tutorials

Tutorials

Eye-tracking and its applications in studies of programming

Roman Bednarik, University of Joensuu, Finland
Anne Jansen, Tobii, Sweden

One way to investigate the role of visual attention during programming activities is to track programmers' gaze direction. This tutorial will introduce modern eye-tracking systems, their potentials and challenges, in the context of studies of programming. After presenting general characteristics of systems and techniques, the specific aspects of the research situation, such as tasks, measures, and analysis approaches will be covered. Main focus of the tutorial will be on providing each participant hands-on experiences with an eye-tracking system. After the tutorial, participants shall be able to integrate eye-tracking into their research toolbox.

Qualitative Research: Grounded Theory and Phenomenography, what, how, and when to use them

Enda Dunican, Institute of Technology Carlow, Ireland
Ioanna Stamouli, Trinity College Dublin, Ireland

The aim of this tutorial is to present two widely used qualitative-research approaches: grounded theory and phenomenography. Both approaches will be discussed in terms of their theoretical and methodological aspects providing an insight into how they work in practice. The presenters will describe their own experiences, focussing on hands-on experience gathered and issues that have arisen in the course of their own research. Participants will be given an opportunity to apply what they have learned through analysing a small set of data with both approaches. The questions of what (theoretical elements of the approaches), when to use each approach (research questions etc.) and how to use each (data gathering, analysis etc.), will be focussed on. On completion the participants will be able to understand and apply the two approaches.

Roles of Variables and their Use in Programming Education

Jorma Sajaniemi, University of Joensuu, Finland
Pauli Byckling, University of Joensuu, Finland

Roles of variables describe stereotypical uses of variables; only eleven roles are needed to cover practically all variables in novice-level programming. Roles provide teachers a new pedagogical tool and students a conceptual framework that improves their programming skills.

This tutorial introduces the role concept and individual roles in different programming paradigms (iterative, object-oriented, and functional), and describes how roles can be utilized in teaching. The workshop includes also extensive practical exercises in working with roles. After the workshop, participants will be able to teach roles and to develop basic role-based programming strategies in students.