Gardado en:
| Autor Principal: | |
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| Formato: | Recurso digital |
| Idioma: | inglés |
| Publicado: |
Zenodo
2026
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| Subjects: | |
| Acceso en liña: | https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.18907987 |
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Table of Contents:
- <p>The debate over whether a variable is best explained as a 'box' or a 'label' has<br>persisted in programming education for decades without resolution. We argue that the<br>debate is unresolvable in its current framing due to two conceptual confusions and<br>multiple uncontrolled methodological confounds. The first confusion is the failure to<br>specify language-semantic boundary conditions: the adequacy of any variable<br>metaphor depends on whether the target language uses value, reference, ownership,<br>or immutable semantics. The second confusion is a category error that conflates<br>metaphor (structural mapping) with causal model (mechanistic explanation of program<br>execution). Additionally, existing empirical work confounds metaphor effects with<br>instructional language, the mathematical interpretation of the = sign, and other<br>uncontrolled variables. We propose Six Diagnostic Questions as a framework for<br>evaluating and designing metaphor research in programming education, and apply<br>them retrospectively to the most influential existing study. The broader implication is a<br>reframing of variable pedagogy from 'which metaphor?' to 'how do learners construct<br>causal models of variable behavior in their specific language?'</p>