Type: Empirical

Purpose: "This paper presents the results of an experiment regarding the eects of using one of two dierent programming environments in secondary schools. Both \Scratch" and \Karel the Robot" have been successfully used in these settings previously. These two environments are also representative for two classes of programming environments for beginners. One is more graphically oriented and may therefore alleviate the steep learning curve of programming while the other is text-based and therefore more akin to\real"programming. Also, one places more emphasis on the visualization of program structure and the other emphasizes visualizing program flow" (p. 1).

Findings: "The abilities of the students were tested before and after the experiment as well as their intrinsic motivation and the perceived self-regulation. The results show, that the class using Scratch has higher intrinsic motivation and performs better, however the Karel class shows a higher identied [self]regulation" (p. 1). "The Scratch class has a signicantly higher value on the sub scale of interest/enjoyment regarding their intrinsic motivation...Concerning the actual abilities, the picture is not as clear cut. While the Scratch class did perform better on the post-test as discussed in more detail below, there are no meaningful dierences to be found in the graded exam. The better performance in the post-test is especially interesting, since there is no signicant dierence on the intrinsic motivation sub scale regarding the perceived competence. In other words, the students of the Scratch class did perform better on average than the students of the Karol class, but they did not perceive themselves as more competent...Concerning the self-regulation, there is only one sub scale that shows a signicant dierence between the two classes. The identied regulation is higher for the Karol class. This is very interesting as it shows that the programming environment is perceived more relevant for \real-life" than Scratch { even though Scratch was more fun for the students!" (p. 7).

Recommendations: "there are many additional experiments that could provide further insight into the learning curve of programming. For example, it may be interesting to have two classes learn both Karol and Scratch but in opposite order. Maybe teaching both environments with their respective focus on program structure and program ow may provide a \best of both worlds" approach for the students... it seems favorable to choose an environment that visualizes program structure..." (p. 8).