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Using a COAC# for CS1

One of the topics that should be covered in a CS1 course is Iterative Control Structures. This is an important but difficult topic for novice students who, for the first time, are learning a programming language. To improve the understanding of loops, a tool called COAC# was developed, to show in a graphic and animated form the loop functionality. Together with a practice, COAC# was used with a set of test cases so that the student can understand the result associated with each test case. The key to make this tool successful was its user interface; therefore, special attention was placed on the development of a good user interface design. The first experimental results show that it is a very effective tool for program visualization and an easy way to explain some concepts, like simple loops, strings and arrays, to novice students.