Comprehension strategies in programming
Empirical studies of programmers: second workshop
Information retrieval using a hypertext-based help system
ACM Transactions on Information Systems (TOIS)
Mental models and computer programming
International Journal of Human-Computer Studies
Program understanding behavior during debugging of large scale software
ESP '97 Papers presented at the seventh workshop on Empirical studies of programmers
Cognitive design elements to support the construction of a mental model during software exploration
Journal of Systems and Software
The effect of student attributes on success in programming
Proceedings of the 6th annual conference on Innovation and technology in computer science education
Navigation and Comprehension of Programs by Novice Programmers
IWPC '01 Proceedings of the 9th International Workshop on Program Comprehension
Software psychology: Human factors in computer and information systems (Winthrop computer systems series)
ACE '06 Proceedings of the 8th Australasian Conference on Computing Education - Volume 52
Using Sex Differences to Link Spatial Cognition and Program Comprehension
ICSM '06 Proceedings of the 22nd IEEE International Conference on Software Maintenance
Analysis of research into the teaching and learning of programming
ICER '09 Proceedings of the fifth international workshop on Computing education research workshop
The Influence of Cognitive and Personality Characteristics on User Navigation: An Empirical Study
UAHCI '09 Proceedings of the 5th International Conference on Universal Access in Human-Computer Interaction. Part III: Applications and Services
Development and application of a web-based programming learning system with LED display kits
Proceedings of the 41st ACM technical symposium on Computer science education
An introduction to program comprehension for computer science educators
Proceedings of the 2010 ITiCSE working group reports
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Learning to program is a difficult process, and students that perform well in other subjects may not produce comparable results in programming. Evidence suggests that some programmers are inherently more skilled than others, and one individual difference that has been shown to be important is spatial ability. This cognitive characteristic is implicated in successful real-world navigation. It is also important for navigating within hypertext, and there is a growing recognition that it has a part to play in program comprehension and development, with navigation of source code considered similar to navigating in the real world. Little research has been carried out to study the navigational patterns of programmers with differing spatial skills. In this study, 24 students enrolled on a Masters in IT course at a University in the UK were given a code comprehension exercise. Various measures were made of time taken and movement around the code. Those with high spatial ability completed the task in shorter time, spent less time searching around deciding where to go next, and jumped more frequently within and between class files. Strong relations were also found between spatial ability and results in programming modules, with much weaker relations with non-programming modules. This paper discusses the implications of these results in relation to the accessibility of programming to learners with low spatial ability.