Learning to Build and Comprehend Complex Information Structures: Prolog as a Case Study

by Paul Brna, Benedict du Boulay, Helen Pain

Overview

Complex information structures are found in many disciplines including physics, genetics, biology and all branches of the information sciences. The current increasing, widespread use of information technology in all academic activities' emphasizes the need to understand how people construct and use such structures. The practices and activities found within the community of programmers provides a rich study area. The contents of this book are devoted to fundamental research that directly informs: the teaching community about some of the recent issues and problems that should help readers to increase their awareness when designing systems to support teaching, learning and using information technology; the psychology of the programming community about work in the area of learning to build, and debug programs; and the software engineering community in terms of the issues that implementors need to take into account when designing and building tools and environments for computer-based systems.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781567504347
Publisher:	Bloomsbury Academic
Publication date:	08/13/1999
Series:	Contemporary Studies in Cognitive Science and Technology , #3
Pages:	430
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.94(d)

About the Author

PAUL BRNA is Reader in Interactive Learning Systems in the Computer Based Learning Unit at the University of Leeds./e Paul works on the applications of Artificial Intelligence to Education, including research into the interpretation and use of external representations and narrative in collaborative program construction and debugging.

BENEDICT DU BOULAY is Professor of Artificial Intelligence Subject Group within the School of Cognitive and Computer Sciences. He is a member of the Human Centred Technology Research Group working in the areas of Artificial Intelligence in Education and the Psychology of Programming, University of Sussex.

HELEN PAIN is Senior Lecturer at the Division of Informatics, University of Edinburgh.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments
Part I: Introduction, Paul Brna, Benedict du Boulay, and Helen Pain
Building and Manipulating Complex Information Structures: Issues in Prolog Programming, Thomas Green
Detecting Design Decisions About Data Structures in Prolog Programs, Diana Bental
Analyzing Novices Analyzing Prolog: What stories do novices tell themselves about Prolog? Josie Taylor
Towards a Taxonomy of Novices' Misconceptions of the Prolog Interpreter, Pat Fung, Mike Brayshaw, Benedict du Boulay, and Mark Elsom-Cook
The Use of Examples in Expository Texts: Outline of an Interpretation Theory for Text Analysis, Ian Robertson.
Part II: Intermediate Representations: Effective Support for Novice Programmers? Paul Brna
Programming Techniques for Prolog, Paul Brna, Alan Bundy, Tony Dodd, Marc Eisenstadt, Chee-Kit Looi, Helen Pain, Dave Robertson, Barbara Smith, and Maarten van Somerson
Introductory Prolog: A Suitable Selection of Programming Techniques, Andy Bowles and Paul Brna
An Empirical Evaluation of Ted, A Techniques Editor for Prolog Programming, Thomas C. Ormerod and Linden J. Ball
A Case-Based Reasoning Approach to Supporting Novice Programmers, Andy Bowles, Dave Robertston, and Paul Brna
Part III: Support for Program Analysis, Benedict du Boulay
Abstract Views of Prolog Executions in Opium, Mireille Ducassé
Tracing and Debugging Prolog and PARLOG: an information management approach
A Revised Textual Tree Trace Notation For Prolog, Chris Taylor, Benedict du Boulay, and Mukesh Patel
The ISM Framework: Understanding and Evaluating Software Visualization Tools, Paul Mulholland
Software Visualization as a Pedagogical Tool: Redressing Some ITS Fallacies, Marc Eisenstadt, Blaine A. Price, and John Domingue
Part IV: Teaching and Learning Environments for Novice Programmers, Paul Brna
Exploiting Program Schemata to Teach Recursive Programming, Timothy S. Gegg-Harrison
Learning Prolog Debugging Skills, Paul Brna, Edmundo Robert Hernanzes, and Helen Pain
Teaching Prolog Debugging in a Motivation Manner, Teresa del Soldato and Benedict du Boulay
Author Index
Subject Index

Editorial Reviews

Educators from a number of countries take learning to program in the Prolog computer language as a case study of how students come to understand complex information systems. They intend their treatment to help educators designing learning systems better support teaching, learning, and using information technology; help members of the psychology of programming community better understand the learning process; and help software engineers better account for learning issues when designing software. Some of the studies have been published in journals or conference proceedings. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

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