Livebook for Beginners

Computational notebooks are a popular and interactive paradigm for data scientists to create code, analyze data, and weave visualizations, all in a single document [1]. However, some researchers have used computational notebooks as a tool to teach computer programming [2] or computational thinking [3].

Livebook [4] is the computational notebook creation tool implemented in Elixir [5]. The Elixir community has used Livebook in various contexts. We are aware of books [6], courses [7], and blog posts [8] that use computational notebooks written in Livebook as part of the process of learning content.

The goal of this project is to characterize the impact of modifications to Livebook that introduce gamification and motivation mechanisms for learning. The research question we intend to investigate is:

• What is the impact of changes to Livebook on the perception of learning Elixir by beginners in programming?

We plan to implement some gamification mechanics in Livebook, such as Challenges, Levels, and Badges. A more specific research question, therefore, is "How do gamified modifications to Livebook affect the motivation and engagement of beginner programmers in learning Elixir?"

We intend to evaluate the impact of these modifications in terms of motivation measures, such as the amount of time spent on Livebook, the number of notebooks created and completed, the frequency of Livebook usage, as well as through qualitative assessments with learners, using questionnaires and interviews.

An (incomplete, as new ones will emerge throughout the work) list of project tasks includes:

• Research the scientific literature on gamification and its mechanics.
• Research the scientific literature on the use of computational notebooks in teaching programming to beginners.
• Define the system architecture.

References

1. Chattopadhyay, Souti, et al. "What's wrong with computational notebooks? Pain points, needs, and design opportunities." Proceedings of the 2020 CHI conference on human factors in computing systems. 2020. 
2. Borowski, Marcel, et al. "Exploring the benefits and barriers of using computational notebooks for collaborative programming assignments." Proceedings of the 51st ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education. 2020.
3. De Santo, Alessio, et al. "Promoting Computational Thinking Skills in Non-Computer-Science Students: Gamifying Computational Notebooks to Increase Student Engagement." IEEE Transactions on Learning Technologies 15.3 (2022): 392-405.
4. https://livebook.dev/ 
5. https://elixir-lang.org/ 
6. Koutmos, Alex. "Elixir Patterns." beta version https://elixirpatterns.dev/ (2023).
7. DockYard Academy https://academy.dockyard.com/ 2023.
8. Meyers, Brooklin. Writing Tests in Livebook https://www.elixirnewbie.com/blog/writing-tests-in-livebook, 2022.

Team

• Adolfo Neto
• Wesley Scheifer

Funding

Soon