Do Students Use Semantics When Solving Parsons Puzzles? - A Log-Based Investigation

摘要

Parsons puzzles are jigsaw puzzles wherein students are given a program in scrambled order and tasked with reassembling the program in its correct order. Do students use program semantics when solving Parsons puzzles? The answer to this question has implications for the use of Parsons puzzles as a pedagogic tool. In order to answer this question, we considered semantics at the level of statements and control-flow. We analyzed the data collected by a Parsons puzzle tutor over 5 semesters and measured the extent to which students' puzzle-solving behavior conformed with the use of statement-level and control-flow semantics. We found that students used statement-level semantics to assemble up to 73% of the lines in a puzzle and control-flow semantics to assemble up to 47% of the lines. They used statement-level semantics more than control-flow semantics and more on some puzzles than others. Whenever we found a significant difference between C++ and Java students, C++ students used semantics more than Java students. Finally, we did not find an increase in the use of semantics with increased practice.