Evaluating Parsons Problems as a Design-Based Intervention

Parsons problems are a type of assessment that helps introductory programming (CS1) students learn programming by arranging fragments of code to form working programs. Parsons problems enables students to focus on the learning concepts by minimising their focus on extrinsic operations while coding, such as syntax details. Because of the success in teaching programming with Parsons problems, we investigate the possibility of using it as a design-based intervention. We examine how Parsons problems can be used by procedural programming students during the design process, and investigate how the assessment supports the use of Self-Regulated Learning (SRL) strategies during the problem-solving process. We performed usability testing, comprising a mixed-methods approach of pre-test, think-alouds, and interviews, to collect students' behaviours and experiences. The results show a variety of approaches used by students when solving the Parsons problems, including engaging SRL strategies to better understand the problem and to verify their work. We offer future research opportunities to further explore Parsons problems as a design-based intervention.