Dual Modality Instruction & Programming Environments

Abstract

Dual-modality blocks-text programming environments have shown promise in helping students learn programming and computational thinking. These environments link blocks-based visualizations to text-based representations, which are more typical of production languages. Since prior work shows that some students who learn in dual-modality environments outperform those who learn in text on assessments, we sought to understand specifically how students use dual-modality environments and what support these environments provide to the learning process. We analyzed survey responses and tool logs collected during a study at a large public university in a CS1 course (N=425). We found that students from all prior programming experience backgrounds made use of the ability to visualize code structures by using blocks. Students with prior experience in blocks or no prior experience said they felt the dual-modality instruction helped them understand code structure and meaning. As students progressed through the class, we found that they made more use of the blocks mode's reference palettes than to its drag-and-drop facilities or mode-switching features. By identifying how students interact with dual-modality tools and how they impact student understanding, this work provides guidance for classroom instructors.