Title: Flowchart-based programming environments for improving comprehension and problem-solving skill of novice programmers: a survey

Authors: Danial Hooshyar; Rodina Binti Ahmad; Mohd Hairul Nizam Md Nasir; Shahaboddin Shamshirband; Shi-Jinn Horng

Addresses: Department of Software Engineering, Faculty of Computer Science and Information Technology, University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia ' Department of Software Engineering, Faculty of Computer Science and Information Technology, University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia ' Department of Software Engineering, Faculty of Computer Science and Information Technology, University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia ' Department of Software Engineering, Faculty of Computer Science and Information Technology, University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia ' Department of Computer Science and Information Engineering, National Taiwan University of Science and Technology, Taipei City, Taiwan

Abstract: From the time of early exploration in the area of programming languages, many tools have been employed to introduce novice programmers to programming. More research in this field has revealed that the deficiency in problem-solving skills is exacerbated by the complexities associated with the development environment and the language syntax that novices employ. Hence, many available software support tools for introducing novices to programming are subsequently based on flowchart which acts as a visual aid in programming to help increase problem-solving skills. Thus, the aim of this paper is to provide an in-depth survey of flowchart-based programming environments aimed at novice programmers published in the literature along with the approaches developed by various researchers to assist in the understanding of the state of the art and proceed easily with the research within this area. More importantly, this paper identifies the basic structure that has been employed in the majority of existing methods as well as key strengths and shortcomings.

Keywords: flowcharts; flowchart-based programming; novice programmers; problem solving skills; comprehension.

DOI: 10.1504/IJAIP.2015.070343

International Journal of Advanced Intelligence Paradigms, 2015 Vol.7 No.1, pp.24 - 56

Received: 31 Oct 2014
Accepted: 11 Nov 2014
Published online: 02 Jul 2015 *

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