Identifying Extraneous Elements of Novice Source Code

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dc.contributor.advisordesJardins, Marie
dc.contributor.advisorMatuszek, Cynthia
dc.contributor.authorNeary, Michael Patrick
dc.contributor.departmentComputer Science and Electrical Engineering
dc.contributor.programComputer Science
dc.date.accessioned2022-02-09T15:52:34Z
dc.date.available2022-02-09T15:52:34Z
dc.date.issued2020-01-01
dc.description.abstractThis work analyzes elements of novice source code to support the hint generation component of Intelligent Tutoring Systems (ITS). The purpose of an ITS is to provide one-on-one guidance in a specific subject area. An important component of an ITS is the generation of constructive feedback to enable a student to correct mistakes in their work. An ITS applied within a computer science classroom can generate feedback by looking for similarities with the student's code and one or more correct programming solutions. The system would give a hint based on any similarities or lack thereof to guide the student towards a correct solution. The state-of-the-art hint generation techniques do not take into account extraneous (unnecessary within the context of the problem) lines of code in a student's solution. Current systems are not capable of meaningfully identifying these lines, or reasoning about them to give constructive feedback. In this work, I first show that extraneous lines of code exist through analysis of novice source code to show this is a problem worth contributing to. Then, I introduce a method for their identification, and report mixed results when testing this method. This work represents the first steps towards a useful system, and I argue the importance of continued development of this system for the identification of extraneous lines of code
dc.formatapplication:pdf
dc.genretheses
dc.identifierdoi:10.13016/m2emut-sgai
dc.identifier.other12087
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/11603/24178
dc.languageen
dc.relation.isAvailableAtThe University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC)
dc.relation.ispartofUMBC Computer Science and Electrical Engineering Department Collection
dc.relation.ispartofUMBC Theses and Dissertations Collection
dc.relation.ispartofUMBC Graduate School Collection
dc.relation.ispartofUMBC Student Collection
dc.sourceOriginal File Name: Neary_umbc_0434M_12087.pdf
dc.titleIdentifying Extraneous Elements of Novice Source Code
dc.typeText
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