Effects of Using Alice and Scratch in an Introductory Programming Course for Corrective Instruction

Abstract

Scratch, a visual programming language, was used in many studies in computer science education. Most of them reported positive results by integrating Scratch into K-12 computer courses. However, the object-oriented concept, one of the important computational thinking skills, is not represented well in Scratch. Alice, another visual programming language, seems to have better illustration of the object-oriented concept for programming novices. To demonstrate effects of Alice and Scratch, we compared students' responses to both visual programming languages, especially for students with low performances, in an introductory programming course. The relationships among learning engagement, learning anxiety, and learning playfulness were explored. The results could be referred to by computer science instructors to select proper visual programming language for corrective instruction.