Gradual Programming in Hedy: A First User Study

Abstract

Recently the ‘gradual programming’ approach was introduced, which proposes to lower the syntax barrier by starting with a very simple language, and gradually adding both concepts and refining syntax. Hedy is the first language to implement a gradual approach, and this paper presents the first user study on Hedy with 39 children between age 11 and age 14 who followed online lessons for six weeks. Based on lesson observations and a written survey filled out by the participants, we aim to understand the impact of using a gradual language. Our findings show that children appreciate the gradual nature of Hedy, find Hedy easy to learn and especially appreciate the power to control the difficulty of Hedy themselves. They also like and frequently use built-in education features like example code snippets. Challenges of a gradual approach are the fact that commands sometimes change or overlap, and remembering commands and specific syntax remain a challenge. According to the participants, improvements could be made by making Hedy less sensitive to syntax errors, by improving error messages and by localizing keywords to the native language of children.