Block-Based Visual Programming as a Tool for Learning the Concepts of Programming for Novices

Abstract

Programming is a course that prosecutes skills in critical thinking and problem-solving. However, learning programming for novices like junior high school students is no easy task. Moreover, the strategy uses text-based programming, which requires writing source code correctly to avoid the potential of syntax errors. This study aims to investigate a tool of block-based visual programming (BBVP) for learning the programming concepts. The method used in this study consists of five phases: analysis, design, development, experiment, and evaluation. Participants were 60 students of middle school age 14-15 years old divided into two groups, experimental and control groups. Data was collected through questionnaires, pretest-posttest, and analysis of codes in the project created by students. To compare the results of both two different groups, we employed independent samples t-test. The result shows that the significance score is less than 0.05 (p-value < 0.05), which means that learning programming concepts using BBVP significantly impacts novices. The concepts of programming that can be learned include variables, sequence, iteration or looping, and conditional statements.