Iconic programming for teaching the first year programming sequence

Research has been undertaken to evaluate the effectiveness of using iconic (as opposed to visual) programming environments in teaching the first two computer programming courses. The co-authors have developed a Windows-based iconic programming language named BACCII. BACCII allows the user to program with icons representing all the major programming constructs and data structures within a syntax-directed environment. The user can then generate syntactically correct code for any one of several text-based languages. This system has previously been used as a supplement to teach a Pascal-based introductory computer science (CSI) course required of both computer science and electrical engineering majors; the empirical results showed a significant increase in learning and comprehension, despite the fact that there were virtually no supplemental teaching materials for BACCII available at that time. Additional research has supplied object-oriented extensions to BACCII for use in the data structures/object-oriented programing (CS2) course. Current research concerns the development of a complete set of course material for the use of BACCII in teaching both CSI and CS2 using C++. Lecture notes, text, and lab manuals are under development. An experiment will be run using the new teaching materials at Texas Tech during the 1995-96 school year. Future research hopes to extend this program to series of pilot programs at other institutions.