Selected Publications
Here you have a list of selected publications. See also the DBLP, ACM
Contents
Journal articles
- Visualization of Syntax Trees for Language Processing Courses [>>]
- A Survey of Successful Evaluations of Program Visualization and Algorithm Animation Systems [>>]
- An approach to effortless construction of program animations [>>]
- WinHIPE: an IDE for functional programming based on rewriting and visualization [>>]
- An Evaluation of the Effortless Approach to Build Algorithm Animations with WinHIPE [>>]
Visualization of Syntax Trees for Language Processing Courses
F.J. Almeida-Martínez, J. Urquiza-Fuentes, J.Á. Velázquez-Iturbide
Journal of Universal Computer Science 15(7), 2009, Pages 1546-1561
This article describes the educational tool VAST. We designed VAST to be used in compiler and language processing courses. The current version allows generat- ing and visualizing syntax trees and their construction process. The main advantages of VAST follow: it is designed to be as independent from the parser generator as possible, it allows students to visualize the behavior of parsers they develop, and it has an inter- face designed to easily handle huge syntax trees. Finally, we describe two satisfactory preliminary evaluations from the usability and educational points of view.
A Survey of Successful Evaluations of Program Visualization and Algorithm Animation Systems
J. Urquiza-Fuentes, J.Á. Velázquez-Iturbide
Trans. Comput. Educ. 9(2), June 2009, Pages 1-21
This article reviews successful educational experiences in using program and algorithm visualizations (PAVs). First, we survey a total of 18 PAV systems that were subject to 33 evaluations. We found that half of the systems have only been tested for usability, and those were shallow inspections. The rest were evaluated with respect to their educational effectiveness. Script-based systems seem to be well suited for the viewing, responding, and changing engagement levels, while compiler-based systems do well for the construction and presenting engagement levels. Finally, we analyze additional PAV features of successful evaluations and hypothesize that they are relevant.
An approach to effortless construction of program animations
J.A. Velázquez-Iturbide and C. Pareja-Flores and J. Urquiza-Fuentes.
Computers & Education 50(1), January 2008, Pages 179-192
Program animation systems have not been as widely adopted by computer science educators as we might expect from the firm belief that they can help in enhancing computer science education. One of the most notable obstacles to their adoption is the considerable effort that the production of program animations represents for the instructor. We present here an approach to reduce such a workload based on the automatic generation of visualizations and animations. The user may customize them in a user-friendly way to construct more expressive program animations. These operations are carried out by means of a user-friendly manipulation based on the metaphor of office documents. We have applied this approach to the functional paradigm by extending the WinHIPE programming environment. Finally, we report on the successful results of an evaluation performed to measure its ease of use.
WinHIPE: an IDE for functional programming based on rewriting and visualization
C. Pareja-Flores, J. Urquiza-Fuentes, J.Á. Velázquez-Iturbide.
ACM SIGPLAN Notices 42(3), 2007, Pages 14-23.
The article describes an IDE for functional programming, called WinHIPE. It provides an interactive and flexible tracer, as well as a powerful visualization and animation system. The former tool is based on the rewriting model of evaluation, and the latter provides automatic generation of visualizations and animations, friendly support for customization, maintenance and exportation of animations to the Web, and facilities to cope with large scale. Its main advantage over other visualization systems is an effortless approach to animation creation and maintenance, based on generating visualizations and animations automatically, as a side effect of program execution. Finally, we briefly describe our experience using the system during several years in educational settings.
An Evaluation of the Effortless Approach to Build Algorithm Animations with WinHIPE
J. Urquiza-Fuentes, J.Á. Velázquez-Iturbide.
Electr. Notes Theor. Comput. Sci. 178, 2007, Pages 3-13
The use of algorithm visualizations in computer science education is not a new thing. Although there is a firm belief that graphical representations of algorithms are learning aids, empirical studies show that what is important is what the students do with the animations rather than what they see in them. In this paper we compare to kinds of interaction: viewing animations vs constructing animations. We have conducted a controlled experiment where a group of students (n=15) had to study an algorithm and complete a knowledge test about it and a subjective opinion questionnaire. Students were randomly divided in constructing and viewing groups. Results have been measured by means of learning outcomes, efficiency issues and student's subjective opinion. Results significantly evidence that builders obtained better results than viewers.
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Book Chapters
- Improving a Zoom+Pan Interface with Overview+Detail or Focus+Context Features: A Comparative Evaluation [>>]
- Human-Centered Aspects [>>]
Improving a Zoom+Pan Interface with Overview+Detail or Focus+Context Features: A Comparative Evaluation
J. Urquiza-Fuentes, C.A. Lázaro-Carrascosa and J.Á. Velázquez-Iturbide.
In
Engineering the User Interface From Research to Practice, 2008 (In press),
Pages 221-238
We present an evaluation of adding Focus+Context vs. Overview+Deatil features to a Zoom+Pan interface. The framework of the evaluation is an interface to deal with large sets of items with specific structural properties (sequential order, heterogeneous sizes), and behavior requirements (flexible interaction, maximizing screen space, minimizing changes in screen). The evaluation involved 43 participants. We studied the effect of three factors (namely, experience with the tasks, size of the sets, and tasks performed with the same set) on effectiveness, efficiency and user's satisfaction. The results show that experienced users of the interface enhanced with the Focus+Context features obtained the best results on effectiveness and efficiency. Furthermore, a satisfaction questionnaire showed that users felt more comfortable with the Focus+Context approach.
Human-Centered Aspects
Olga Kulyk, Robert Kosara, Jaime Urquiza and Ingo Wassink.
In
Human-Centered Visualization Environments, 2007, Pages 13-75
Humans have remarkable perceptual capabilities. These capabilities are heavily underestimated in current visualizations. Often, this is due to the lack of an in-depth user study to set the requirements for optimal visualizations. The designer does not understand what kind of information should be visualized, how it should be presented or what kind of interactions should be supported. The key elements of successful information visualization are the correct data using the best visualization technique and the best interaction techniques with respect to users. If one of these elements is ignored, people might interpret the data in the wrong way and thus might not understand the underlying information or a pattern.
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Conference papers
- Improving Compilers Education through Symbol Tables Animations [>>]
- Syntax Trees Visualization in Language Processing Courses [>>]
- A Framework for the Automatic Generation of Algorithm Animations Based on Design Techniques [>>]
- Assessing the Usability of a Cookies-Based Access Monitoring Tool for a CMS [>>]
Improving Compilers Education through Symbol Tables Animations
J. Urquiza-Fuentes, F. Manso, J.Á. Velázquez-Iturbide, M. Rubio-Sánchez
16th Annual Conference on Innovation and Technology in Computer Science Education (ITiCSE) 2011, (In press)
This paper presents the evaluation of an educational tool focused on the visualization of the symbol table in the context of a compiler course. In a first evaluation we used simulation exercises and tested basic concepts of symbol tables. We detected efficiency improvements, students who used the tool completed the exercises with the same grading and significantly faster than the students who did not use the tool. In addition students' opinion was positive. In a second evaluation we used more active tasks, and tested students' skills on writing parser specifications regarding symbol table management. We have detected significant improvements. Students who used the tool outperformed those who did not use the tool in a 22%.
Syntax Trees Visualization in Language Processing Courses
F.J. Almeida-Martínez, J. Urquiza-Fuentes
Ninth
IEEE International Conference on Advanced Learning Technologies (ICALT)
2009, Pages 597-601
This paper describes the educational tool VAST. We designed VAST to be used in compiler and language processing courses. The current version allows generating and visualizing syntax trees and their construction process. The main advantages of VAST follow: it is designed to be as independent from the parser generator as possible, it allows students to visualize the behaviour of parsers they develop, and it has an interface designed to easily handle huge syntax trees. We describe different ways of using VAST in educational settings as well as a usability evaluation.
A Framework for the Automatic Generation of Algorithm Animations Based on Design Techniques
L. Fernández-Muñoz, A. Pérez-Carrasco, J.Á. Velázquez-Iturbide, J. Urquiza-Fuentes.
Second
European Conference on Technology Enhanced Learning (EC-TEL), 2007,
Pages 475-480.
A novel approach to algorithm animation consists in displaying algorithms based on their design technique. In this paper, we describe a framework to generate these animations without effort from the instructor. We describe a preprocessing phase that modifies the source code of the algorithm to visualize. When the transformed code is executed, a trace is stored and then used to generate an animation. We also describe the architecture of the animation subsystem. Finally, we outline the main features of SRec, a system that we have built to illustrate the feasibility of this approach. It is aimed at visualizing multiple views of recursion, namely traces, the control stack and activation trees.
Assessing the Usability of a Cookies-Based Access Monitoring Tool for a CMS
R. Hijón-Neira, J. Urquiza-Fuentes, F. Domínguez-Mateos, J.Á. Velázquez-Iturbide
Seventh
IEEE International Conference on Advanced Learning Technologies (ICALT)
2007, Pages 262-264
We have developed several tools to allow instructors analyze students' interactions in a Course Management System. In this paper we describe a Systematic Usability Evaluation designed to test the usability of one of these tools. The evaluations were based on task analysis and follow-up studies. We have assessed effectiveness, efficiency, usefulness, ease of use, learnability, and user's satisfaction of the tool. In addition to regular observation and questionnaires, 3- scope video recording was used to provide the evaluator with more information about interactions. The use of this technology helped us in identifying functions and features that need improvement. We describe the three-step method that we have developed and the satisfactory results it has provided us.
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Abstracts, Posters, demos, ...
VAST - Visualization of Abstract Syntax Trees within Language Processors Courses
F.J. Almeida-Martínez,
J. Urquiza-Fuentes & J.Á. Velázquez-Iturbide.
SoftVis 2008 [publised
abstract] [poster-PDF]