Applying the Block-Based Programming Language ALICE for Developing Programming Competencies in University Students
The information society is part of modern life, and algorithmic thinking and programming are relevant to everybody, regardless of educational background. Today’s world needs professionals with computing competencies. Higher education programming classes usually use text-based programming...
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IEEE
2025-01-01
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| Series: | IEEE Access |
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| Online Access: | https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/10857329/ |
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| author | Mariuxi Vinueza-Morales Jesennia Cardenas-Cobo Jessica Cabezas-Quinto Cristian Vidal-Silva |
| author_facet | Mariuxi Vinueza-Morales Jesennia Cardenas-Cobo Jessica Cabezas-Quinto Cristian Vidal-Silva |
| author_sort | Mariuxi Vinueza-Morales |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | The information society is part of modern life, and algorithmic thinking and programming are relevant to everybody, regardless of educational background. Today’s world needs professionals with computing competencies. Higher education programming classes usually use text-based programming languages to develop programming competencies, usually without success for all students. Traditional programming languages consider syntax barriers that complicate their adoption and usefulness for students. Block-based programming languages such as SCRATCH and ALICE permit the development of programming competencies without text coding and syntax restrictions to solve that issue. There are different research works on SCRATCH experiences, but not many experiences on how to use ALICE overall in higher education. This article aims to evaluate the effectiveness of the ALICE programming language in enhancing programming learning outcomes for university students and addressing the limited number of empirical studies of ALICE in higher education contexts. The research involved a literature review to provide a theoretical foundation, followed by an experimental phase that involved two groups: the control group, which followed the traditional programming instruction method with a text-based programming language, and the experimental group, which used the block-based ALICE environment. The experimental group achieved better results with an average score of 80, while the control group scored 65 points on a 100-point scale. The results obtained highlight the effectiveness of the ALICE environment in supporting the programming learning process for first-level Software Engineering university students. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-0d7ba80d9dab40f1adee6cb48c76ab95 |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 2169-3536 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-01-01 |
| publisher | IEEE |
| record_format | Article |
| series | IEEE Access |
| spelling | doaj-art-0d7ba80d9dab40f1adee6cb48c76ab952025-02-05T00:00:57ZengIEEEIEEE Access2169-35362025-01-0113214712148510.1109/ACCESS.2025.353627910857329Applying the Block-Based Programming Language ALICE for Developing Programming Competencies in University StudentsMariuxi Vinueza-Morales0https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6760-6061Jesennia Cardenas-Cobo1https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8580-8743Jessica Cabezas-Quinto2Cristian Vidal-Silva3https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1600-3447Facultad de Ciencias e Ingenierías, Universidad Estatal de Milagro, Milagro, EcuadorFacultad de Ciencias e Ingenierías, Universidad Estatal de Milagro, Milagro, EcuadorFacultad de Ciencias e Ingenierías, Universidad Estatal de Milagro, Milagro, EcuadorEscuela de Ingeniería en Desarrollo de Videojuegos y Realidad Virtual, Facultad de Ingeniería, Universidad de Talca, Talca, ChileThe information society is part of modern life, and algorithmic thinking and programming are relevant to everybody, regardless of educational background. Today’s world needs professionals with computing competencies. Higher education programming classes usually use text-based programming languages to develop programming competencies, usually without success for all students. Traditional programming languages consider syntax barriers that complicate their adoption and usefulness for students. Block-based programming languages such as SCRATCH and ALICE permit the development of programming competencies without text coding and syntax restrictions to solve that issue. There are different research works on SCRATCH experiences, but not many experiences on how to use ALICE overall in higher education. This article aims to evaluate the effectiveness of the ALICE programming language in enhancing programming learning outcomes for university students and addressing the limited number of empirical studies of ALICE in higher education contexts. The research involved a literature review to provide a theoretical foundation, followed by an experimental phase that involved two groups: the control group, which followed the traditional programming instruction method with a text-based programming language, and the experimental group, which used the block-based ALICE environment. The experimental group achieved better results with an average score of 80, while the control group scored 65 points on a 100-point scale. The results obtained highlight the effectiveness of the ALICE environment in supporting the programming learning process for first-level Software Engineering university students.https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/10857329/Programming competenciesprogramming teachingprogramming learningblock-based programming languageALICE |
| spellingShingle | Mariuxi Vinueza-Morales Jesennia Cardenas-Cobo Jessica Cabezas-Quinto Cristian Vidal-Silva Applying the Block-Based Programming Language ALICE for Developing Programming Competencies in University Students IEEE Access Programming competencies programming teaching programming learning block-based programming language ALICE |
| title | Applying the Block-Based Programming Language ALICE for Developing Programming Competencies in University Students |
| title_full | Applying the Block-Based Programming Language ALICE for Developing Programming Competencies in University Students |
| title_fullStr | Applying the Block-Based Programming Language ALICE for Developing Programming Competencies in University Students |
| title_full_unstemmed | Applying the Block-Based Programming Language ALICE for Developing Programming Competencies in University Students |
| title_short | Applying the Block-Based Programming Language ALICE for Developing Programming Competencies in University Students |
| title_sort | applying the block based programming language alice for developing programming competencies in university students |
| topic | Programming competencies programming teaching programming learning block-based programming language ALICE |
| url | https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/10857329/ |
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