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An Evaluation of a Symbol Table Visualization Tool

This paper presents the evaluation of SOTA, an educational tool for the visualization of symbol tables in compiler courses. A controlled experiment was conducted where pedagogical efficiency and the students’ opinion were evaluated. Students (n=45) were asked to answer three tests on symbol table concepts and a questionnaire on the tool. The evaluation indicates that SOTA fosters students to use it. They feel comfortable with it because they believe that: it has good quality, it is easy to use and useful, and it helps them in studying symbol table concepts. More importantly, SOTA facilitates learning, in the sense that it reinforces their trust in the knowledge acquired. Students who used the tool solved the problems correctly and significantly faster than students who did not use the tool.