Approach to support the Design of Help Resources for Block-Based Visual Programming Languages

• Carmem Vera Scorsatto Brezolin Pontifical Catholic University of Rio Grande do Sul / Federal Institute of Southern Rio Grande http://orcid.org/0000-0003-1294-7261
• Milene Selbach Silveira Pontifical Catholic University of Rio Grande do Sul https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2159-551X

DOI: https://doi.org/10.5753/cbie_estendido.2024.243623

Abstract

Block-based visual programming languages (LPB) have been used to support the development of programming skills and computational thinking. Considering the diversity of proposals and the difficulties faced by students and teachers in the concepts related to these concepts, it is essential to offer resources to support their teaching and learning. It is known that help resources have the potential to support users to appropriate and use the applications they need, such as the mentioned languages. In this scenario, the goal of this work is to present an approach to support the design of help resources for LPBs and an analysis of their possibilities of use. The design of this approach was based on several studies, including systematic literature mappings, tool reviews, and user surveys. In order to analyze the proposed approach, it was instantiated through a prototype, which enabled its use by teachers, who are the potential users of this type of language. The results indicate that the approach can contribute to the development of resources that support LPBs users in understanding and using the tools associated with them.

Keywords: Help Resources, Teaching Programming, Computational Thinking, Block Programming

References

Brezolin, C. V. S. and Silveira, M. S. (2023). Abordagem para apoio ao Design de Recursos de Ajuda para Linguagens de Programação Visual Baseadas em Bloco. PhD thesis, Programa de Pós-Graduacão em Ciência da Computação, PUCRS.

Brezolin, C. V. S., Correa, C., and Silveira, M. S. (2023). Apoio ao desenvolvimento de recursos de ajuda - voltados para usuários professores - para linguagens de programação visual baseadas em blocos. In Anais do XXXIV Simpósio Brasileiro de Informática na Educação, pages 1850–1861, Porto Alegre, RS, Brasil. SBC.