Visual programming with Java; an alternative approach to introductory programming

Fisheyeing, in combination with zooming, addresses the scalability problem in visual languages by allowing the user to see a portion of a large visual program in detail while at the same time viewing the remainder of the program in somewhat less detail. We describe how fisheye views have been incorporated in the VIPR (VIsual PRogramming) environment. We begin by discussing the ways in which VIPR is amenable to fisheyeing techniques, and present a scenario illustrating the ways in which fisheyeing may be used in navigating and comprehending a VIPR program. We then discuss the particular requirements placed on a fisheyeing technique by VIPR, and present an implementation that meets those requirements.

Service-oriented computing and service-level orchestration through visual or graphical programming have been widely used in software and particularly in Web application development. Their further developments and fusing into Internet of Things, Robot as a Service (RaaS), cloud computing, and big data analysis have created the infrastructure for the information technologies to penetrate into all sectors of industry, service, and society. Figure 1 shows the stack of the related concepts, technologies, and applications. IoT service orchestration and visual programming separates the high-level composition from the low-level device programming, which allows the application builders to focus on the business logic, while the service providers to focus on efficient service development. This presentation will discuss the current service orchestration and visual programming environments for IoT application development. The presentation centralizes the topics around IoT. It starts with the upper layer of IoT, including service-oriented computing, Web software development, and service orchestration for system integration, which forms the foundation of cloud computing and a major data source of big data analysis. On the other hand, IoT standards and protocols are presented, which connect the service orchestration infrastructure tohardware and devices. As IoT applications and implementations, ADS (Autonomous Decentralized Systems), DPWS (Device Profile for Web Services), and Robot as a Service will be discussed. Different orchestration environments that have been widely used in industry and academic world will be presented, including BPEL in Oracle SOA Suite, Microsoft Workflow Foundation, Intel IoT Service Orchestration Layer, Microsoft Robotics Development Studio, MIT App Inventor, CMU Alice visual game programming environment, and ASU VIPLE (Visual IoT/Robotics Programming Environment). As a case study, VIPLE will be presented in more detail. VIPLE is a free software with open source IoT middleware developed at Arizona State University. VIPLE orchestration environment has an open interface to IoT devices. Any IoT device that can be programmed to interpret JSON objects and wrap sensory data into JSON objects can interface with VIPLE and be programmed using VIPLE orchestration environment. A demonstration will be given to show how an IoT application can be developed in minutes to control Intel Edison IoT device. VIPLE software, including orchestration environment, IoT middleware, full document, and lecture slides can be downloaded at: http://venus.eas.asu.edu/WSRepository/VIPLE.

Choosing the right way of programming can prevent learning difficulties, contribute to increasing students’ motivation to learn, and make teaching process more effective. The article is focused on assessing which way of programming, visual or textual, is appropriate for intermediate and advanced learners in the context of creating mobile applications. Three ways of programming were examined during an extracurricular programming course for teenagers aged 12-18 with previous programming experience and positive attitude to programming. The course was aimed at programming mobile applications. MIT App Inventor 2 as a visual programming tool and Android Studio with Java as a textual programming tool were chosen. Due to the gap between two programming tools, the method of transition from visual to textual programming using Java Bridge Code Generator and Java Bridge Library as mediators was implemented. The research results are based on the analysis of data obtained from participatory observations, interviews with students, questionnaires and source codes of applications created by students. The case study shows a difference in students’ performance between visual and textual programming in favour of visual programming. However, the difference in students' attitudes toward visual and textual programming was the opposite in favour of textual programming, regardless of age and learning performance. These results suggest that App Inventor visual programming environment is advantageous at the beginning of learning programming, but may be perceived as too limited and not enough motivating for intermediate and advanced students, even though programming in Android Studio professional text-based environment is too challenging for them.

Managing the graphical complexity of real-life programs expressed in visual programming languages is a great challenge in each visual programming environment. Besides general methods like displaying/layouting graphs and icons on different levels of abstraction or organizing multiple window environments, built-in language mechanisms which permit the structured and modular design of visual programs are essential to overcome this problem. We address these problems by discussing a concept for visual modules in a diagrammatic parallel language as well as a method to describe massive parallel programs consisting of hundreds of processes by means of a visual replication mechanism. >

A core challenge in introductory programming courses during the freshmen year is getting students to understand how a static textual representation (source code) maps to a highly dynamic process (program execution). Most students nowadays are visual learners who learn programming concept better through web-based visual and interactive learning instead of learning from traditional black board lecturing styles. This presentation will report our experience with positive learning outcomes in teaching an introductory programming course in Python by using a dynamic visual programming development environment based on flow-charts (RAPTOR) and active learning with an interactive eBook (zyBook). In this study, eleven sections of COSC 111 were included over three semesters as control and experimental groups. Analysis showed a marginally significant difference (F (1,5) = 5.87; p = 0.060) between sections taught via the traditional method and sections taught with the proposed pedagogical innovation. We also found that there are statistically significant positive correlations in between uses of the interactive book (eBook) and performances of students in tests. To add to our understanding of what students were experiencing, we also administered a survey to students at the end of the course. Regarding learning styles and tools, survey result showed that the eBook was helpful in understanding programming concepts (71.5%), that the instant feedback that the online book provided was helpful (82.9%), that the class discussion and interaction were helpful (85.7%). Overall, it seems that the proposed pedagogical approaches have made a positive difference by increasing student motivation and engagement, and reducing failure rates.

The integration of visual programming in early formal education has been found to promote computational thinking of students. Teachers' intuitive perspectives about optimal learning processes – "folk psychology" – impact their perspectives about teaching "folk pedagogy" and play a significant role in integrating educational technologies, such as visual programming, within the formal curriculum. This study was conducted based on the mixed method research paradigm. First, a folk pedagogy questionnaire was distributed to 89 teachers who integrate differing technologies in their classroom in order to identify the teachers' pedagogical perspectives: constructivist versus instructivist. Then, semi-structured interviews were conducted with 24 teachers who teach Scratch in order to gain a deeper understanding of their instructivist/constructivist perspectives and actual pedagogical practices and strategies. Finally, we analyzed 96 students' programming artifacts to explore differences, if any, in students' outcomes related to the pedagogical perspectives of their teachers. Findings revealed that pedagogical perspectives are reflected in teaching strategies and assessment practices employed in a visual programming environment. It is promising that teaching visual programming promoted constructivist pedagogy even among instructivist teachers and was consequently reflected in student perspectives and expressed in their programming artifacts. We discuss theoretical and educational implications of these findings.

In recent years teaching methods and tools have changed due to the development of IT information technologies. The Teaching Learning Process is guided and supported by the use of technological and pedagogical drivers in a holistic way.
 This paper presents a teaching framework for the development of technologically supported learning environments, through the utilization of visual programming tools, such as Kodu and Scratch, proposed by the current and supplementary National Curriculum. Also, it proposes a framework of educational scenarios as a part of Games Based Learning practices within a Project Based Learning project that will be implemented during languages courses to K-6 students.
 Seventy-five Greek-speaking children of the fifth year of various primary schools of Athens participated in this study. The aim of the study was not only to examine how the creation of educational digital games with Kodu and Scratch can introduce primary school students to programming but also to investigate the developmental path of 21st century skills such as critical thinking, creativity, collaboration, communication (4Cs) and virtual/digital skills. A mixed method approach was adopted to explore the educational value of using these programming tools in the teaching-learning process. The research data was collected using observations, worksheets and questionnaires. The result of this study shows that the students were excited about the creation of their game by visual programming environments and project implementation, which was reflected by their active involvement in the learning process.
 The positive results of the research suggest that, in the proposed framework, the visual programming environments Kodu and Scratch can be dynamic learning tools during the teaching of language courses that support the development of students’ expression and collaboration skills. Also, the above findings provide an approach for future teaching to K-6 students on developing narrative skills.

This paper explores both the design and classroom usage of a visual and interactive programming environment. This environment, named JavaTown, provides a visual representation of the inner workings of object-oriented programs, in which on-screen characters are literally depicted as carrying messages to each other and remembering values. JavaTown was created to aid in the introduction of some of the most elusive concepts in the CS1/CS2 curriculum: object references, parameter passing, variable scope, recursion, and linked lists.

This paper presents the design and implementation of an open visual object-oriented programming environment (VOOPE). The environment supports a programming approach in which a program is created using extended visual objects (EVOs) - the objects having visual forms and dynamic behaviors. The environment allows creation of EVOs and modification of their behavior to adapt the changing software requirements. Thereby, VOOPE allows incremental software development using the learning capability of EVOs without rebuilding the software.

Banking legacy systems intensively exchange messages in electronic format. Such systems are, for their nature, difficult to update and maintain. As a consequence, the introduction of new types of messages is a hard task. In this paper we describe the architecture and part of the implementation of the SI.RE. Visual System, an Interbanking Network Information System that lets us generate gateways for the exchange of electronic messages among banking legacy systems. In particular, the SIRE visual system contains a Visual Programming Environment (VPE) that allows us to obtain a rapid and secure development of the message handling functions. VPE implements a Visual Programming Language UVG that supports reuse of COBOL routines. Such a UVG language has been developed following a methodology here described that presents the great advantage to be, mostly, performed in automatic way.

This study evaluates the effectiveness of visual block programming-based instruction and its possibilities in the training of future teachers. In particular, the application Scratch, a visual programming environment, was employed to introduce pre-service teachers to programming. The study followed a mixed-method design with a sample of 79 pre-service teachers. A quantitative approach was used to evaluate the gains in the participants’ knowledge of computational concepts and attitudes towards Scratch as a pedagogic tool. A qualitative analysis aimed at evaluating the participants’ knowledge concerning programming applications, and their perception about possible difficulties in the implementation of programming in educational contexts. Positive results were obtained for programming in the classroom, with significant improvements in innovation, collaboration, active learning, motivation, and fun for the students. After the experiment, the subjects highlighted Scratch as a fundamental block programming tool and the need for teacher training in this field. The need to improve the implementation of visual block programming in Education Degree curricula is supported.

VPL is a visual programming language and environment for interactive image processing. VPL uses a novel system architecture which separates interaction and computation components in order to provide a highly interactive visual programming user-interface. VPL is based on a declarative, demand driven dataflow model of computation. It is a practical, usable visual programming system, integrating tools for browsing, inspecting and editing components and documentation. VPL also provides data persistence and data import/export mechanisms. The visual programming model supports both function extensibility and higher order functions, allowing users to build their own program dataflow structures within the VPL environment. >

This paper describes an action research for developing better algorithmic thinking in introductory programming courses. Enhancing algorithmic thinking and improving problem solving skills are the main objectives of such courses and are considered a significant success factor in future courses as well as future work achievements. Furthermore, failing to develop these skills, usually leads to failures in these introductory courses as well as the courses that follow. As part of this action research, that was performed during four semesters several course structures and learning tactics were examined. The evaluation methodology was simple and based only on the percentage of failing students. The success achieved was attributed to two main factors (1) using a visualization environment (Micro-world) for the whole duration of the course, which helped in understanding the more complex and abstract issues, and (2) using individual assignments that enforced better learning habits and development of individual algorithmic thinking. The paper describes the various attempts, as well as the final structure, that reduced the failing students by over 77%. This paper describes an action research for developing better algorithmic thinking in introductory programming courses. Enhancing algorithmic thinking and improving problem solving skills are the main objectives of such courses and are considered a significant success factor in future courses as well as future work achievements. Furthermore, failing to develop these skills, usually leads to failures in these introductory courses as well as the courses that follow. As part of this action research, that was performed during four semesters several course structures and learning tactics were examined. The evaluation methodology was simple and based only on the percentage of failing students. The success achieved was attributed to two main factors (1) using a visualization environment (Micro-world) for the whole duration of the course, which helped in understanding the more complex and abstract issues, and (2) using individual assignments that enforced better learning habits and development of individual algorithmic thinking. The paper describes the various attempts, as well as the final structure, that reduced the failing students by over 77%.

An image processing system with variety of visual techniques has been designed and implemented to support the detailed analysis of land surface. The strong points of this system are dynamic algorithm-save-method for efficient handling of the huge size image, automatic menu generation and powerful visual programming environment. Most of the existing image processing systems use general graphic user interfaces. The authors adopted visual program language for remotely sensed image processing for its powerful programmability and ease of use. This system is an integrated raster/vector analysis system and equipped with many special functions such as vector overlay, flight simulation, 3D simulation, and object modeling techniques etc. In addition to the modules for image and digital signal processing, the system provides many other utilities such as toolbox, an interactive image editor. This paper also presents several cases of image analysis methods and design concept for visual programming environment.

California State University Monterey Bay (CSUMB) uses an outcomes-based delivery philosophy and focuses on measurable student learning. Because of the required outcome it was determined that the students needed more scaffolding or metacognitive support than is typically afforded in the introductory programming courses. The students were simply not capable of making the jump from simple programming concepts to being able to deliver a satisfactory completed portfolio piece. This paper reports on a study that investigated use of pair programming as a delivery methodology for an introductory Java programming course