From Music to Programming: Designing Method for Introductory Programming Using Musical Metaphor and Auditory Feedback

Abstract

Despite advances in programming language education, many beginner programmers face difficulties and give up in the early stages, just because they are not familiar with the programming syntax and semantics. In this research, we propose a method, for introductory programming using musical metaphor with an aim to entice beginners to program. This methodology is motivated by two concepts: first, music notation as an analogy to programming provides an enjoyable programming experience

second, on-line auditory feedback enables to notify the status of program for the users in a pleasant way. We described musical the settings as programming metaphors to help beginners learn them with ease and intuition. We built on this work through the system by incorporating with Java API for on-line auditory feedback. This system is to help beginners provide on-line auditory feedback as a communication medium to immediately notify the results in a pleasant way. We tested the methodology with 32 students as novice programmers and found that those in the experimental condition qualified significantly more inviting experience with this study. Participants in the control and experimental groups took a course for introductory programming, and most students felt that this methodology was a positive influence, particularly those with enjoyment. These findings suggest that some useful ideas how programming is taught, and it could be an impact on motivation to program and influence students first-time experience.