Improving User Experience of C Programming Language Learning System for Novices

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to improve the user experience of C language development environment for novices, Hello C, which has been uniquely developed by our previous researches. To examine effective user experience, we conducted two kinds of experiments. The one was the experiment with the learning task of fixing syntax errors to evaluate the method to convey error message. This experimental result suggested that the indication of the error message like scripting language may be effective even C language learning. Next, we also conducted the other experiment with the learning task of fixing I/O errors and examined the effectiveness to convey the closeness to the correct answer. This experimental result suggested that utilizing the concept of small steps could help to acquire the skill of programming.