THE IMPACT OF COMBINING FOLLOW-UP QUESTIONS AND WORKED EXAMPLES IN PROGRAM VISUALIZATION TOOL ON IMPROVING STUDENTS’ HELD MENTAL MODELS OF POINTERS’ VALUE AND ADDRESS ASSIGNMENT

Abstract

Previous studies have shown that the lack of a useful mental model of pointers is one of the reasons why many novice programmers fail the data structures course. This study had two main objectives: to analyze the status of mental models of pointers (focusing on value and address assignment); and to evaluate the impact of combining worked-examples and follow-up questions in CeliotM program visualization (PV) tool in the learning of pointers. The subjects of the study were sixty-two second-year undergraduate students taking a course on data structures (PMT 221) at the College of Natural and Mathematical Sciences (CNMS) of the University of Dodoma. Data were collected using pretest and posttest questionnaires. The collected data were analyzed using descriptive statistics. The results showed that 56.5% of the students had incorrect mental models of pointers. The results also showed that using the proposed strategy improved the students’ mental models of pointers from 56.5% to 87.1%. These results contribute to our understanding of the most common misconceptions that novice students may have when learning pointers. The findings of this study confirm previous studies that when the new innovative teaching strategies are used in combination with PV tools in teaching and learning programming can help improve students’ programming comprehension.