Teaching Text-based Programming in a Blocks-based World (Abstract Only)

This poster presents an environment and set of pedagogical strategies designed to explore how best to use blocks-based programming tools to prepare learners for future, text-based programming languages. Starting with the snap! programming environment, we added the capability to view the JavaScript equivalent of any blocks-based script authored inside the environment. Additionally, when students define behaviors for new blocks, they do so in JavaScript. This makes it possible to compose blocks-based scripts alongside text-based JavaScript programs and have the two run side-by-side. This environment was used during the first 5-weeks of an introductory programming class at the high school level as part of a quasi-experimental study investigating the relationship between programming modality and emerging student understanding. Teachers of the course used the blocks/text hybrid features in various ways to support learners developing an understanding of programming concepts and laying the foundation for future text-based instruction. These strategies included having students compose programs with graphical blocks then view the equivalent JavaScript, prompting class discussion on similarities and differences between the two modalities; having students write pseudocode for their blocks-based programs before comparing the pseudocode to the JavaScript; and finally, having students implement their algorithm directly in JavaScript, using blocks as a resource to reference proper syntax.