STUDENTS OFF-LINE AND ONLINE EXPERIENCES

We investigate novice programmers' use of parentheses and quotes in LI SP by examining the activities of students working in both off-line an d on-line settings. In keeping with our previous work, we identify thr ee major groups of students working off-line: rule refiners, rule user s, and rule seekers. These students differ in the level to which they have refined the ''rules'' they use. Three major groups of students wo rking on-line are also identified: competent, inconsistent, and ineffe ctive feedback users. In both settings, some students appear to use a perceptual matching strategy, whereby they implement ''what looks righ t'' to them rather than making sense of the actual meanings of parenth eses and quotes. Students also use computer feedback to augment their success with LISP. In other words, they determine a correct call or de finition using the computer feedback rather than careful analysis of t he LISP code. Students who do not understand the meaning of parenthese s and quotes can arrive at a correct answer through either efficient o r inefficient use of computer feedback. Even the best students, rule r efiners and competent feedback users, sometimes use perceptual matchin g and computer feedback to make up for their lack of integrated unders tanding.