Utilization of Alice Software in Teaching Programming Language

Year 2018, Volume: 6 Issue: 2, 187 - 206, 31.07.2018

Ceren Baştemur Kaya Hasan Çakır

Abstract

Learning a programming language is a difficult and complicated process. It has been seen that the use of visualization tools has increased to decrease the complexity of learning programming. One of the visualization tools used for this purpose is Alice software. This study investigates the use of Alice software in learning Java programming language. The study group consists of 20 students who study at the 2nd year of vocational schools, department of computer technologies. The study was carried out five weeks to be four hours in a week and it was applied for 20 hours in total. The courses were realized using Gagne’s nine events of instruction model. Reflections were collected from the students in every other week. Descriptive case study method was utilized in the study and the data were analyzed using content analysis method. When the results were examined, it is seen that the students have stated that the computers freeze due to the high hardware requirements of the Alice program. Despite that, It is observed that Alice program helped learning the coding logic, increased interest in programming and made programming fun. It is thought that use of Alice software can be beneficial for better understanding of programming logic.

Keywords

Alice software, vocational schools, programming environments, programming learning

Programlama Dili Öğretiminde Alice Programının Kullanım Sürecinin İncelenmesi

Abstract

Programlama öğrenimi zor ve karmaşık bir süreçtir. Programlama öğreniminin karmaşıklığını azaltmak amacıyla görselleştirme araçlarının kullanımının arttığı görülmektedir. Bu görselleştirme araçlarından biri de Alice programıdır. Çalışma kapsamında Java programlama dili öğreniminde Alice programının kullanım süreci incelenmiştir. Çalışma grubu, meslek yüksekokulu bilgisayar teknolojileri bölümü 2. sınıfta öğrenim gören 20 öğrenciden oluşmaktadır. Araştırma haftada dört saat olmak üzere beş hafta sürmüş ve toplamda 20 saat uygulanmıştır. Gagne'nin dokuz aşamalı öğretim modeli kullanılarak dersler yürütülmüştür. Öğrencilerden iki haftada bir değerlendirme notu toplanmıştır. Çalışmada tanımlayıcı durum çalışması kullanılmış ve veriler içerik analizi yönetimi ile analiz edilmiştir. Sonuçlar incelendiğinde öğrencilerin; Alice programının donanım gereksinimlerinin yüksek olması nedeniyle bilgisayarda kilitlenmelerin yaşandığını ancak Alice programının kod mantığını öğrenmeye yardımcı olduğunu, programlamaya olan ilgiyi arttırdığını ve programlamayı eğlenceli hale getirdiğini belirttikleri görülmektedir. Programlama mantığının daha iyi anlaşılması için Alice programının kullanılmasının faydalı olacağı düşünülmektedir.

Keywords

Alice programı, meslek yüksekokulu, programlama ortamları, programlama öğrenimi

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