Frame-Based Editing: Easing the Transition from Blocks to Text-Based Programming

Block-based programming systems, such as Scratch or Alice, are the most popular environments for introducing young children to programming. However, mastery of text-based programming continues to be the educational goal for stu- dents who continue to program into their teenage years and beyond. Transitioning across the significant gap between the two editing styles presents a difficult challenge in school- level teaching of programming. We propose a new style of program manipulation to bridge the gap: frame-based edit- ing. Frame-based editing has the resistance to errors and approachability of block-based programming while retaining the flexibility and more conventional programming seman- tics of text-based programming languages. In this paper, we analyse the issues involved in the transition from blocks to text and argue that they can be overcome by using frame- based editing as an intermediate step. A design and imple- mentation of a frame-based editor is provided

A Study of Training, Feedback, & Goal Setting for Improving Quality in an Organizational Setting

The current study investigated the effects of training, knowledge of results (KR), and goal setting on improving product quality in a field setting. Both practical and theoretical issues were addressed through the experimental design. A practical concern was the improvement of product quality in an organization. The theoretical issue was the increased understanding and utility of goal setting and knowledge of results for motivating workers\u27 quality behavior. Two existing departments (n=60 employees) of an aluminum window manufacturing plant were studied with the use of a multiple-baseline, within-subjects design across four experimental phases: a) baseline, b) training only, c) visual presentation of feedback, c) goal setting. The principal dependent variable was the percentage of inspected products conforming to established quality criteria. A secondary measure was the change in rework costs resulting from nonconforming quality

FAULT LINKS: IDENTIFYING MODULE AND FAULT TYPES AND THEIR RELATIONSHIP

The presented research resulted in a generic component taxonomy, a generic code-faulttaxonomy, and an approach to tailoring the generic taxonomies into domain-specific aswell as project-specific taxonomies. Also, a means to identify fault links was developed.Fault links represent relationships between the types of code-faults and the types ofcomponents being developed or modified. For example, a fault link has been found toexist between Controller modules (that forms a backbone for any software via. itsdecision making characteristics) and Control/Logic faults (such as unreachable code).The existence of such fault links can be used to guide code reviews, walkthroughs, testingof new code development, as well as code maintenance. It can also be used to direct faultseeding. The results of these methods have been validated. Finally, we also verified theusefulness of the obtained fault links through an experiment conducted using graduatestudents. The results were encouraging