Enhancing block-based programming pedagogy to promote the culture of quality from the ground up a position paper

Abstract

Block-based programming has proven extraordinarily successful as a pedagogical tool for learning the fundamentals of computing via an exploratory, unconstrained, and hands-on approach. One would think that the issue of software quality is inapplicable in this programming domain. Nevertheless, as recent research shows, block-based programs, written by novice programmers, exhibit recurring quality problems. Although block-based software is not intended for production environments, poor quality can be detrimental to achieving the educational objectives the very use of blocks aims for. Specifically, as we and other researchers have been discovering, introductory programmers, as they gain proficiency, tend to retain poor programming habits, thus continuing to introduce recurring quality problems into their programs. Evidence also indicates that poorly written code is less likely to be reused, thus hindering the potential benefits of this peer-learning mechanism. These findings call for a synergistic effort from educators and tool developers to address the issue of software quality in the context of block-based programming. This effort will require innovating both in the realm of introductory computing curricula and software infrastructure to improve software quality.