Nolan, Keith and Mooney, Aidan and Bergin, Susan (2015) Examining the role of cognitive load when learning to program. In: 3rd International Workshop on Eye-Movements in Programming, November 23-24, 2015, Joensuu, Finland.

Preview

Download (110kB) | Preview

Abstract

Cognitive load is concerned with the amount of mental effort imposed on working memory at an instant of time. Changes in cognitive load cause very small dilations of the pupils. The aim of this paper is to examine the role of cog-nitive load while learning to program through the use of remote eye tracking. Although numerous studies have been carried out to evaluate cognitive load using this approach, very few can be found that have focused on programming comprehension especially with students learning to program for the first time. This study will develop a suite of programming tasks, designed to induce different levels of cognitive load (low to high). The programming tasks will be completed by novice programmers whilst a remote eye tracking system monitors pupil dilation. It is hypothesised that, once environmental factors (ambient light etc) have been controlled, programming tasks designed to induce a high level of cognitive load will result in dilations of the pupils, whilst easier tasks will not result in such a change.

Item Type:	Conference or Workshop Item (Paper)
Additional Information:	DOI: 10.13140/RG.2.1.4766.2165
Keywords:	Eye tracking; cognitive load; pupillometry; programming comprehension;
Academic Unit:	Faculty of Science and Engineering > Computer Science
Item ID:	8237
Depositing User:	Aidan Mooney
Date Deposited:	24 May 2017 14:51
Refereed:	No
URI:
Use Licence:	This item is available under a Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial Share Alike Licence (CC BY-NC-SA). Details of this licence are available here

Repository Staff Only(login required)

Item control page

Downloads

Origin of downloads