This paper presents an approach to the initial programming learning using the four components instructional model and the Alice software. The quasi-experimental design was developed with two groups of students that attended two schools with very different socioeconomic status and school retention levels. The differences obtained in the mean of the programming knowledge test when co-variated with the Logical Development Scale score were positive in the two groups, with no statistical significance in the difference between both (p = 0.05). The differences obtained in the Logical Development Scale score (Échelle Collective de Devéloppement Lógique [ECDL]), before and after the experimental treatment, revealed positive differences in the experimental group with no statistical significance (p > 0.05), and in the control group with statistical significance (p < 0.05). These results suggest that the Alice software when combined with the 4C-ID instructional model has positive effects in programming learning and in logical reasoning.
We present a collaborative learning tool for programming, Jeliot Collaboratively or JeCo. Jeliot Collaboratively is a combination of a program visualization tool for Java programs, called Jeliot 3, and a collaborative authoring tool, Woven Stories. We introduce these systems and explain how they can be used in learning. Furthermore, we present future directions in order to support a wider range of use cases with JeCo.