How do students solve parsons programming problems?

Abstract

The process of solving a programming assignment is generally invisible to the teacher. We only see the end result and maybe a few snapshots along the way. In order to investigate this process with regard to Parsons problems, we used an online environment for Parsons problems in Python to record a detailed trace of all the interaction during the solving session. In these assignments, learners are to correctly order and indent a given set of code fragments in order to build a functioning program that meets the set requirements. We collected data from students of two programming courses and among other analyses present a visualization of the solution path as an interactive graph that can be used to explore such patterns and anomalies as backtracking and loops in the solution. The results provide insights into students' solving process for these types of problems and ideas on how to improve the assignment environment and its use in programming education.