Learning Environment for Recursive Functions by Visualization of Execution Process

Abstract

In programming learning, it is difficult to imagine the behavior of a recursive function. This difficulty stems from the following: (1) learners have to manage different instances of functions with the same name, (2) they cannot understand the execution process of passive flow, and (3) novice learners cannot manage unnecessary portions as a black box. Furthermore, it is desirable for authors of teaching materials to customize the visualization of each instance individually. In this study, we have extended a program visualization tool (TEDViT) to be able to visualize recursive functions by satisfying the above issues. We conducted an evaluation of our method and obtained positive results.