INTRODUCTORY PROGRAMMING EDUCATION FOR VISUALLY IMPAIRED

Mario Konecki

Abstract: Recurring problems that are present in introductory and other programming courses have created a negative and pessimistic opinion among programming novices that enroll these courses. These problems have also created a fear about programming among programming novices which is passing from one generation to another. This fact is also supported by many researches which report that programming courses experience relatively high failure and dropout rates. There have been efforts and attempts to change this kind of situation but the results of introductory as well as other programming courses have not changed much. The problems in introductory programming courses are even more challenging in the case of visually impaired programming novices who experience many similar but also many specific problems which include problems in understanding of various programming principles and problems in remembering of programming syntax. The problems of visually impaired programming novices regarding their introductory programming education are described in this paper. Various tools and other means of making programming courses easier for programming novices are also mentioned. Finally a solution that would aid visually impaired programming novices in their first encounter with programming is presented and discussed.

Keywords: visually impaired, introductory programming education, problems, graphical user interfaces, GUIDL

DOI: https://doi.org/10.15623/ijret.2014.0329012