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MODELS 2020
Fri 16 - Fri 23 October 2020
Wed 21 Oct 2020 13:35 - 13:50 at Room A - A2-Education and Games Chair(s): Steffen Zschaler

The recent surge in computer science (CS) education for children has led to the popularization of blocks-based programming languages (BBPLs), which offer a syntax-directed approach to teach fundamental programming concepts. Most BBPL environments are designed with imperative programming in mind. The primary building blocks represent the key constructs that support sequencing, iteration, and selection, all in an imperative style. Some BBPL environments support bi-directionality and can show the source code of the same program represented as either blocks or in a general-purpose textual language. There have been few alternatives to the imperative primitives used in these environments. In this Vision paper, we propose a paradigmatic change to the underlying and front-facing structures of BBPL environments by replacing them with Model-driven Engineering (MDE) primitives, such as declarative transformation rules and metamodels. We have implemented a prototype of our envisioned system in a modeling environment to show the feasibility of the approach, which we believe could be used by young children. The contribution of our vision is a demonstration of the potential for a new thread of research that lies at the intersection of modeling and CS education for children. We aim to spark an interest in MDE among CS education researchers, while encouraging the modeling community to consider how MDE might be taught to younger students.

Wed 21 Oct

Displayed time zone: Eastern Time (US & Canada) change

13:15 - 14:30
A2-Education and GamesTechnical Track at Room A
Chair(s): Steffen Zschaler King's College London
13:15
20m
Full-paper
Is Automated Grading of Models Effective? Assessing Automated Grading of Class DiagramsP&I
Technical Track
Weiyi Bian , Omar Alam Trent University, Jörg Kienzle McGill University, Canada
13:35
15m
Short-paper
A Model-driven Alternative to Programming in Blocks using Rule-based TransformationsNIV
Technical Track
Huseyin Ergin Ball State University, Wenjun Shi East China Normal University, China, Herart Dominggus Nurue , Jeff Gray University of Alabama
Media Attached
13:50
15m
Demonstration
Papyrus for gamers, let's play modelingDemo
Technical Track
Antonio Bucchiarone Fondazione Bruno Kessler, Trento, Italy, Maxime Savary-Leblanc , Xavier Le Pallec , Jean-Michel Bruel Université de Toulouse, France, Antonio Cicchetti Mälardalen University, Jordi Cabot ICREA - UOC, Sebastian Gerard CEA Saclay - NanoInnov, Hamna Aslam , Annapaola Marconi Fondazione Bruno Kessler, Trento, Italy, Mirko Perillo
14:05
15m
Demonstration
Automated Video Game World Map Synthesis by Model-Based TechniquesDemo
Technical Track
Boqi Chen , Dylan Havelock , Connor Plante , Michael Sukkarieh , Oszkár Semeráth Budapest University of Technology and Economics, Daniel Varro McGill University / Budapest University of Technology and Economics