Learning to Use Parentheses and Quotes in LISP

Publisher Website
Google Scholar
Abstract
This article illustrates successful strategies for helping novice programming students understand the use of parentheses (Ps) and quotes (Qs) in LISP. Based on detailed analysis of students working programming problems, we designed lab exercises to address typical difficulties. Rather than emphasizing correct answers, our approach, inspired by the scaffolded knowledge integration (SKI) framework, required students to take the role of investigator and critic. In particular, the intervention required students to critique incorrect calls, identify the incorrect rule being applied in the incorrect call, and correct the call. It also required students to identify causes of error messages we identified as difficult. These exercises had a positive effect not just on the calls to functions, which the intervention specifically addressed, but also on writing function definitions and predicting results, which were not specifically addressed by the intervention. The exercises improved students’ understanding of LISP and increased the efficiency of future instruction.

This publication has 10 references indexed in Scilit: