The effect of visualizing roles of variables on student performance in an introductory programming course

The use of variables in computer programming is one of the difficulties faced by students enrolled in introductory level programming classes. The Roles of Variables (ROV) concept associates small comprehensible roles to variables to help novice programmers comprehend how variables should be used. This paper describes an experiment that was conducted to test the effect of different engagement levels with ROV visualization on student programming skills. 91 Female students at King Abdul Aziz University (KAU), Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, participated in the experiment. The students were divided into three groups where they all had the ROV concept explained to them in a traditional classroom setting, but were given different visualization treatments during lab sessions. Results showed that while viewing the ROV visualization significantly improved student debugging skills, no other significant effects on student programming skills were reported.