Moving Away from the Blocks: Evaluating the Usability of EduBlocks for Supporting Children to Transition from Block-Based Programming

Abstract

When learning to code, children and novice programmers often transition from block-based to traditional text-based programming environments. This paper explores the usability problems within a block-based authoring environment, EduBlocks, that may hinder children’s learning. Using domain-specific heuristics, a usability evaluation was performed by expert evaluators, which was later combined with data from an analysis of problems reported in Forums, to produce a corpus of usability problems. The corpus was subsequently analysed using thematic analysis, and seven design guidelines were synthesized. Using the guidelines, a model of interaction was created to in-form the design of block-based authoring environments that support the transition to text-based authoring. The model examines the interplay be-tween learning within a school environment to independently using the authoring environment and how the interface can support these differing scenarios. This paper contributes to the design of effective user interfaces to support children learning to code and provides guidelines for developers of hybrid authoring environments to support the transition away from blocks.