Effectiveness of Program Visualization in Learning Java: a Case Study with Jeliot 3

Abstract

This study was carried out to observe, measure and analyze the effects of using software visualization in teaching programming with participants from two institutions of higher educations in Serbia. Basic programming learning is notorious for complex for many novice students at university level. The visualizations of examples of program code or programming tasks could help students to grasp programming structures more easily. This paper describes an investigation about the possibilities of enhancement of learning Java using the visualization software Jeliot. An analysis of 400 students’ test results indicates that a significant percentage of students had achieved better results when they were using a software visualization tool. In the experience of the authors Jeliot may yield the best results if implemented in with students who are new to the art of programming.