¹Tokyo Gakugei University / Division of Natural Science, 4-1-1,Nukuikita, Koganei , Tokyo 184-8501, Japan
²Fukushima University / Department of Computer Science and Mathematics, Kanayagawa 1, Fukushima 960-1296, Japan
³Kogakuin University / Department of Computer Science and Communication Engineering, 2665-1 Nakano, Hachioji, Tokyo 192-0015, Japan
³Tokyo Gakugei University / Computer Center, 4-1-1, Nukuikita, Koganei , Tokyo 184-8501, Japan

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Abstract—We have developed a meta-system that generates program animation systems. The generated animation systems visually display changes in program actions and help students (novice programmers) understand them. The animation systems also accumulate historical records of the students’ operations as they execute a program step by step while trying to understand it. By analyzing accumulated records, the meta-system pinpoints common areas of difficulty and their causes for the lecturer. To develop this meta-system, we first analyzed the relation between difficult to understand parts and records of which control operations students applied when using the program animation system. For this analysis, we developed a function enabling the program animation system to record each student’s history of operations. Next, we devised a technique to predict which parts of a program would be difficult for students to understand. Finally, we developed a generator of program animation systems based on this technique. Consequently, this meta-system enables lecturers to monitor the classroom learning of students in real-time and provide support to groups of students experiencing common difficulties.

Index Terms—Program Animation, Programming Education, Learning Situation, Real-time Monitoring

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Cite: Youzou Miyadera, Kunimi Kurasawa, Shoichi Nakamura, Nobuyoshi Yonezawa, Setsuo Yokoyama, "A Real-time Monitoring System for Programming Education using a Generator of Program Animation Systems," Journal of Computers vol. 2, no. 3, pp. 12-20, 2007.