Parsons programming puzzles are a type of scaffolded program construction tasks where the learner is given a set of code fragments, blocks of a single or multiple lines of code, and the task is to piece together a program from these. Learners not only select and order but also indent code fragments.
They are challenging problems that reduces the cognitive load and time spent for students.
This variant of Parsons programming puzzles is called two-dimensional (2D) Parsons problems. In Python, code indentation has a semantic meaning, as an indented statement falls into the surrounding control structure, which has lower indentation. That is, code blocks are defined by indentation instead of start and end symbols like curly braces.
(from js-parsons)
The use of Parsons puzzles is an evidence-based teaching practice.
Based on js-parsons and inspired by Python Tutor.
find_max function:
http://parsons.problemsolving.io/puzzle/cbb39952d55a4be38f935c573a065f9f
Embedded in Jupyter Notebook (you need to run it locally): https://github.com/ProblemSolvingIO/parsons/blob/master/demo/find-max.ipynb
- Parsons, D., & Haden, P. (2006, January). Parson's programming puzzles: a fun and effective learning tool for first programming courses. In Proceedings of the 8th Australasian Conference on Computing Education-Volume 52 (pp. 157-163). Australian Computer Society, Inc.
- Ihantola, P., & Karavirta, V. (2011). Two-dimensional parson’s puzzles: The concept, tools, and first observations. Journal of Information Technology Education, 10, 119-132.
- CS Teaching Tips - Use Parson’s Puzzles to help students engage with a concept without writing code or experiencing frustrating syntax errors.