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Revisiting novice programmer errors

Published: 01 June 2007 Publication History

Abstract

Although programmer errors have been investigated, only a limited range of error types typically made by novices have been scrutinized. In this paper we present an expanded classification of the types of errors considered in previous research. In particular, problems which require the use of more difficult program constructs such as nested loops, arrays, recursion and functions have been somewhat neglected. We hope this paper will encourage other researchers to further analyze the types of errors advanced novices will make and the types of misunderstandings which underlie such errors.

References

[1]
Kirsti Ala-Mutka, Problem in Learning and Teaching Programming, Literature Study Codewitz www.cs.tut.fi/~codewitz/literature_study.pdf, November 2003.
[2]
Kopec, D., G. Yarmish and P. Cheung, A Description and Study of Intermediate Student Programmer Errors_ACM SIGCSE Bulletin current volume
[3]
Robins, A., J. Rountree, and N. Rountree. Learning and Teaching Programming: A Review and Discussion, Computer Science Education, Vol. 13 No. 2, pp. 137--172, 2003.
[4]
Soloway, E. and J. Spohrer, Studying the Novice Programmer, Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Hillsdale, New Jersey. 504 pages, 1989.
[5]
Spohrer, J. C, E. Soloway, and E. A. Pope, A Goal/Plan Analysis of Buggy Pascal Programs. Human-Computer Interaction, Vol. 1, No. 2, pp. 163--207, February 1985.

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  • (2024)Exploring Novice Programmers' Testing Behavior: A First Step to Define Coding StruggleProceedings of the 55th ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education V. 110.1145/3626252.3630851(1251-1257)Online publication date: 7-Mar-2024
  • (2022)Identifying Common Errors in Open-Ended Machine Learning ProjectsProceedings of the 53rd ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education - Volume 110.1145/3478431.3499397(216-222)Online publication date: 22-Feb-2022
  • (2021)Uncovering difficulties in learning for the intermediate programmer2016 IEEE Frontiers in Education Conference (FIE)10.1109/FIE.2016.7757446(1-8)Online publication date: 11-Mar-2021
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Published In

cover image ACM SIGCSE Bulletin
ACM SIGCSE Bulletin  Volume 39, Issue 2
June 2007
158 pages
ISSN:0097-8418
DOI:10.1145/1272848
Issue’s Table of Contents

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Association for Computing Machinery

New York, NY, United States

Publication History

Published: 01 June 2007
Published in SIGCSE Volume 39, Issue 2

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Author Tags

  1. advanced novice programmers
  2. intermediate programmers
  3. plans and goals
  4. programmer errors
  5. semantic analysis

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Cited By

View all
  • (2024)Exploring Novice Programmers' Testing Behavior: A First Step to Define Coding StruggleProceedings of the 55th ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education V. 110.1145/3626252.3630851(1251-1257)Online publication date: 7-Mar-2024
  • (2022)Identifying Common Errors in Open-Ended Machine Learning ProjectsProceedings of the 53rd ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education - Volume 110.1145/3478431.3499397(216-222)Online publication date: 22-Feb-2022
  • (2021)Uncovering difficulties in learning for the intermediate programmer2016 IEEE Frontiers in Education Conference (FIE)10.1109/FIE.2016.7757446(1-8)Online publication date: 11-Mar-2021
  • (2019)What is Programming? Putting all together, Part II –The Cognitive Skills associated2019 7th International Conference in Software Engineering Research and Innovation (CONISOFT)10.1109/CONISOFT.2019.00018(55-64)Online publication date: Oct-2019
  • (2018)Teaching Programming in Kenya and South AfricaProceedings of the 18th Koli Calling International Conference on Computing Education Research10.1145/3279720.3279744(1-2)Online publication date: 22-Nov-2018
  • (2016)Learning to prioritize GUI test cases for Android laboratory programsProceedings of the International Conference on Artificial Intelligence and Robotics and the International Conference on Automation, Control and Robotics Engineering10.1145/2952744.2952755(1-5)Online publication date: 13-Jul-2016
  • (2016)Paper vs. Computer-based ExamsProceedings of the 47th ACM Technical Symposium on Computing Science Education10.1145/2839509.2844587(6-11)Online publication date: 17-Feb-2016
  • (2015)Bug Infestation!Proceedings of the 46th ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education10.1145/2676723.2677232(482-487)Online publication date: 24-Feb-2015

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