IDE for Education

In one of our courses in Computer Science, our group proposed the use of code inspectors in developing an IDE for Education. The result of the work was a prototype and a document. We conducted a survey to at least 20 people and allow them to evaluate the prototype in Java.

Prototype

Why create another IDE?
Most IDEs are either too complex or too simple. Why not select only the right features we need and redesign the interface to make programming easier for students. The IDE for Education interface gives familiarity to students with only the needed buttons for the current tab. All hassles of creating backups, finding how to word wrap, and changing font sizes are no longer an issue. The IDE is ideal for Programming 1 Courses where creating projects and packages are unnecessary. Error messages during compile-time can also be mapped to more student-friendly explanations.


Why code inspectors?
In the software industry, programmers use code inspectors to easily detect complexities and bugs. Why not re-orient them for education? Applying code inspectors for educational purposes can help students and professors check easily how their codes are designed. Statistics and code convention information can be useful to guide students in practicing the right way of programming.

What's the difference?
Code Inspectors in industry aim to save the precious time of programmers by pointing which lines need immediate attention and these tools can even fix them for you. When these tools are oriented for education, we want them to point out the concept, rather than the lines involved or fixing it for them. If a student used the wrong naming convention, it's better to tell them the correct convention and have them find and correct these errors. There are other possible sample re-orientated features and scenarios.

How can it help students?
Students appreciate programming when they feel confident on what they know. We need a usable IDE that students can easily get familiar with. The IDE allows student to see whether their program is accurate given their own test cases. This is implemented by comparing the output of the program created, given the test case created by the student, from the output of the correct program created by the professor. By using the Test Program feature, the program of the student is being tested from a series of test cases created by the professor. We are aiming for a file format that contains the given problem, the solution and test cases of the problem in an encrypted format, and the rules that will evaluate the code. Each time the student saves the work or compiles code, a backup is automatically created which the student can restore as well. The backup data and the current snapshot of the code is also stored in that same file, which is submitted to the professor who can now review the progress of the student in the work.

How can it help professors?
After receiving all submissions by the students, the professor can use the IDE to check and produce a score for each of the submission. A class summary is also produced to guide the professor in which topics or issues to discuss during the next class session depending on which problems were not solved correctly by the majority of the students. Professors can now see other aspects like conventions and efficiency rather than just grading students according to the correctness of the output. Test cases tried by the students during their work in the IDE are also tracked and included in the submission, thus the professor can measure the ability of students in creating good test cases that effectively test their programs.