A4 Refereed article in a conference publication
Developing visual expertise in software engineering: An eye tracking study
Authors: Markus Nivala, Florian Hauser, Jürgen Mottok, Hans Gruber
Editors: ieee
Conference name: IEEE Global Engineering Education Conference (EDUCON)
Publication year: 2016
Journal: IEEE Global Engineering Education Conference
Book title : Proceedings of 2016 IEEE Global Engineering Education Conference (EDUCON)
First page : 613
Last page: 620
Number of pages: 8
ISBN: 978-1-4673-8633-3
ISSN: 2165-9559
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1109/EDUCON.2016.7474614
Abstract
Program comprehension and the ability to find program errors are key skills of software engineering. The aim of this pilot study was to examine the visual processes of novice and advanced programmers in authentic tasks. Fifteen novices and eight advanced programmers were given eight short pieces of code. Their task was to either identify an error or give the output of the code. Eye movements and keyboard activity were recorded. On average, the novices spent more time reading the code than composing the response, whereas the more advanced programmers started composing the response sooner and spent more time on it. In general, the advanced programmers had shorter fixations and saccades. The results suggest that the advanced programmers are quicker to grasp the essence of the code and able to see more details in it. The advanced programmers had shorter fixations and saccade lengths during the second phase which might indicate the process of chunking.
Program comprehension and the ability to find program errors are key skills of software engineering. The aim of this pilot study was to examine the visual processes of novice and advanced programmers in authentic tasks. Fifteen novices and eight advanced programmers were given eight short pieces of code. Their task was to either identify an error or give the output of the code. Eye movements and keyboard activity were recorded. On average, the novices spent more time reading the code than composing the response, whereas the more advanced programmers started composing the response sooner and spent more time on it. In general, the advanced programmers had shorter fixations and saccades. The results suggest that the advanced programmers are quicker to grasp the essence of the code and able to see more details in it. The advanced programmers had shorter fixations and saccade lengths during the second phase which might indicate the process of chunking.
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