2025 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

BOARD # 84: WIP: Auto-gradable Hands-On Parse Tree Learning Tool in Virtual Reality

Presented at Computers in Education Division (COED) Poster Session (Track 1.A)

Parse trees, or syntax trees, are fundamental concepts in computer science as they represent the structure of programming language expressions. Traditional teaching methods require students to manually draw syntax trees for given expressions - a process that can become tedious for students to practice and time-consuming for educators to grade. This project explores the potential of virtual reality (VR) to provide a more engaging and interactive learning experience for syntax tree education while also supporting auto-gradable exercises for scalable practice.

We have developed a web-based VR tool that enables students to construct syntax trees through drag-and-drop interactions in an immersive environment. To evaluate its effectiveness, we plan to conduct a comparative study with three groups of undergraduate computer science students: one receiving traditional instruction with static diagrams, one using a browser-based drag-and-drop tool, and one utilizing the VR tool. The evaluation will include both qualitative and quantitative measures. Qualitatively, we will assess student engagement and self-efficacy through Likert-scale surveys. Quantitatively, we will compare task completion times and scores to evaluate learning outcomes. By automating tree validation and grading, the tool not only enhances engagement but also improves teaching efficiency.

Authors

Colin Jacob Soule Bucknell University [biography]

Colin Soule is a graduating senior awarded the presidential fellowship at Bucknell University. He is currently committed to William & Mary's Ph.D program to research algorithms and theoretical computation.
Lea Wittie Bucknell University [biography]

Lea Wittie is an Associate Professor and Co-Chair in the department of Computer Science in the Engineering College at Bucknell University. She does computer science education research with students in first year engineering topics, concept inventories, and teaching for mastery topics.
Sing Chun Lee http://orcid.org/0000-0002-3486-5665 Bucknell University [biography]

Sing Chun is a Computer Science Faculty at Bucknell University. During his PhD Study on Geometry Processing and Augmented Reality, he discovered his passionate interest in Computer Science Education. Currently, Sing Chun is investigating how Mixed Reality (MR) might help with Computer Science Education through the lens of multimedia learning theory and cognitive load theory. He is also interested in promoting undergraduate research and making advanced computational concepts more accessible to undergraduate students. In his spare time, he likes to immerse himself in the MR world and discuss the future of MR, particularly for education, with others.

Download paper (1.16 MB)

Are you a researcher? Would you like to cite this paper? Visit the ASEE document repository at peer.asee.org for more tools and easy citations.

» Download paper

« View session