Teachers' Beliefs and Practices on the Naming of Variables in Introductory Python Programming Courses

Motivation. Variable naming practices are part of the software developer's profession, influencing program comprehension and code quality. Yet, little is known about how variable naming practices are taught in beginner courses. Objective. This paper investigates naming beliefs, self-reported te...

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Veröffentlicht in:IEEE/ACM International Conference on Software Engineering: Software Engineering Education and Training (Online) S. 368 - 379
Hauptverfasser: Van Der Werf, Vivian, Swidan, Alaaeddin, Hermans, Felienne, Specht, Marcus, Aivaloglou, Efthimia
Format: Tagungsbericht
Sprache:Englisch
Veröffentlicht: ACM 14.04.2024
Schlagworte:
Codes
Education
Force
novices
Oral communication
programming education
Programming profession
Software
teachers
Training
Variable naming
ISSN:2832-7578
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Abstract Motivation. Variable naming practices are part of the software developer's profession, influencing program comprehension and code quality. Yet, little is known about how variable naming practices are taught in beginner courses. Objective. This paper investigates naming beliefs, self-reported teaching practices, and observations regarding variable naming practices of teachers of introductory Python programming courses. Methods. We adopted an in-depth qualitative approach by interviewing ten teachers from secondary education and higher education and developed several themes in order to answer our research questions. Results. Among various opinions and practices, we found that teachers agree on using meaningful names, but have conflicting beliefs about what is meaningful. Moreover, the described teaching practices do not always match teacher's views on meaningful names, and teachers rarely encourage students to use them. Instead, they express that naming practices should not be enforced and that students will develop them by example. Whereas some teachers report focusing solely on conventions, others deliberately dedicate time for students to engage with naming, create their own guidelines, provide continuous feedback, or include naming exercises on exams. Discussion. Naming practices do not seem to be deliberately taught, even though they influence program understanding and code quality. We also identified inconsistencies in teachers' self-reported naming practices. As such, we encourage intentional conversations about naming practices in educational settings, specifically linking naming to code quality and readability. We see room for group and peer activities as a means to this end, as well as providing formative feedback dedicated to naming.
AbstractList Motivation. Variable naming practices are part of the software developer's profession, influencing program comprehension and code quality. Yet, little is known about how variable naming practices are taught in beginner courses. Objective. This paper investigates naming beliefs, self-reported teaching practices, and observations regarding variable naming practices of teachers of introductory Python programming courses. Methods. We adopted an in-depth qualitative approach by interviewing ten teachers from secondary education and higher education and developed several themes in order to answer our research questions. Results. Among various opinions and practices, we found that teachers agree on using meaningful names, but have conflicting beliefs about what is meaningful. Moreover, the described teaching practices do not always match teacher's views on meaningful names, and teachers rarely encourage students to use them. Instead, they express that naming practices should not be enforced and that students will develop them by example. Whereas some teachers report focusing solely on conventions, others deliberately dedicate time for students to engage with naming, create their own guidelines, provide continuous feedback, or include naming exercises on exams. Discussion. Naming practices do not seem to be deliberately taught, even though they influence program understanding and code quality. We also identified inconsistencies in teachers' self-reported naming practices. As such, we encourage intentional conversations about naming practices in educational settings, specifically linking naming to code quality and readability. We see room for group and peer activities as a means to this end, as well as providing formative feedback dedicated to naming.
Author Aivaloglou, Efthimia
Specht, Marcus
Hermans, Felienne
Van Der Werf, Vivian
Swidan, Alaaeddin
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  surname: Van Der Werf
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  givenname: Alaaeddin
  surname: Swidan
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  givenname: Felienne
  surname: Hermans
  fullname: Hermans, Felienne
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  givenname: Marcus
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  surname: Aivaloglou
  fullname: Aivaloglou, Efthimia
  email: e.aivaloglou@tudelft.nl
  organization: Delft University of Technology,Delft,The Netherlands
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Snippet Motivation. Variable naming practices are part of the software developer's profession, influencing program comprehension and code quality. Yet, little is known...
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StartPage 368
SubjectTerms Codes
Education
Force
novices
Oral communication
programming education
Programming profession
Software
teachers
Training
Variable naming
Title Teachers' Beliefs and Practices on the Naming of Variables in Introductory Python Programming Courses
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