Investigating the under-usage of code decomposition and reuse among high school students: The case of functions

Ahmad Omar; Irit Hadar; Uri Leron

doi:10.1007/978-3-319-60048-2_9

Investigating the under-usage of code decomposition and reuse among high school students: The case of functions

Ahmad Omar, Irit Hadar, Uri Leron

Department of Information Systems

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Conference contribution › peer-review

Abstract

Functions can provide substantial benefits for programmers. They offer ways that can be used to simplify a given programming task through decomposition, reusability and abstraction. As observed by the first author, a graduate student and high school computer science (CS) teacher, students do not spontaneously use functions when they are asked to solve a certain task; instead they provide one procedural solution, even in situations where functions can clearly be helpful. This research aims to investigate how and when students use functions, as well as the reasons underlying their decisions whether to use them. This paper presents our ongoing research including some results from a pilot study. For data analysis we use the dual-process theory of human cognition and three related concepts: comfort zone, principle of least effort and cognitive laziness. We discuss how these can be useful in order to better understand the problem at hand.

Original language	English
Title of host publication	Advanced Information Systems Engineering Workshops - CAiSE 2017 International Workshops, Proceedings
Editors	Andreas Metzger, Anne Persson
Publisher	Springer Verlag
Pages	92-98
Number of pages	7
ISBN (Print)	9783319600475
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-60048-2_9
State	Published - 2017
Event	29th International Conference on Advanced Information Systems Engineering, CAiSE 2017 - Essen, Germany Duration: 12 Jun 2017 → 16 Jun 2017

Publication series

Name	Lecture Notes in Business Information Processing
Volume	286
ISSN (Print)	1865-1348

Conference

Conference	29th International Conference on Advanced Information Systems Engineering, CAiSE 2017
Country/Territory	Germany
City	Essen
Period	12/06/17 → 16/06/17

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© Springer International Publishing AG 2017.

Keywords

Abstraction dual-process theory
Cognitive laziness
Comfort zone
Decomposition
Functions
Principle of least effort
Programming
Reusability

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Control and Systems Engineering
Management Information Systems
Business and International Management
Information Systems
Modeling and Simulation
Information Systems and Management

Access to Document

10.1007/978-3-319-60048-2_9

Cite this

Omar, A., Hadar, I., & Leron, U. (2017). Investigating the under-usage of code decomposition and reuse among high school students: The case of functions. In A. Metzger, & A. Persson (Eds.), Advanced Information Systems Engineering Workshops - CAiSE 2017 International Workshops, Proceedings (pp. 92-98). (Lecture Notes in Business Information Processing; Vol. 286). Springer Verlag. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-60048-2_9

Omar, Ahmad ; Hadar, Irit ; Leron, Uri. / Investigating the under-usage of code decomposition and reuse among high school students : The case of functions. Advanced Information Systems Engineering Workshops - CAiSE 2017 International Workshops, Proceedings. editor / Andreas Metzger ; Anne Persson. Springer Verlag, 2017. pp. 92-98 (Lecture Notes in Business Information Processing).

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abstract = "Functions can provide substantial benefits for programmers. They offer ways that can be used to simplify a given programming task through decomposition, reusability and abstraction. As observed by the first author, a graduate student and high school computer science (CS) teacher, students do not spontaneously use functions when they are asked to solve a certain task; instead they provide one procedural solution, even in situations where functions can clearly be helpful. This research aims to investigate how and when students use functions, as well as the reasons underlying their decisions whether to use them. This paper presents our ongoing research including some results from a pilot study. For data analysis we use the dual-process theory of human cognition and three related concepts: comfort zone, principle of least effort and cognitive laziness. We discuss how these can be useful in order to better understand the problem at hand.",

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Omar, A, Hadar, I & Leron, U 2017, Investigating the under-usage of code decomposition and reuse among high school students: The case of functions. in A Metzger & A Persson (eds), Advanced Information Systems Engineering Workshops - CAiSE 2017 International Workshops, Proceedings. Lecture Notes in Business Information Processing, vol. 286, Springer Verlag, pp. 92-98, 29th International Conference on Advanced Information Systems Engineering, CAiSE 2017, Essen, Germany, 12/06/17. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-60048-2_9

Investigating the under-usage of code decomposition and reuse among high school students: The case of functions. / Omar, Ahmad; Hadar, Irit; Leron, Uri.
Advanced Information Systems Engineering Workshops - CAiSE 2017 International Workshops, Proceedings. ed. / Andreas Metzger; Anne Persson. Springer Verlag, 2017. p. 92-98 (Lecture Notes in Business Information Processing; Vol. 286).

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Conference contribution › peer-review

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Omar A, Hadar I, Leron U. Investigating the under-usage of code decomposition and reuse among high school students: The case of functions. In Metzger A, Persson A, editors, Advanced Information Systems Engineering Workshops - CAiSE 2017 International Workshops, Proceedings. Springer Verlag. 2017. p. 92-98. (Lecture Notes in Business Information Processing). doi: 10.1007/978-3-319-60048-2_9

Investigating the under-usage of code decomposition and reuse among high school students: The case of functions

Abstract

Publication series

Conference

Bibliographical note

Keywords

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Access to Document

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