Resumen de Development and evaluation of immersive systems for learning programming
Santiago Sánchez Sobrino
Programming is a field of study that affects other disciplines transversally, either because of its cognitive benefits or because of the high demand for professionals. The latest statistics from 2020 reveal that 6 of the 10 highest paid jobs in the US require programming skills. In addition, it is estimated that by 2029 the number of jobs in the areas of science, technology, engineering and mathematics will grow by up to 8%, while the rest will grow by 3.4%. Specifically, jobs related to Computer Science and Mathematics are expected to increase by 12.1%, making these areas the fastest growing in 2029.
The above data confirms a trend that is occurring in today's world, which is preparing for a fourth industrial revolution (industry 4.0) driven by emerging technological advances in a number of fields that will require programming skills such as robotics, artificial intelligence and quantum computing, among others. Therefore, it is essential to facilitate the training of new professionals in Computer Science. However, learning to program presents certain difficulties due to the high level of abstraction required to assimilate certain concepts of programming, either those related to the structure of the program itself ( for example control structures and loops), as other more abstract (for example concurrent programming and recursion). This level of abstraction can be properly managed in the early stages of learning, using mechanisms that facilitate the learning of programming through graphic visualizations and collaborative development environments.
This doctoral dissertation proposes a set of solutions and learning environments oriented to different educational levels, presented through a compendium of publications in indexed scientific journals and international conferences. As a novelty, these proposals are based on the use of emerging technologies for the visualization of programs, algorithms and programming concepts, through the use of Augmented Reality and three-dimensional graphic representations. These visual proposals arise through a new graphic notation, called ANGELA, which is integrated into the other proposals through different adaptations made according to the learning environment where it will be used. The validation of these proposals has been done through various assessments conducted with real students, which have allowed to improve and evolve the initial proposals throughout this research. To do this, different dimensions have been analyzed regarding the impact of user motivation on learning programming, usefulness, ease of use and determination of students to use these proposals.
Finally, an analysis of the results, exposed in the scientific publications, is made, which confirms the initial working hypothesis of this doctoral dissertation: the use of emerging programming learning tools improves the overall learning experience of users.
