To learn programming, students must learn the notional machine of the language they work with. That is, a correct model of the execution of a program written in that language. Acquiring a correct notional machine is not trivial, and failing to do so is the reason many people are not able to program although they can vaguely script.
Acquiring the notional machine is necessary for all languages, including visual ones such as Scratch or Thymio VPL. To support this acquisition, in Candli, we just added two new features:
- Linting (top on the image below): blocks that make no sense, such as conditions that are always false, or actions without any effect, are marked visually.
- Explain the rule (bottom on the image below): the visual rule is explained in natural language, helping students to build a correct notional machine of rule execution in Candli.
We are looking forward how these features can foster the understanding of programming with Candli, and allow more people to express their creativity more smoothly!
As always, if you have comments, do not hesitate to contact us!
Reference:
Notional machines and introductory programming education, J. Sorva, ACM Tr. on Computing Education, 2013: https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/2483710.2483713
