An Implementation of Java Programming Learning Assistant System in University Course

Nowadays, Java programming is used in a variety of application systems as a highly portable object-oriented programming language. To assist its self-studies by novice students, we have developed the Java programming learning assistant system (JPLAS), and implemented the personal answer platform on Node.js. JPLAS offers several types of exercise problems at different learning levels, including the grammar-concept understanding problem (GUP), the value trace problem (VTP), the mistake correction problem (MCP), the element fill-in-blank problem (EFP), the code completion problem (CCP), and the phase fill-in-blank problem (PFP). Any answer is automatically marked by string matching with the correct one on the platform. In this paper, we present an implementation of the six problem types in a Java programming course in Okayama University. We generated 109 problem instances by following its curriculum and assigned them to 58 third-year students as homework before the final examination. Their solution results reveal the difficulty difference among the problem types and confirm the validity in the Java programming course.