtex/2c24ba0e2baf2e96e04df76b34fa9f7e5/brusilovsky}, booktitle = {Proceedings of the 49th {ACM} Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education}, description = {Epplets | Proceedings of the 49th ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education}, doi = {10.1145/3159450.3159576}, interhash = {29e3c38f52b74cdb10eafe0ec727d51c}, intrahash = {c24ba0e2baf2e96e04df76b34fa9f7e5}, keywords = {parsons-problem programming}, month = feb, pages = {527-532}, publisher = {{ACM}}, timestamp = {2020-08-27T04:46:25.000+0200}, title = {Epplets: A Tool for Solving Parsons Puzzles }, url = {https://doi.org/10.1145%2F3159450.3159576}, year = 2018 }