Constrained sets : the effects of multi-layered environments in learning app inventor

MIT App Inventor is a mobile application development platform that seeks to democratize the construction of mobile apps by making app development accessible to people with little to no experience with script-based programming. It uses block-based programming to introduce and teach programming concepts to its users. Users drag and drop functional and visual components onto their planned app in the screen editor, and construct the logic behind those components by using blocks in the block editor. In this thesis, we design and implement Constrained Sets, a system that allows instructors and developers to allow access to only a subset of App Inventor functionality by hiding component and block access. This system allows for the construction of multi-layered interfaces, which we then use to conduct an experiment that explores how novice App Inventor users learn App Inventor in different interface environments. Furthermore, we discuss and test the possibility of using a React based implementation of the App Inventor designer, and what implications that may have on creating more flexible user interfaces.

Department dc:contributor.department

Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science.

Grantor dc:publisher

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Year dc:date.issued

2018

Author dc:creator

• Tang, Lynda (Lynda Y.)

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Harold Abelson.

• Electrical Engineering and Computer Science.

Statement dc:rights

• MIT theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed, downloaded, or printed from this source but further reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission.

Licence dc:rights.uri

• http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/7582

Language dc:language.iso

eng

Handle dc:identifier.uri

http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/119707

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:dspace.mit.edu:1721.1/119707