The influence of class structure on program comprehension : An empirical study.

This thesis describes and reports on two sets of empirical studies investigating the ease of comprehension of Object Oriented (OO) programs, including the underlying various types of knowledge that can be present in the program text during the process of comprehension. The two empirical studies are referred to as the Car and the Line-Edit. These are two well established programming problems in the early literature from the Psychology of programming research. Both novice and experienced OO programmers were asked to undertake comprehension tasks based on a paper and pen exercise and a set of comprehension questions associated with either an OO or a non OO programming version of the Car or the Line-Edit. The studies focus on the elements of class concept, problem characteristics, and solution decompositions and their effect on the comprehension of different types of knowledge which are present in the program text. It is found that OO programs are better understood than of the non OO programs. It is also found that the class concept, problem characteristics, and solution decompositions are empirically to be the influential elements in the comprehension of OO programs, especially for Control Flow, State, and Problem Classes types of knowledge. An empirical grounded based model of OO program comprehension is proposed; the model forms a framework to the future empirical studies that focus on the critical aspects of the OO program comprehension. The thesis suggests a knowledge-based categorisation of the example programs. This categorisation should be embodied for better OO program comprehension amongst novices. The methodological issues for future investigations are also discussed. In particular it is suggested that different OO versions of the same program should be used as the experimental material as the next step

Extensive reading in a second language : literature review and pedagogical implications

textThis Report explores the importance of including extensive reading (ER) program in English as a second language (ESL) or English as a foreign language (EFL) context. To find benefits and implications of L2 extensive reading, the Report reviews comprehensive literature on L2 extensive reading. Research has found that extensive reading enables L2 learners to achieve both cognitive and affective gains. Based on these findings, the report provides some pedagogical implications for an L2 program in ESL/EFL contexts. The suggestions include practical tips such as materials, useful ER activities, and a discussion of teacher roles in an extensive reading program.Foreign Language Educatio

Understanding object-oriented source code from the behavioural perspective

Comprehension is a key activity that underpins a variety of software maintenance and engineering tasks. The task of understanding object-oriented systems is hampered by the fact that the code segments that are related to a user-level function tend to be distributed across the system. We introduce a tool-supported code extraction technique that addresses this issue. Given a minimal amount of information about a behavioural element of the system that is of interest (such as a use-case), it extracts a trail of the methods (and method invocations) through the system that are needed in order to achieve an understanding of the implementation of the element of interest. We demonstrate the feasibility of our approach by implementing it as part of a code extraction tool, presenting a case study and evaluating the approach and tool against a set of established criteria for program comprehension tools

From present to future : beyond becoming a nation of readers

Includes bibliographical references (p. 13-19)The work upon which this publication was based was supported in part by the Office of Educational Research and Improvement under Cooperative Agreement No. OEG 0087-C100

Identifying student- and class-level correlates of sixth-grade students’ listening comprehension

Despite the importance of listening, little investigation of potential correlates of listening comprehension in the language of schooling is done. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to investigate which student- and class-level characteristics are related to sixth-grade students' listening skills in Flanders. A sample of 974 students in 70 classes completed a listening test in order to gather information on their ability to understand and interpret oral information. Further, different questionnaires were administered to the students, their parents and teachers. The results of the hierarchical regression analysis with multilevel design showed that the differences in listening comprehension skills could be primarily attributed to differences in student-level characteristics. The results indicated that students with higher working memory ability, more vocabulary knowledge and lower extrinsic listening motivation performed significantly better on the listening test. In addition, the educational level of the parents and the language diversity in the class was significantly related to students' listening skills in the language of schooling. This study is an important starting point in unraveling the black box of listening skills in the elementary school context. Suggestions for further research and practice were made

Multilingual investigation of theory-based intervention for program comprehension

This thesis is the continuation of an experiment called “Eye-movement Modeling Examples in Source Code Comprehension: A Classroom Study”. This first experiment studies how effective is showing novice programmers how experts read code with a video with the expert’s gaze guided by a verbal explanation. Therefore, this thesis studies, using a similar experiment, whether only verbal explanation and visual stimuli without the expert’s gaze could be also helpful for the programming novices.Grado en Ingeniería Informática de Servicios y Aplicacione

Micro-experimental analysis of the small-group reading lesson : social and cognitive consequences of silent reading

Includes bibliographical references (p. 18-20

Reading in the Disciplines: The Challenges of Adolescent Literacy

A companion report to Carnegie's Time to Act, focuses on the specific skills and literacy support needed for reading in academic subject areas in higher grades. Outlines strategies for teaching content knowledge and reading strategies together