Research on the effectiveness of Intelligent Tutoring Systems (ITSs) suggests that automatic hint generation has the best effect on learning outcomes when hints are provided on the level of intermediate steps. However, ITSs for programming tasks face the challenge to decide on the granularity of steps for feedback, since it is not a priori clear…

Project-based learning (PjBL) has been widely promoted in educational practice, for example, computer programming education. While PiBL may help learners to connect abstract knowledge with authentic practice, the complexity of completing an authentic project may overwhelm learners, making them unable to achieve the desired learning outcomes. This…

This study explores students' cognitive processes while debugging programs by using an eye tracker. Students' eye movements during debugging were recorded by an eye tracker to investigate whether and how high- and low-performance students act differently during debugging. Thirty-eight computer science undergraduates were asked to debug two C…